The 2026-27 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 19, 2026 - CalWORKs caseload has also grown by over 31,000 (23.9 percent) over this period. Figure 2 shows the total number of subsidized child care slots, as well as total funding, since 2018‑19. Statutory intent language associated with the multiyear agreement would require an additional 44,000 slots in 2026‑27 and 33,000 in 2027‑28.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5168

The 2026-27 Budget: Re-Envisioning State Education Governance

Mar 18, 2026 - They also concluded that the Governor ’s authority over the budget would always provide some influence over program administration, such that assigning administrative duties to another entity could only lead to fragmented governance.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: K-12 Proposals

Feb 19, 2026 - Phase in Eligibility Over Time. To ensure the state has capacity to support new community schools, we recommend initially targeting a narrower scope of schools and then expanding eligibility over multiple years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5131

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposition 98 Guarantee and K-12 Spending Plan

Feb 4, 2026 - State tax collections have been strong over the past year, but these gains primarily reflect investor enthusiasm for Artificial Intelligence and robust stock market growth. The S &P 500, for example, has risen about 40  percent over the last two years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110

Assessing a Shift to Enrollment-Based School Funding

Jan 6, 2026 - First, it would need to affect year ‑over ‑year attendance growth. For example, if the change caused attendance rates to decline over several years, the annual attendance adjustment in those years would be lower than it would have been otherwise.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5100

The 2026-27 Budget: Fiscal Outlook for Schools and Community Colleges

Nov 19, 2025 - Estimates of the Guarantee Become Less Certain Over Time. Our forecast reflects the revenue estimates we consider most likely, but many other revenue scenarios are possible. Revenues can also fluctuate notably from year to year, even if they track our forecast over a longer period.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5093

The 2025-26 Budget: Expanded Learning Opportunities Program

Feb 20, 2025 - As a result, additional district enrollment is unlikely to create significant future cost pressure for the state after the phase in of TK, and could potentially reduce state costs over the long term.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4977

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 5, 2025 - For decades, the state paid DDS direct care staff (also referred to as direct service professionals) according to an outdated and overly complicated rate structure that had not kept up with rising costs over time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5008

The 2025-26 Budget: School Nutrition

Mar 4, 2025 - Over this same period, statewide average daily attendance has declined due to lower attendance rates and a decrease in the school age  population. State Funds Provided for School Meals Has Increased by a Much Larger Percentage.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5001

The 2025-26 Budget: California State University

Feb 25, 2025 - Though CSU has experienced a decline in its FTE student‑to‑FTE employee ratio over the past several years (due to some enrollment declines coupled with more hiring), that trend is likely to reverse itself over the next two years given budget constraints.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4989