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

Feb 23, 2026 - Money returned to the General Fund can be spent on a much wider array of programs than those supported by the Cannabis Tax Fund. Consequently, shifting enforcement costs from the Cannabis Tax Fund to the General Fund is inefficient.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - (To raise the same amount of money under the state ’s current taxable wage base of $7,000, the standard tax rate would need to be 5  percent, well above the state ’s current tax rate of 3.5  percent.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - Proposition  2 (2014) requires the state to spend a specified amount of money (determined through a budgetary formula) each year towards eligible liabilities. It has been state policy to satisfy this requirement through the state ’s General Fund contributions to prefund retiree health benefits and annual supplemental pension payments to the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081/

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

Mar 18, 2025 - The federal administration ’s options for reducing Natcast ’s funding are somewhat limited, since Congress already appropriated the money and Natcast ’s workers are not government employees. Notably, however, the federal administration already has tried to cut some spending that meets these criteria.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5018

The 2022-23 Budget: Fuel Tax Rates

Feb 11, 2022 - The Governor proposes using the State Highway Account —which funds state highway projects —to backfill money to local governments and to state programs that support local projects to offset the revenue they would lose due to the proposed tax holiday.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4528

The 2021-22 Budget: Business Tax Incentives

Jan 28, 2021 - When the state spends money, it generally cannot draw upon revenues designated for local governments. The state can, however, fund state economic policies with local revenues —for example, by exempting certain purchases from local sales taxes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4327

Evaluating State Economic Stimulus Proposals

Feb 1, 2021 - The state is prohibited from borrowing money to finance state operations. In most cases, voters must approve new bond authority before the state can raise the funds —a process that increases the amount of time between when the need for stimulus is identified and when any new spending may occur.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4331