The 2026-27 Budget: Cap-and-Invest Expenditure Plan

Feb 10, 2026 - We note that the language of S B  840 indicates that the methodology applies to “moneys in the fund ” and thus does not clearly limit it exclusively to auction revenues. However, the administration indicates that the intent of S B   840 was to apply the methodology only to auction revenues, consistent with historical practice.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5114

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

Jan 13, 2025 - The reason for the reduction is the recent voter approval of Proposition  35 (2024), which requires the state to spend less MCO tax money on offsetting General Fund spending and more money on provider rate increases.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

A Framework for Evaluating State-Level Green Stimulus Proposals

Jan 5, 2021 - For example, spending a greater share of the General Fund budget on environmental projects means less money is available for other state priorities, such as education, health care, or adding to reserves.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4308

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 2021-22 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision

May 17, 2021 - Major Spending Choices Figure  2 displays the major budgetary decisions that the Governor made in allocating state and federal money, totaling $85  billion. It includes (1)  the General Fund surplus, (2)  school and community college spending, (3)  the American Rescue Plan (ARP) fiscal relief funds, and (4)  ARP capital projects funds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4432

The 2025-26 Budget: Natural Resources and Agriculture Discretionary Spending Proposals

Feb 18, 2025 - As a result, every dollar of new spending essentially requires making offsetting reductions elsewhere in the 2025 ‑26 budget or foregoing the opportunity to leave money in state reserves to prepare for future budget challenges.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4967

The 2025-26 Budget: Various California Air Resources Board Proposals

Feb 24, 2025 - Also, while the annual budget process would give the Legislature an opportunity to appropriate the money raised by the proposed new fees, that also would not serve as an adequate substitute for legislative approval of the specific fees—by the time the department requests that the Legislature appropriate the revenue, CARB could already have set and levied the fees.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4980

The 2022-23 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan

Jan 25, 2022 - Under our lower revenue scenario where allowance prices drop to the floor, the Legislature would collect enough revenue to allocate $1.4  billion to discretionary  programs, but leave very little money in the reserve.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4496

Assessing California’s Climate Policies—Residential Electricity Rates in California

Jan 7, 2025 - Typically, the first step that rate ‑setting entities take is to determine the amount of money the utility should be allowed to recover through rates to support the main components of the electricity system and other activities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4950

Frequently Asked Questions About Wildfires in California

Jan 28, 2025 - In addition to spending its own money, the state requires electric utilities to dedicate funding from their ratepayers to undertake activities intended to reduce the risks of utility-sparked wildfires.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4952