The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Human Services

Nov 21, 2025 - Participants in the self-determination program are provided an individual budget, a fixed amount of money with which to purchase the services of their choosing. Participants then decide how to use the money in their individual budget by developing a spending plan, which identifies the services and items the participant needs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5086/1

Estimating the CalWORKs Take-Up Rate

Feb 2, 2021 - More recently, the state allocated $2  million in 2016 ‑17 and 2017 ‑18 to improve awareness and take-up of the California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which provides money to low-income workers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4340

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Federal CalWORKs Pilot

Feb 21, 2025 - To qualify for CalWORKs, families generally must earn less than about 80  percent of the federal poverty level, equivalent to about $1,700 per month for a family of three in 2024. Families also generally can only have limited assets (such as property or savings).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4978

The 2023-24 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 22, 2023 - Increasing the earned income disregard for applicants (or the amount CalWORKs applicants can earn before further income effects their eligibility for the program) from $90 to $450 per month. (The 2022-23 budget includes $79.5  million General Fund to implement this change starting in March  2023.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4699

Housing and Homelessness Funding Impacting Children

Mar 25, 2019 - Cash, Food, and Medical Assistance Can Offset Housing Costs a (In Millions) Free and reduced price lunch 2,838 $4,097 a Where possible, we tried to identify funding targeting children and families. b Earned Income Tax Credit amounts reflect combination of federal tax year data and state fiscal year data.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3985

Trends in CalWORKs: Participant Characteristics

Jun 16, 2025 - Increased Earned Income Disregard (EID). The EID for applicants and participants (or the monthly dollar amount applicants and participants can earn before further income affects eligibility) changed multiple times over the last decade.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5057

The 2022-23 Budget: Analysis of the Governor’s CalWORKs Proposals

Feb 11, 2022 - Increased the earned income disregard for applicants (or the amount CalWORKs applicants can earn before further income effects their eligibility for the program) from $90 to $450 per month. (The 2022 ‑23 budget includes $79.5  million General Fund to implement this change starting in March  2023.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4530

The 2020-21 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2020 - Specifically, we recommend the Legislature set enrollment expectations for each segment, decide how much to provide for graduation and other core student support initiatives, and determine how much to provide for compensation increases and other operating costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4135

The 2021-22 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision

May 17, 2021 - How Can These Monies Be Used? In a normal budget year, General Fund surplus monies are available to use for any public purposes. This is not necessarily the case in this May Revision. That is because the SAL, which limits how the state can use revenues that exceed a specified threshold, is salient to the state budget process this year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4432

The 2019-20 Budget: California Spending Plan—Other Provisions

Oct 17, 2019 - Under the state ’s current policy to pay for retiree health benefits, (1)  the state and employees each contribute an amount of money —established as a percentage of pay through the collective bargaining process —to prefund the benefits employees earn today and (2)  the state pays the costs of the benefit for current retirees on a pay-as-you-go basis.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4101