The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandate—Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board

May 5, 2025 - The Department of Finance indicates that this approach is allowable under the Constitution. We note, however, that local governments cannot go back in time 15 years and cease required activities to avoid incurring costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

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

May 19, 2025 - The proposal includes language that would allow the Department of Finance to backfill with General Fund should GGRF fall short of the levels necessary to fund these programs in any given year. Eliminates Planned Discretionary Spending.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5049

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

The 2025-26 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan

Feb 12, 2025 - The Department of Finance (DOF) estimates future GGRF revenues based on an average of actual allowance prices from auctions that occurred in the previous calendar year. In general, we find this methodology to be a reasonable approach.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4960

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2025 - The 2024 ‑25 budget package assumed that the Department of Finance would reduce state operations expenditures through two unallocated reductions across most state departments. These included (1)  a $1.5  billion ($760  million General Fund) reduction through the permanent and ongoing reduction of 10,000 vacant positions and the associated funding and (2)  a reduction to General Fund operating expenditures of $2.2  billion in 2024 ‑25 and $2.8  billion in 2025 ‑26 and ongoing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

Frequently Asked Questions About Wildfires in California

Jan 28, 2025 - The Department of Finance (DOF) has authority to allocate more state General Fund to CalFire to pay for the costs of responding to large wildfires (regardless of the existence of a disaster declaration) if the administration finds that the budgeted amount will not be sufficient to cover its costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4952

The 2024-25 Budget: Salton Sea Management Program

Feb 26, 2024 - Helps fund the mitigation projects required by the QSA permits and handles administration and finance for the QSA JPA. QSA JPA JPA including IID, SDCWA, CVWD, MWD, and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4859

The 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Resources and Environmental Protection

Sep 12, 2024 - The programs receiving the most significant reductions include equitable building decarbonization ($396  million, leaving $526  million), residential solar and storage ($350  million, leaving $280  million), and transmission financing ($225  million, which when combined with the $25  million reduction made in the prior year, eliminates all of the planned funding).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4928

The 2024-25 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan

Feb 20, 2024 - As part of developing its annual budget proposal, each year the Department of Finance (DOF) estimates how much revenue it believes will be generated for GGRF at cap ‑and ‑trade auctions in the coming fiscal year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4847

The 2024-25 Budget: Flood Management Proposals

Feb 26, 2024 - In years when the General Fund is not in a position to support these costs on a pay ‑as ‑you ‑go basis, the Legislature could consider returning to the historical practice of relying on general obligation bond financing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4856