The Bay-Delta Plan and Voluntary Agreements: Ensuring Effective Legislative Oversight [Publication Details]

Mar 18, 2026 - This report discusses the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB’s) proposed—and long-overdue—update of the water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which includes an alternative compliance pathway for certain water users called voluntary agreements (VAs, also known as Healthy Rivers and Landscapes).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5163

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

Mar 18, 2026 - Two massive water infrastructure projects —the State Water Project (SWP) and the Central Valley Project (CVP) —move water from the Delta to Central and Southern California for municipal and agricultural purposes.
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

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

The 2026-27 Budget: Community College Facilities

Mar 17, 2026 - (Districts did not submit any new life safety projects.) Using its scoring system, the Chancellor ’s Office selected ten of these projects —consisting of seven modernization projects and three growth projects —to request state funding for in the 2026-27 budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5159

The 2026-27 Budget: California Education Learning Lab

Mar 25, 2026 - For example, some Learning Lab projects have resulted in higher pass rates for certain STEM courses while other projects have been linked to improving students ’ motivation and sense of belonging. Projects Are Challenging to Scale.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5171

California State University Capital Outlay Projects [EdBudget]

Mar 26, 2026 - California State University Capital Outlay Projects [EdBudget] $628,800 $650,435 a Reflects amount of university revenue bonds authorized to support projects. Annual debt service costs, which CSU will pay using its General Fund support, is estimated to be $50 million. b The campus is anticipated to contribute $12 million for this project.
https://lao.ca.gov/Education/EdBudget/Details/1082

The 2026-27 Budget: Streamlining California’s Affordable Housing Funding System

Mar 6, 2026 - The state tax credits, meanwhile, serve to further enhance equity available for a subset of projects receiving federal tax credits so they, too, tend to support deeply affordable projects. A  significant benefit of using 9   percent tax credits for HDFC ‑awarded projects is that the state would have the ability to “stretch out ” its MHP (and other gap funding) among more projects than otherwise.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5154

California Community Colleges Capital Outlay Projects [EdBudget]

Mar 10, 2026 - California Community Colleges Capital Outlay Projects [EdBudget]     a Community college districts issue local general obligation bonds to pay for a share of project costs. b Proposition 51 (2016) bond funds. c The performance criteria phase is the initial phase of this design-build project. d Replacement buildings listed in this category involve
https://lao.ca.gov/Education/EdBudget/Details/1025