The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements

Feb 20, 2026 - The Governor ’s budget also maintains a $7  billion withdrawal from the BSA in 2025-26. If a May Revision windfall exceeds the amount needed to fund the true up, we recommend the Legislature use those resources to reduce the size of this withdrawal.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5133

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - The added risk variable weighs on the range of revenue outcomes that we view as most plausible. The middle of the range, which becomes our main revenue forecast, is thus lower than if we did not include the stock market risk indicator.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

Overview of Major Impacts of H.R. 1 – One Big Beautiful Bill Act [Publication Details]

Aug 20, 2025 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 7 on Accountability and Oversight
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5067

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Spending Plan

Oct 16, 2025 - During the special session, the Legislature added Control Sections 90.00 and 90.01 to the 2024 ‑25 Budget Act providing up to $2.5  billion one ‑time for response and recovery costs related to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5079

The 2025-26 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 20, 2024 - Outside of government and health care, the state has added no jobs in a year and a half. Similarly, the number of Californians who are unemployed is 25  percent higher than during the strong labor markets of 2019 and 2022.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4939

Rethinking California’s Reserve Policy (Panel 2) [Publication Details]

May 7, 2025 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 7 on Accountability and Oversight
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5041

Reserves, Proposition 2, and the Budget Stabilization Account (Panel 1) [Publication Details]

May 7, 2025 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 7 on Accountability and Oversight
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5040

California's Legislative Analyst's Office and the Value of Independence

Nov 15, 2024 - As such, our independent fiscal assessment underlies the Legislature ’s ability to assert an informed check on the executive branch, making any added complexity from diverging estimates a worthwhile trade-off.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4938

The 2025-26 Budget: Multiyear Budget Outlook

May 24, 2025 - Specifically, our revenue estimates exceed the administration ’s estimates by $5  billion to $7  billion annually from 2026-27 to 2028-29 —differences we consider very minor given the size of the budget and uncertainty in revenue forecasting.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5052

The 2024-25 Budget: Multiyear Budget Outlook

May 23, 2024 - Analysis Budget Year Budget Problem $7  Billion Higher Under LAO Revenue and Spending Estimates. Under our office ’s revenue and spending projections, and assuming the Governor ’s May Revision policies are adopted, the budget problem for this year is $7  billion larger.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4907