The 2026-27 Budget: Streamlining California’s Affordable Housing Funding System

Mar 6, 2026 - In years of leaner supplies of state subsidies, however, demand for the set ‑aside pool will be much less and a mandatory 50  percent set ‑aside for HDFC projects could be too high. This prospect becomes even more likely due to the up ‑to ‑doubling of the availability of federal 4  percent tax credits resulting from H.R. 1.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5154

The 2026-27 Budget: Community College Facilities

Mar 17, 2026 - Share of Funding Allocated Toward Modernization Projects Is Likely Too Low. Though we think the scoring system is generally reasonable, it has a few shortcomings. One of these shortcomings is that it weights modernization and growth projects in a way that does not align tightly with identified project needs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5159

Limiting pay for administrators at hospitals and physician groups. [Ballot]

Sep 22, 2025 - If affected entities provide more charity care, public hospitals that are not subject to the limit might see some savings too. On net, these effects, if they happen, probably would be fairly limited.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-009

The 2026-27 Budget: California Competes Extension

Mar 18, 2026 - In earlier years, individual awards were much smaller and more numerous, whereas recent rounds have a much smaller number of awards that are typically worth several million dollars each. Changes made to the program in 2018 likely explain much of this trend.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5162

Assessment of CSU’s Graduation Initiative 2025

Dec 10, 2025 - The new framework goes beyond the GI 2025 objectives of increasing graduation rates and closing equity gaps by adding new objectives and several new metrics. One  notable new objective is ensuring all students are able to graduate with a first career job or pathway to graduate education.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5099

The 2026-27 Budget: Office of Emergency Services Next Generation 911 System

Feb 27, 2026 - On the other hand, the regional approach may have too much redundancy and may have become so complex that it suffers in operability compared to the envisioned statewide system. It is unclear if OES ’s choices are consistent with the Legislature ’s preferences if faced with the same set of options and trade ‑ offs —particularly since OES has not provided
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5145

Five Guidelines for Using Revenue Forecasts [EconTax Blog]

Feb 20, 2025 - For these reasons, decision makers should be careful not to read too much into short-term patterns. Comparisons of monthly collections to budget forecasts, even when looking over multiple months, are best used as a gauge of whether revenues are, in general, improving or deteriorating.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/822

Five Guidelines for Using Revenue Forecasts [EconTax Blog]

Feb 20, 2025 - For these reasons, decision makers should be careful not to read too much into short-term patterns. Comparisons of monthly collections to budget forecasts, even when looking over multiple months, are best used as a gauge of whether revenues are, in general, improving or deteriorating.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/822

The 2026-27 Budget: Governor’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Tax Credit Proposal

Feb 24, 2026 - There also are a number of other refiners in the United States that currently produce RD and could, with the purchase of some ad ditional equipment, be converted to produce SAF in addition to, or instead of, RD.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5139

California Labor Market Showing Broad Signs of Weakness [EconTax Blog]

Sep 30, 2025 - According to the monthly business survey, the state added 4,000 jobs in August and the July report was revised down from +15,000 to -300. With net job losses over the past three months, the state 's labor market remains soft and has perhaps weakened slightly.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/839