The 2026-27 Budget: California Education Learning Lab

Mar 25, 2026 - Program staff also coordinate special initiatives and activities such as hosting intersegmental meetings, overseeing the public resource library, and writing annual reports. (Under statute, Learning Lab is required to submit an annual report to the Legislature on its grant awards.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5171

The Bay-Delta Plan and Voluntary Agreements: Ensuring Effective Legislative Oversight

Mar 18, 2026 - In September 2025, SWRCB released a scientific basis report for this VA proposal, but, as of this writing, has yet to release a staff report or propose associated plan amendments. Regardless of whether it incorporates the VA, the board will subsequently have to issue regulations or hold water rights proceedings to fully implement the plan ’s new flow requirements.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5163

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/852

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/852

The 2026-27 Budget: California Highway Patrol Proposals

Mar 6, 2026 - While the department anticipates that its officer vacancy rate will drop further as new cadets graduate from its academy, as of this writing, available evidence on actual vacancies suggests that its existing budget should still have capacity from salary savings to help cover baseline costs consistent with its historic practice.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5152

The 2026-27 Budget: Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program

Mar 3, 2026 - However, as of this writing, this reimbursement has not materialized. Further, it is unclear whether the state was actually overcharged and whether this reimbursement will ever materialize. We are currently working with the administration to better understand this dynamic and anticipate the May Revision will include an update to the current year funding for SSI/SSP.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5148

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - After the dot-com bust and the Great Recession, it took four and five years, respectively, for revenues to recover. Incorporating revenue risk into the budget now, therefore, reflects prudence, not pessimism.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

Oversight of certain public benefit artificial intelligence (AI) companies. [Ballot]

Jan 20, 2026 - The measure would have the following major fiscal effects: Increased state costs that would likely be in the tens of millions of dollars annually to establish and operate a new regulatory commission overseeing certain public benefit AI com panies.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-033

Contracting with attorneys. [Ballot]

Dec 17, 2025 - People may also pay for a private attorney t o assist with legal matters that do not involve the courts, such as assistance with writing a will or entering into a business contract. Attorneys Can Be Paid in Various Ways.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-027

Assessment of the Strong Workforce Program

Dec 10, 2025 - As of this writing, five consortia have updated their plan within the past year, while the other three most recently updated their plan between one and two years ago. Although the plans vary in content, they generally cover most of the key components required under statute.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5098