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

Mar 18, 2026 - In this brief, we examine the Governor’s proposal to restructure state governance. The first section explains how the current system evolved and describes the main entities and their responsibilities. The second section reviews previous governance studies and explains how governance works in other contexts.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

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

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/852

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

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/852

The 2026-27 Budget: Office of Emergency Services Next Generation 911 System

Feb 27, 2026 - Next Generation 911  systems use Internet Protocol (IP) ‑based technology to send 911  data from one computer to another over the Internet. This  technology allows 911 callers to share multimedia emergency communications (voice, video, photos, and text) and improved location data with dispatch centers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5145

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - The Internet obviously has been a transformative innovation for society and the economy, but early on, financial markets valued dot-com and Internet firms above what their revenue-generating capacity warranted at the time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

Oversight of certain public benefit artificial intelligence (AI) companies. [Ballot]

Jan 20, 2026 - The measure would have the following major fiscal effects: Increased state costs that would likely be in the tens of millions of dollars annually to establish and operate a new regulatory commission overseeing certain public benefit AI com panies.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-033

Artificial intelligence (AI) and child safety. [Ballot]

Dec 12, 2025 - Requires Schools to Ban Use of Internet-Enabled Devices During Instructional Time . The measure requires school governing boards to develop and adopt a policy prohibiting students from using all internet-enabled devices, including smartphones, during school time by July 1, 2027.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-025

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

Dec 10, 2025 - The following types of projects —and their associated infrastructure —would be considered essential and eligible for the new processes: housing, water systems (not including Delta conveyance facilities), clean energy, medical treatment facilities, p ublic safety (including first responder facilities and wildfire risk reduction, but not including jails or prisons), broadband Internet access, education facilities, and transporta tion (not including high-speed rail).
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-023

The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - For California, the dot ‑com era —when stocks rose and then fell precipitously in response to widespread adoption of the internet —offers the most salient example. The internet has proven to be a transformative technology and, yet, the stock market ’s initial reaction was clearly overly exuberant.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5091

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - California Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Program. The budget provides $7  million in ongoing General Fund for ICAC program grants. Funding for the program, which had typically been $5  million annually, was set to expire at the end of 2024-25.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081