The 2026-27 Budget: Cap-and-Invest Expenditure Plan

Feb 10, 2026 - Proposes $500  million to support the remainder of the planned $1.25  billion CalFire backfill. ZEV Incentive Program. Proposes $115  million to create a new light ‑duty ZEV incentive program . (The Governor also proposes providing $85 million from the Air Pollution Control Fund—similarly freed up from undoing the previously‑approved MVA fund transfer—to support this new ZEV program, for a total of $200 million.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5114

The 2026-27 Budget: Contract to Achieve Operational Efficiencies [Publication Details]

Mar 10, 2026 - The budget assumed that the process changes resulting from the contract would reduce state costs by $500 million in 2025-26, growing to $2 billion in annual savings by 2028-29. This post provides background on the state’s recent efforts to identify efficiencies to achieve budget savings and our office’s comments and recommendations concerning the progress of the administration’s efforts to reduce state costs through this contract.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5156

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposed Zero-Emission Vehicle Incentive

Feb 24, 2026 - Governor’s Proposal Proposes $200   Million and Budget Trailer Legislation to Create New ZEV Incentive Program. The Governor proposes $200  million on a one ‑time basis ($115  million from GGRF and $85  million from APCF), along with associated budget trailer legislation to create a new incentive program for light ‑duty ZEVs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5140

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposed Zero-Emission Vehicle Incentive [Publication Details]

Feb 24, 2026 - In this piece, we review the Governor's proposal to provide $200 million to create a new point-of-sale incentive program for light-duty zero-emission vehicles.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5140

The 2026-27 Budget: Contract to Achieve Operational Efficiencies

Mar 10, 2026 - In June 2025, the administration estimated that this endeavor would result in annual General Fund savings of $500  million in 2025-26, growing to roughly $2  billion General Fund annually by 2028-29.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5156

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Operating excess inpatient beds at this scale costs the state over $200 million each year and requires that the state maintain many mental health positions more than the projections show are necessary.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: Food Assistance Programs

Feb 18, 2026 - To be eligible, households generally must earn less than 200  percent of the federal poverty level. CalFresh benefits can be used to buy most groceries and some prepared food at participating vendors, which include most grocery and convenience stores.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5126

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Welfare

Mar 3, 2026 - The administration estimates that implementing the Tiered Rate Structure will cost more than $300  million General Fund in 2027-28, $500  million in 2028-29, and $700  million General Fund in 2029-30 (with some potential growth thereafter and ongoing).
https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/5147

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - Whereas California’s labor market has stagnated over the last two years, the S&P 500 stock index has appreciated roughly 50 percent over the same period. And most of this increase has come from skyrocketing share prices among a handful of firms associated with innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

The 2026-27 Budget: Community College Facilities

Mar 17, 2026 - Figure 1 CCC Uses Certain Scoring Metrics to Rank Project Proposals Metric Provides points based on the age of the facility, with older facilities receiving more points. 60 Local contribution Provides points based on the share of project costs covered by local funds, with larger local contributions receiving more points. 50 Provides points based on facility condition, with facilities in worse
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5159