Recent Trends in Young Adult Mortality

Dec 10, 2024 - From follow ‑up discussions with both sets of researchers, we understand that the Wang et al. (2024) analysis includes a broader set of buprenorphine products than the CDPH dashboard. To investigate this issue, CDPH examined an alternative version of their Dashboard summary using a definition of buprenorphine much closer to the one provided by Wang et al. (2024).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4945

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - We then follow the steps described in Bollinger et al. (2019) and Machado and Mata (2005) to produce unconditional percentile estimates. The figures display the median value of the estimates across the various specifications.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/4

Time limits, environmental reviews, and judicial reviews for certain types of infrastructure projects. [Ballot]

Dec 10, 2025 - Following initi al screening, formal tribal consultation —as required under current law —would take place. The measure would require that any agreed-upon measures to reduce or avoid an impact to a tribal cultural resource be included as an enforceable requirement of t he project.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-023

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Spending Plan

Oct 16, 2025 - Total discretionary Gener al Fund spending (excluding Proposition  98) in the 2025 ‑26 budget package are listed in Appendix 1. Special Session Had Notable Budgetary Implications This year, the Governor called a special session of the Legislature that had notable budgetary implications.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5079

The 2025-26 Budget: Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program

Feb 13, 2025 - If the federal SSI COLA was not enough to increase tot al SSI/SSP grants to CNI-adjusted levels, then the SSP portion of the grant was increased by the remaining amount. (Despite the state statutory COLA, there were many years prior to 2011 when the COLA was not provided due to budget constraints.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4964

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Health

Oct 16, 2025 - The spending plan includes additional, one-time General Fund support in 2025-26 for wraparound services for individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) ($3.5  million) and increased wastewater surveillance to monitor disease outbreaks ($3.2  million).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5075

Proposition 32 [Ballot]

Nov 5, 2024 - The proposition would not change any loc al or industry-specific minimum wages. Minimum Wage $18 Per Hour in 2026. In 2026, the minimum wage would be $18 per hour for all employees. Without Proposition 32, it likely would be about $17 per hour.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=32&year=2024

An Update on California Competes [EconTax Blog]

Mar 10, 2023 - The second study ( Hyman et al. [2023] ) compares employment outcomes across two similar groups of California Competes applicants. Despite similarity of the applicants, program rules resulted a higher share of applicants in one group receiving tax credits than the other group.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/771

California’s Child Welfare System: Addressing Disproportionalities and Disparities

Apr 24, 2024 - This report examines disproportionalities and disparities across California’s child welfare system in terms of income and race/ethnicity. The report provides background on the child welfare system, describes child welfare system disproportionalities and disparities, and lays out potential drivers of these inequities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4897

Medi-Cal Rx program and revenues from federal drug price discounts. [Ballot]

Oct 19, 2023 - Moreover, some entities may choose to stop participating in the 340B program altogether as a result of the measure, als o potentially resulting in either savings or costs to state and local governments.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2023-021