Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - Employers pay UI taxes on the first $7,000 of each worker ’s earnings, but the vast majority of workers earn more than $7,000  in each job annually. As a result, employers pay the same amount in UI taxes on behalf of basically every employee in the state, regardless of how much that employee earns.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Our analysis of these issues in the next two sections revolves around two overarching questions: How much should CDTFA spend on cannabis and tobacco enforcement? How should the state pay for these activities?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132

The 2021-22 Budget: Business Tax Incentives

Jan 28, 2021 - How quickly and completely will the appropriation or allocation translate into actual income, spending, or investment? By how much does the policy reduce revenue? What are the alternative uses of this revenue?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4327

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

Mar 18, 2025 - Overall, most programs increase employment and earnings among participants while receiving a subsidy. However, the ultimate goal is to improve long-term employment prospects of these workers. Research suggests that it is less common that programs lead to h igher employment or earnings after the subsidy ends.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5018

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Finally, we described how we matched household types to apartment types for the analysis of housing costs. Strengths and Weaknesses of Data Sources Primary Data Source: Monthly Current Population Surveys (CPS).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/4

Tax Credit Expansions in the American Rescue Plan

Apr 13, 2021 - Figure  1 below shows how childless filers ’ EITC amounts will change under the new law. As the filer ’s earnings increase, the EITC amount first grows over a phase-in range, then flattens, then gradually declines over a phase-out range until the credit reaches zero.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4410

The 2026-27 Budget: California Competes Extension

Mar 18, 2026 - In earlier years, individual awards were much smaller and more numerous, whereas recent rounds have a much smaller number of awards that are typically worth several million dollars each. Changes made to the program in 2018 likely explain much of this trend.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5162

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

Feb 28, 2023 - One of the more optimistic estimates from the studies mentioned above suggests that each dollar of film tax credit results in an increase of $2 to $4 in earnings for workers in that state. At the same time, research on other types of public spending —such as K ‑12 education and workforce development —suggests comparable or better earnings benefits for workers (Heinrich et al. [2013], Jackson [2015], and Hollenbeck [2017]).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4713

Improving California’s Unemployment Insurance Program

Aug 8, 2022 - The state sets weekly UI payments based on prior earnings. Workers receive half of their average weekly earnings, based on their highest earning quarter of their base year. State law set in 2005 also caps the maximum payment at $450 per week.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - Firms earning over 50  percent of their total income from a list of “qualified business activities ” (QBA) are subject to a different apportionment method that includes the location of their sales, payroll, and property.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081