The 2026-27 Budget: CDTFA’s Cannabis and Tobacco Programs

Feb 23, 2026 - Despite “Workload ” Framing, Level of Enforcement Is a Policy Choice. For programs to work as expected, departments must complete many tasks. For example, when taxpayers file returns, CDTFA must process every return.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132

The 2023-24 Budget: California's Film Tax Credit

Feb 28, 2023 - “Motion picture production incentives and filming location decisions: a discrete choice approach. ” Journal of Economic Geography 20.3 (2020): 679 ‑709. Rickman, Dan, and Hongbo Wang. “Lights, Camera, What Action?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4713

The 2022-23 Budget: Fuel Tax Rates

Feb 11, 2022 - The connection between this fundamental policy choice and the annual inflation adjustment is tenuous at best, so we encourage the Legislature to regard the Governor ’s proposal as just one among a wide range of options.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4528

Evaluation of a Tax Exemption for Zero-Emission Buses

Apr 15, 2024 - This intrinsic motivation very likely influences their choices about which types of buses to purchase. Cost of Other Capital Investments. As transit agencies adopt ZEBs, they incur some other significant up-front costs —for example, constructing and maintaining charging infrastructure.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4890

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - Making changes now will allow the Legislature to make strategic choices about how to repay the federal loan, while also replacing the UI financing system with one that is simpler, balanced, and flexible.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943

The 2021-22 Budget: Business Tax Incentives

Jan 28, 2021 - Applicants Must Explain How Credit Will Influence Hiring and Investment Choices. Since 2018, GO ‑Biz must disqualify any business that cannot credibly explain how the credit will directly affect its business decisions here.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4327

The 2023-24 Budget: Considering Inflation's Effects on State Programs

Nov 16, 2022 - In these cases, the Legislature makes specific choices about whether and how to spend more funds to keep up with rising program costs. These changes can be one time, temporary, or ongoing. The remainder of this section describes how these mechanisms are used across different categories of spending.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4647