The 2021-22 California Spending Plan: The State Appropriations Limit

Aug 30, 2021 - The Governor proposed allocating half of the excess revenues ($8.1  billion) to taxpayers in the form of a second round of Golden State Stimulus payments. For the school payment portion, the Governor proposed allocating the payments in a future year, as allowed under the Constitution.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4449

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 2024-25 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Dec 7, 2023 - Based on deposits the state made in 2020 ‑21 and 2021 ‑22, the Proposition  98 Reserve currently holds a balance of $8.1  billion. (This amount excludes the additional deposits the state had anticipated making in 2022 ‑23 and 2023 ‑24 prior to our lower revenue estimates.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4819

The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - For California, the dot ‑com era —when stocks rose and then fell precipitously in response to widespread adoption of the internet —offers the most salient example. The internet has proven to be a transformative technology and, yet, the stock market ’s initial reaction was clearly overly exuberant.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5091

The 2021-22 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision

May 17, 2021 - The Governor allocates half of these excess revenues —$8.1  billion —to taxpayer rebates for taxpayers with incomes less than $75,000. The administration does not allocate the remaining half to schools and community colleges in this budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4432

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

Apr 19, 2023 - Other downturns, such as the 2001 so-called dot-com recession, had severe fiscal implications while inflicting somewhat milder economic damage. The 2008 Great Recession had brutal effects on both the state ’s economy and budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4762

The 2021-22 Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Sep 23, 2021 - Economic Relief Golden State Stimulus The 2021 ‑22 Budget Act includes $8.1  billion General Fund in Golden State Stimulus payments, the second round of state direct payments to lower-income taxpayers to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4452

Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - In March of 2004, on the heels of the dot ‑com bust, voters passed Proposition  58, which created the Budget Stabilization Account (BSA). In the 2006 ‑07 budget, the Legislature deposited $472  million into the BSA and in 2007 ‑08 deposited $1.5  billion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028

The 2023-24 Budget: Multiyear Assessment

Feb 15, 2023 - Three of those —the recession in the early 1990s, the dot ‑com bust in the early 2000s, and the Great Recession —resulted in large revenue shortfalls and ensuing multiyear deficits, even for some years after each recession ended.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4687

The State Appropriations Limit

Apr 21, 2021 - The state ’s appropriations subject to the limit fell substantially during the dot ‑com bust in the early 2000s and again during the Great Recession due to the significant decline in state revenues during those downturns.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4416