The 2022-23 Budget: Supply Chain and Port Infrastructure Proposals

Feb 15, 2022 - Once the administration has finalized and provided to the Legislature the details of this grant proposal, the Legislature should consider whether the request is an appropriate use of state General Fund.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4540

Evaluation of a Tax Exemption for Zero-Emission Buses

Apr 15, 2024 - Finally, the ICT prohibits transit agencies from purchasing conventional buses starting in 2029. The standard useful life of a bus is 12 years, so CARB set these requirements with an eye toward completing the statewide transition to ZEBs by 2040.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4890

The 2026-27 Budget: California Competes Extension

Mar 18, 2026 - Finally, agreements include recapture provisions that allow GO-Biz to reduce or reclaim credits if recipients fail to meet hiring or investment commitments. Empirical Evidence Points to Effectiveness of Tax Credit for Job Creation.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5162

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - Final Year of Funding for California Education Learning Lab. The budget package includes a final year of funding totaling $5.5  million from the General Fund for the California Education Learning Lab, with the intention to eliminate the program beginning in 2026-27 (which will achieve $4  million in ongoing savings).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081/

Updating the California Necessities Index

Aug 14, 2025 - Finally, option D, which uses alternate inflation meas ures, does away with the concept of measuring changes in the prices of necessities, instead measuring changes in the prices of all goods bought by a broad set of consumers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5065

Overview of Diversity Efforts in the Film Tax Credit Program

May 1, 2025 - Within 60 days of concluding production activity, the applicant must submit a Final Assessment summarizing how the applicant has met or made a “good ‑faith attempt ” to meet the goals detailed in the workplan.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5036

The 2024-25 Budget: Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development

Feb 20, 2024 - To date, GO-Biz has not reported any final results from grant awards, nor are we aware of any rigorous research on the effectiveness of the grants. Testing an expansion of the traditional California Competes model may have been reasonable a few years ago when the state was flush with resources.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4846

The 2025-26 Budget: Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development

Mar 18, 2025 - Since these agreements were finalized in 2022 and 2023, and grant milestones are spread out among the five subsequent years, it is still unknown at this point what fraction will ultimately be claimed.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5018

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

Feb 28, 2025 - Credit Claims Have Increased in Size and Changed in Composition Over Time. Figure  6 shows the amount of credits claimed by recipients over time. The annual amount of credit claims per year has settled in the range of $150  million to $200  million for the last several years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5000

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Accordingly, we recommend that the Legislature approach the Governor ’s proposals not as one ‑time workload adjustments, but as components of a broader, more sustained effort to address these policy challenges.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132