Updating the California Necessities Index

Aug 14, 2025 - Recent changes were made to the publication of statistics required to calculate the California Necessities Index, which is used to adjust certain benefit rates and cost-of-living adjustments. In this brief, we provide details on the changes and evaluate alternatives for the index that require only currently available data and conform to the original intent of the index.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5065

Updating the California Necessities Index [Publication Details]

Aug 14, 2025 - Recent changes were made to the publication of statistics required to calculate the California Necessities Index, which is used to adjust certain benefit rates and cost-of-living adjustments. In this brief, we provide details on the changes and evaluate alternatives for the index that require only currently available data and conform to the original intent of the index.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5065

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - These customer interactions can affect workers in a variety of ways. One of the risks of being a “ frontline worker ”—exposure to respiratory disease—became especially salient in the initial years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/1

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - “Interactive: Comparing Wages Within and Across Demographic Groups in the United States. ” Washington Center for Equitable Growth. Dey, Matthew, Elizabeth Weber Handwerker, David Piccone Jr., and John Voorheis (2022).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/3

Evaluating State Economic Stimulus Proposals

Feb 1, 2021 - Be Cautious of Unintended Interactions. Unintended interactions between a new stimulus program and other federal, state, and local programs can reduce its effectiveness. Policymakers should carefully consider these potential interactions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4331

Local Sales Tax Rebates in 2023-24

Sep 16, 2025 - One-quarter of Californians live in a jurisdiction that paid rebates in 2023-24. Focusing on these areas, Figure  3 displays the distribution of rebate payments across jurisdictions, weighted by the number of residents.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5074

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Single parents with one, two, or three children live in one-bedroom, two-bedroom, or three-bedroom apartments, respectively. An adult couple without children live in a studio/efficiency. An adult couple with one or two children live in a two-bedroom apartment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/4

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - To address this possibility, we estimate the age distribution again, this ti me only for workers who have lived in the U.S. for at least one decade. Figure  2 displays the results. These estimates are very similar to the numbers in Figure  1, indicating that recent immigration does not explain those age patterns.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/2

The 2025-26 Budget: California’s Film Tax Credit

Feb 28, 2025 - The COVID ‑19 effect was short ‑lived and shoot days returned to pre ‑pandemic levels in 2021. In contrast, filming activity following the strikes has shown no signs of recovering so far, with shoot days slightly declining further in 2024.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5000

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

Nov 16, 2022 - Cases in which program spending is adjusted by certain factors, like a cost ‑of ‑living adjustment (COLA). These factors are set and approved in state law. These adjustments require limited annual legislative input, particularly when continuously appropriated.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4647