The 2023-24 Budget: California's Film Tax Credit

Feb 28, 2023 - Evidence from Georgia and North Carolina. ” Evidence from Georgia and North Carolina (August 4, 2019) (2019). Bradbury, John Charles. “Do movie production incentives generate economic development? ” Contemporary Economic Policy 38.2 (2020): 327 ‑342.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4713

Local Sales Tax Rebates in 2023-24

Sep 16, 2025 - Substantial Rebates in Many Counties … As shown in Figure  2, 2023-24 rebate payments varied across counties. In nine counties, rebates exceeded $5 per resident. In seven others, rebates ranged from $1 to $5 per resident.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5074

Evaluation of a Tax Exemption for Zero-Emission Buses

Apr 15, 2024 - First, the program received an additional $4  billion to provide through its traditional competitive process. The program awarded this funding to local agencies in the spring of 2023. Second, the program received $4  billion —$2  billion in 2023-24 and $1  billion planned for both 2024-25 and 2025- 26 —to provide on a formula basis to local agencies for capital and/or operational expenses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4890

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - The spending plan includes $169  million for CDFA from Proposition  4, which we discuss in more detail in a separate budget and policy post — The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Proposition 4. Baseline Ongoing Reductions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081/

The 2026-27 Budget: State Mandate—Disclosure Requirements and Deferral of Property Taxation

Feb 19, 2026 - In particular, state law directs our office to report on the annual state costs for new mandates and make recommendations to the Legislature as to whether the new mandates should be (1)  repealed (permanently eliminating it or making it optional), (2)  suspended (rendering it inoperative for one year), (3)  modified, or (4)  funded.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5130

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - ” The Review of Economics and Statistics 95(2). Bollinger, Christopher, Barry Hirsch, Charles Hokayem, and James Ziliak (2019). “Trouble in the Tails? What We Know About Earnings Nonresponse 30 Years After Lillard, Smith, and Welch. ” Journal of Political Economy 127(51).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/4

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - By Labor Market Measures, Minimum Wage Was Higher in 2019. The estimates in Figures 6 and 7 suggest that California ’s minimum wage reached an atypically high level around 2019. Since 2019, general wage growth has outpaced prior trends.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/3

The 2026-27 Budget: California Competes Extension

Mar 18, 2026 - Figure  4 shows how credit allocation across sectors has changed since changes were made to the program in 2018. In particular, the share of awards going to advanced manufacturing firms has greatly increased while the share going to professional services (for example, accounting, legal, and local business services) has significantly decreased.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5162

The 2021-22 Budget: Business Tax Incentives

Jan 28, 2021 - Figure 4 Recent Regulations Try to Manage Awards Within Cap Reduced “soft cap ” on individual awards from $20  million to $10  million. Set aside $20  million for smallest applications (less than $2  million each).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4327

The 2025-26 Budget: California’s Film Tax Credit

Feb 28, 2025 - Figure  5 shows the differing effects of these two events by comparing the total percent change in employment levels for California and the U.S. since 2019. The impact of COVID ‑19 was similar in California and the U.S. overall, and employment bounced back in both cases by the end of 2021.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5000