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

Feb 23, 2026 - We recommended that the Licensing Program be funded exclusively through license fees, which is how it is funded today. LAO Recommendations Approach Proposals as Pieces of a Bigger Policy Puzzle. Cannabis and tobacco compliance present an ongoing policy challenge for the Legislature.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - Under current conditions, but assuming our proposed taxable wage base of $46,800 and assuming the state aimed to reach the reserve target in five years, the reserve ‑building tax rate today would be 0.5  percent.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943

Improving California’s Unemployment Insurance Program

Aug 8, 2022 - In our assessment, today ’s problems do not call for fundamental reforms that could upend longstanding tenants of the state ’s labor market. Instead, targeted changes to state practices could improve the experience unemployed workers have when they need UI.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615