The 2026-27 Budget: Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation Proposals

Mar 19, 2026 - Recommendation Weigh Merits of LCI Proposals Within Context of Overall Budget Strategy. As the budget picture becomes more clear in the next few months, we recommend the Legislature decide whether the merits of these proposals outweigh the resulting additional pressure on the General Fund both in 2026-27 and out-years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5167

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

Mar 18, 2026 - A Few Core Principles Could Guide Changes to the SPI ’s Role. The Governor ’s proposal is an opportunity for the Legislature to consider many changes to the SPI ’s role and duties. The previous governance studies and the state ’s experience with its current governance structure contain several lessons that could guide a redesign of the position.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The Bay-Delta Plan and Voluntary Agreements: Ensuring Effective Legislative Oversight

Mar 18, 2026 - The last comprehensive update occurred in 1995 and largely guides management today. (The 1995  update concerned the entire Bay ‑Delta watershed and included substantive changes to water quality objectives for fish and wildlife beneficial uses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5163

The 2026-27 Budget: Community College Facilities

Mar 17, 2026 - Having clear standards in evaluating projects can help guide the Legislature in identifying which projects have the strongest justification. The scoring system also places highest priority on life safety projects, with requirements in place to ensure that districts submit only immediate needs under this category.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5159

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 13, 2026 - In 2016, the Legislature appropriated ongoing funding for the Disparity Funds Program, which awards grants to RCs and community ‑based organizations for strategies to reduce disparities in service authorizations, utilization, and spending.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5157

The 2026-27 Budget: Contract to Achieve Operational Efficiencies

Mar 10, 2026 - This causes the state to lose valuable time that could have been spent developing and implementing other cost reductions strategies. In addition, overly ambitious cost savings targets can mask, to an extent, the size of the structural deficit.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5156

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

Mar 9, 2026 - This Time Might Be Different, but It Is Not Safe to Bet on It.   As our office warned last November, it now appears time to take seriously the notion that the stock market has become overheated. While there is a chance that this time is different and no such downturn is forthcoming, the risk appears strong enough that we have incorporated it into the state 's revenue outlook.  
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/852

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

Mar 9, 2026 - This Time Might Be Different, but It Is Not Safe to Bet on It.   As our office warned last November, it now appears time to take seriously the notion that the stock market has become overheated. While there is a chance that this time is different and no such downturn is forthcoming, the risk appears strong enough that we have incorporated it into the state 's revenue outlook.  
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/852

The 2026-27 Budget: County Administration and H.R. 1 Implementation

Mar 5, 2026 - At the same time, individual county implementation will depend on strategies and resource allocation priorities of individual counties. To support successfully mitigating risks of payment error penalties, the Legislature will need to understand what changes to state and county processes will be required to address the largest contributors to error rates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5149

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Analysis

Mar 2, 2026 - Administration Identifies Several Strategies to Mitigate Disenrollment Impacts. The administration has indicated it will prioritize using administrative data to automatically identify individuals who are excluded or exempt from the community engagement requirement.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5146