The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Financial Protection and Innovation [Publication Details]

Apr 3, 2025 - In this post, we assess administration-proposed trailer bill language that would increase certain fees charged by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and make recommendations to help ensure the department has the resources it needs to meet its oversight and regulatory mission.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5025

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Financial Protection and Innovation

Apr 3, 2025 - Money Transmitters Program. Regulates, supervises, and examines businesses that receive money for transmission and sell or issue payment instruments and stored value. (These can include businesses that issue money orders and traveler ’s checks, as well as those that offer digital payments, such as PayPal and Stripe.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5025

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

Update on COVID-19 Spending in California

Nov 5, 2020 - Within the physical distancing category, most money has been spent on schools and community colleges to help local educational agencies shift to remote learning. The state also has spent money on housing and homelessness to facilitate physical distancing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4292

The 2020-21 Spending Plan: State Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank

Oct 5, 2020 - This money will enable these lenders to make additional loans to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 recession in underbanked communities. Establish Climate Catalyst Fund. IBank provides financing for a variety of private and public projects.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4271

The 2024-25 Budget: Proposed Reductions to State Operations

May 21, 2024 - Money is fungible, if the Legislature were to approve both the unallocated reductions and the proposed budget augmentations to fund new activities, what assurances can the administration provide that the newly approved funding and position authority would be used to implement the new activities and not, instead, used to backfill reductions established through the administrative exercises?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4903

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

Federal Assistance for Businesses Affected by COVID-19

Apr 3, 2020 - Loan guarantees reduce the risk to the lender, which allows the small business to get more favorable terms—meaning that they may borrow the money for a longer period of time at a lower interest rate.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4215

The 2022-23 Budget: Secretary of State Request to Waive Business Filing Fees

Feb 7, 2022 - This has resulted in significant sums of money being transferred from the Business Fees Fund to the General Fund. For example, between 2011 ‑12 and 2020 ‑21, the General Fund received $179  million from the special fund.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4516

Mental Health Services Act: Proposed Bond to Fund Behavioral Health Facilities and Veterans Housing

Aug 17, 2023 - Bonds are a way that the state (as well as local governments and private companies) borrows money. The state sells bonds to investors to receive “up-front ” funding for projects and then repays investors, with interest, over a period of time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4790