Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - For example, in 2018 ‑19, the Legislature created the Budget Deficit Savings Account —which was used to temporarily hold a $2.6  billion optional deposit into the BSA —and the Safety Net Reserve —a reserve specifically dedicated to CalWORKs and Medi ‑Cal.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028

Flexible Funding to California in the American Rescue Plan

Mar 23, 2021 - The state is not expected to experience a reduction in General Fund revenue in 2020-21 or 2021-22 compared to 2018-19 (the baseline revenue year in the ARP). Specifically, General Fund revenues (excluding constitutional reserve deposits) were $143  billion in 2018-19, while comparable revenues for 2020-21 and 2021-22 currently are estimated to be $158  billion and $161  billion, respectively.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4407

The 2024-25 Budget: Proposition 2 Debt Payment Proposals

Mar 20, 2024 - (For more information about this debt, see: The 2017‑18 Budget: The Governor’s CalPERS Borrowing Proposal and The 2018‑19 Budget: Repaying the CalPERS Borrowing Plan .) Debt Payments Must Supplement —Not Supplant —Funding for Two Years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4887

The 2023-24 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor's May Revision

May 15, 2023 - The 2018‑19 budget created the Safety Net Reserve to set aside funds for future costs of two programs—CalWORKs and Medi‑Cal—in the event of a recession. Absent policy changes, these programs typically experience increased expenditures during a recession when unemployment increases and program caseloads rises.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4769

The 2020-21 Budget: California's Spring Fiscal Outlook

May 8, 2020 - From 2018 ‑ 19 t o 2020 ‑21, General Fund spending on K ‑ 14 e ducation would be $2. 4  b illion lower than the Governor ’s January budget level in the U ‑shaped recession and $2. 3  b illion lower in the L ‑shaped recession.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4228

The State Appropriations Limit

Apr 21, 2021 - Since 2018, the Governor also declared states of emergency related to various wildfires. For example, the Governor declared a state of emergency related to the Camp wildfire on November 8, 2018, and related to the LNU Lightning Complex and other wildfires burning statewide on August  18, 2020.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4416

The 2020-21 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2020 - Across 2018‑19 to 2020‑21, the administration’s estimates of revenue from the state’s three largest taxes are $34 million (less than 0.01 percent of total collections) above our Fiscal Outlook estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4135

The 2021-22 Budget: The Governor’s Proposition 2 Proposals

Apr 26, 2021 - In particular, the Legislature deposited an additional $2  billion into the BSA in 2016-17 and an additional $2.6  billion in 2018-19. However, a portion of these deposits ultimately were used to fund required true ups.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4418

The 2022-23 Budget: State Appropriations Limit Implications

Mar 30, 2022 - (As of 2018 ‑19, cities and counties had over $150  billion in collective room under their limits. As a result, changing this definition is unlikely to result in very many local governments exceeding their limits.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4583

Taking Stock of California’s Recession Readiness

Feb 12, 2020 - This aligns with what our office found in its March  2018 report, Building Reserves to Prepare for a Recession . In that report, we illustrated how the state’s budget reserves—as proposed by then-Governor Brown—were approaching a level that could cover the budget problems of a “mild” downturn.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4156