The 2025-26 Budget: Higher Education Overview

Feb 6, 2025 - Recommend Signaling More Realistic Budget Expectations for CSU and UC in 2026 ‑27. To balance the budget in 2024 ‑25, the state applied small General Fund reductions to CSU and UC. At  the same time, the state provided a clear signal to CSU and UC that they were to begin planning for deeper base reductions in 2025 ‑26.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4957

Early Data Revision Shows No Job Creation During 2024 Q4 [EconTax Blog]

Jun 24, 2025 - Newest Revision  Shows State Added No Jobs from September Through December 2024.   Based on the most recent release of the early benchmarks, shown in the figure below, the monthly business survey appears to have overestimated job growth by 100,000 jobs.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/833

Early Data Revision Shows No Job Creation During 2024 Q4 [EconTax Blog]

Jun 24, 2025 - Newest Revision  Shows State Added No Jobs from September Through December 2024.   Based on the most recent release of the early benchmarks, shown in the figure below, the monthly business survey appears to have overestimated job growth by 100,000 jobs.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/833

The 2025-26 Budget: Various California Air Resources Board Proposals

Feb 24, 2025 - Requires airport shuttle operators to begin adding zero ‑emission shuttles to their fleets in 2027 and to fully transition to ZEVs  by  2036. Federal Waivers Required for Many of CARB ’s Regulations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4980

Labor Agreements to Achieve Budgetary Savings

Jul 11, 2025 - Control Section 3.90 of the 2025-26 budget (as added by Chapter 5 of 2025 [AB 102, Gabriel]) established an expectation of the Legislature that all 21 of the state’s bargaining units would meet and confer in good faith with the administration before July 1, 2025 to achieve savings assumed in the budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5063

Retail Theft in California: Looking Back at a Decade of Change

Jun 12, 2025 - Added Time for Certain Theft or Property Damage Felonies. Chapter  174 of 2024 (S B  1416 , Newman), Chapter  220 of 2024 (A B  1960 , Rivas), and Proposition  36 all added similar language to state law, which allows for increased sentences for people convicted of felonies in which the amount of property that was stolen or damaged is over $50,000,  with longer enhancement terms as the dollar amounts increase.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

Annual Revision to Monthly Jobs Survey Shows Far Fewer Job Gains in 2024 [EconTax Blog]

Mar 21, 2025 - Recent Rebenching Shows State Added Far Fewer Jobs Than Originally Thought.   The figure below compares the preliminary, monthly estimates of job growth between September 2023 and September 2024 to reviseed actual job growth as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this week.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/825

Annual Revision to Monthly Jobs Survey Shows Far Fewer Job Gains in 2024 [EconTax Blog]

Mar 21, 2025 - Recent Rebenching Shows State Added Far Fewer Jobs Than Originally Thought.   The figure below compares the preliminary, monthly estimates of job growth between September 2023 and September 2024 to reviseed actual job growth as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this week.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/825

The 2025-26 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Reauthorization and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Proposals at May Revision

May 19, 2025 - Moreover, if the Legislature does not use GGRF to help ad dress the state ’s budget problems, it will be faced with making even greater reductions to General Fund-supported programs or increasing revenues by a like amount.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5049

The 2025-26 Budget: May Revision Trailer Bill Proposals on the Delta Conveyance Project and Water Quality Control Plans

May 27, 2025 - In effect, approving this proposal would signal the Legislature ’s support for the DCP —something the Legislature might not be prepared to do —because it would remove many of the obstacles to move forward on the project.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5053