The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - We examine how these cost drivers have changed alongside policy changes in the program and the state overall. Taken together, these cost drivers account for much of the overall growth in the program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

The 2026-27 Budget: Re-Envisioning State Education Governance [Publication Details]

Mar 18, 2026 - In this brief, we examine the Governor’s proposal to restructure state governance. The first section explains how the current system evolved and describes the main entities and their responsibilities. The second section reviews previous governance studies and explains how governance works in other contexts.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: Re-Envisioning State Education Governance

Mar 18, 2026 - In this brief, we examine the Governor ’s proposal to restructure state governance. The first section explains how the current system evolved and describes the main entities and their responsibilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 13, 2026 - In light of projected structural budget deficits, we recommend that the Legislature closely examine General Fund spending across the budget, including in DDS. We provide this information to help inform the Legislature ’s deliberations and conversations about its budget priorities over the coming months and years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5157

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

The 2026-27 Budget: University of California

Feb 26, 2026 - The remainder of this section examines these cost drivers in greater detail. Trends in enrollment are covered in the “Enrollment ” section of this brief. Employee Compensation as a Share of UC ’s Budget Has Grown.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5143

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Receiver Examining Pay Increases as Part of Action Plan. Given the importance of non ‑compensation factors in determining vacancy rates, it is unclear what level of pay increase would be needed to meaningfully improve recruitment and retention for mental health positions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - …Suggesting State May Want to Examine Its Regulatory Fee Structure, Particularly Given Limited General Fund Capacity for Ongoing Commitments. The inconsistencies in how the state supports current firearm workload and the changing legal landscape suggests the state may want to examine its regulatory fee structure to more consistently determine what regulatory and enforcement activities should be supported by regulatory fees versus the General Fund.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposition 98 Guarantee and K-12 Spending Plan [Publication Details]

Feb 4, 2026 - This brief examines the estimates of the Proposition 98 guarantee in the Governor’s budget and assesses the overall structure of the Governor’s school spending plan. It also examines a few of the larger spending proposals and the proposal to delay a $5.6 billion settle-up payment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5110