The 2023-24 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Nov 8, 2023 - We estimate that the state ’s total contributions towards employee health premiums in 2023-24 is about $3  billion. Pension. The state pays a percentage of state employee salaries to fund pension benefits.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4814

The 2020-21 Budget: Structuring the Budget

Feb 10, 2020 - The 2019 ‑ 20 b udget focused on paying down state debts —in particular, making supplemental pension payments —as a key tool to improving the budget ’s multiyear balance. These supplemental payments reduce the state ’s unfunded liabilities, thereby reducing future annual payments to the pension system and reducing costs over a few decades.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4150

The 2023-24 Budget: Multiyear Budget Outlook

May 23, 2023 - Remaining programs —including employee compensation, pensions, and higher education —are responsible for the remaining $4  billion in difference in that year. As we have commented in the past , our office has little insight into the components of, or assumptions underlying, the administration’s projections in HHS.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4772

Whether or Not to Tap Reserves to Solve Estimated Budget Problem Emerges as Key Fiscal Decision Facing California’s Legislature [Publication Details]

Apr 19, 2023 - Through the final months of the 2023-24 budget process, California’s Legislature will make numerous important decisions regarding the allocation of state resources in the context of a budget problem. Few choices will be as consequential for the state’s medium-term fiscal outlook as whether or not to draw upon its budget reserves to close a projected deficit.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4762

Whether or Not to Tap Reserves to Solve Estimated Budget Problem Emerges as Key Fiscal Decision Facing California’s Legislature

Apr 19, 2023 - In that case, the state ’s reserves could be key to sustaining the state ’s safety net through a challenging economic period. Subscribe | California State Legislature | Online Voter Registration | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Legislative Analyst's Office | The California Legislature's Nonpartisan Fiscal and Policy Advisor 925 L Street, Suite 1000 Sacramento, CA 95814 | (916) 445-4656
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4762

The State Appropriations Limit

Apr 21, 2021 - The Constitution defines this exclusion as: “appropriations required to pay the cost of interest and redemption charges ... on indebtedness existing or legally authorized as of January 1, 1979, or on bonded indebtedness thereafter approved according to law by a vote of the electors... ” In implementing legislation, the Legislature chose not to include some outstanding debt that existed in 1979 —such as unfunded pension liabilities —as an exemption under  this  language.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4416

CalFacts 2024 [Publication Details]

Dec 2, 2024 - CalFacts presents a wide range of facts and trends about the state's economy, finances, and programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4942

Flexible Funding to California in the American Rescue Plan

Mar 23, 2021 - State and local governments have until December 31, 2024 to use the funds. Restrictions on Use of Funds. There are two restrictions on the use of the fiscal recovery funds. First, state and local governments are prohibited from using the funds to make supplemental pension payments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4407

The 2025-26 Budget: Undertaking Fiscal Oversight

Feb 24, 2025 - Similarly, state-federal partnerships, like Medi-Cal, the state ’s Medicaid program, require the state provide a minimum level of funding for large portions of the program. Where the state has implemented expansions of state-federal partnerships, however, there typically is greater fiscal flexibility.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4983

The 2022-23 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2022 - The Legislature could use the funding it frees up from funding fewer proposals to address district cost pressures (such as rising pension costs), or it could set this funding aside in the Proposition  98 Reserve for future allocation.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4492