The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Spending Plan

Oct 16, 2025 - Major categories of borrowing in the budget  include: Medi ‑Cal Maneuver ($4.4   Billion). Under state law, the administration can transfer funds to the Medical Provider Interim Payment (MPIP) Fund to help cover an appropriation deficiency in Medi ‑Cal.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5079

The 2026-27 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 12, 2026 - We describe the major items in each of these categories below. Budget Solutions Budget solutions are proposals that create more budget capacity. Taken together, the budget solutions in the Governor ’s budget result in an improvement in the budget ’s bottom line by $9  billion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5101

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - The added risk variable weighs on the range of revenue outcomes that we view as most plausible. The middle of the range, which becomes our main revenue forecast, is thus lower than if we did not include the stock market risk indicator.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2025 - Discretionary Proposals The Governor ’s budget includes three categories of discretionary proposals, which are those that are not already committed to under current law or policy. First, some proposals provide short ‑term budget savings that create more budget capacity.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

California's Legislative Analyst's Office and the Value of Independence

Nov 15, 2024 - As such, our independent fiscal assessment underlies the Legislature ’s ability to assert an informed check on the executive branch, making any added complexity from diverging estimates a worthwhile trade-off.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4938

The 2025-26 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor's May Revision

May 17, 2025 - Finally, although we have not previously recommended the Leg islature take decisive action to address the structural deficits, the state ’s persistent fiscal imbalance and the added downside risks —particularly from potential federal actions —suggest a need for a more proactive approach.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5044

The 2023-24 Budget: Considering Inflation's Effects on State Programs

Nov 16, 2022 - Categories of Costs Salaries and Benefits. Across the state budget, the largest category of state operations costs is for salaries and benefits for state employees. Increases in state employee pay typically are established in labor agreements, which are negotiated by the administration and ratified by the Legislature.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4647

The 2025-26 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 20, 2024 - Outside of government and health care, the state has added no jobs in a year and a half. Similarly, the number of Californians who are unemployed is 25  percent higher than during the strong labor markets of 2019 and 2022.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4939

The State Appropriations Limit

Apr 21, 2021 - Lastly, Proposition  111 added additional categories of appropriations  exclusions. Room Under the Limit Has Diminished Over the Last Decade. The state ’s appropriations subject to the limit fell substantially during the dot ‑com bust in the early 2000s and again during the Great Recession due to the significant decline in state revenues during those downturns.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4416

The 2024-25 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision

May 17, 2024 - For example, major categories of cost shifts include: an additional $607  million in special fund loans to the General Fund, and a proposal to shift funding for the Capitol Annex project from cash to bond debt service that provides $450  million in budget savings within the budget window.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4902