The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook Executive Summary Not Safe to Bet Artificial Intelligence ( AI) Fueled Exuberance Is Sustainable. Both the California and U.S. economies currently face significant headwinds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5091

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

Jan 12, 2026 - That said, recent budgets have set the SFEU bet ween $3.5  billion and $4.5  billion, so the Governor ’s budget proposal to set the balance to $4.5  billion is generally in line with recent policy.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5101

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

May 17, 2024 - As such, some proposals that the Governor calls “pauses, ” we refer to as reductions.) Nearly $3  billion of the May Revision spending-related solutions are delays. As a result, proposed spending is higher in the out-years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4902

The State Appropriations Limit

Apr 21, 2021 - (These limits also are referred to as “Gann limits ” in reference to one of the measure ’s coauthors, Paul Gann.) The appropriations limits later were amended by Proposition  111, which was passed by voters in 1990.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4416

The 2025-26 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 20, 2024 - Current stock prices relative to companies ’ past earnings (a common measure of how “expensive ” stocks are) are at levels rivaled only by the transitory booms of 1999 and 2021. Furthermore, a single company (Nvidia) accounts for about one ‑third of the total gains in the S &P 500 stock index over the last year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4939

The 2024-25 Budget: Proposition 2 Debt Payment Proposals

Mar 20, 2024 - Employee and Employer Contributions to “Normal Cost. ” The normal cost is the amount actuaries determine must be contributed to the system in a given year to fund the benefit earned by state employees in that year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4887

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Spending Plan

Oct 16, 2025 - (This borrowing is similar to the measures used during the Great Recession —collectively previously referred to as the state ’s “wall of debt ” —and create obligations that should be repaid or reversed in the future.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5079

The 2022-23 Budget: Overview of the Spending Plan

Oct 12, 2022 - SAL = state appropriations limit; CAC = California Arts Council; CSSSA = California State Summer School for the Arts; CDE = California Department of Education; CDFA = California Department of Food and Agriculture; CSL = California State Library; CTC = Commission on Teacher Credentialing; DCA = Department of Consumer Affairs; DCC = Department of Cannabis Control; DFPI = Departm ent of Financial
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4616/1

The 2022-23 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Sep 27, 2022 - The budget expands the state ’s existing Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) to families with no earnings. Previously, the YCTC provided an additional $1,000 refundable tax credit to most families who qualify for the state ’s Earned Income Tax Credit (or CalEITC) who also have children under the age of 6.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4626

Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - These problems are also clear when California ’s reserves are compared to other states —California ranks near the top in terms of revenue volatility, but below average in terms of reserves. As such, our recommendations are an honest reflection of the volatility in the state ’s tax system.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028