California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Strengths and Weaknesses of Data Sources Primary Data Source: Monthly Current Population Surveys (CPS). Most of the estimates in our posts use data from the outgoing rotation groups from the Basic Monthly CPS.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/4

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - In the second approach, we use CPS data from 2002 through 2023 to track the how the rate of low-wage work changes over time for cohorts of workers born in the same year. Limitations of Survey-Based Estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/2

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - (In the CPS, roughly 4  percent of California ’s low-wage workers indicate that they hold multiple jobs. Some research suggests that CPS respondents likely underreport independent contracting work.) Weekly hours among part-time low-wage workers vary substantially, with many working less than half-time and many others working nearly full -time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/1

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Minimum Wage as Policy to Address Inequality In this section, we use data from the monthly Current Population Surveys (CPS) from January 2022 through December 2023 to estimate three measures of wage inequality.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/3

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/852

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/852

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

Oversight of certain public benefit artificial intelligence (AI) companies. [Ballot]

Jan 20, 2026 - The measure would have the following major fiscal effects: Increased state costs that would likely be in the tens of millions of dollars annually to establish and operate a new regulatory commission overseeing certain public benefit AI com panies.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-033

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 2023-24 Budget: Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training—Office of Administrative Hearing Costs

Feb 13, 2023 - As of January 2023, POST had filled roughly one-third of its 16 positions in the Intake and Disposition bureau, which is responsible for analyzing and evaluating complaints received from the public and serious misconduct allegations received from l aw enforcement agencies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4677