California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - After the dot-com bust and the Great Recession, it took four and five years, respectively, for revenues to recover. Incorporating revenue risk into the budget now, therefore, reflects prudence, not pessimism.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - For California, the dot ‑com era —when stocks rose and then fell precipitously in response to widespread adoption of the internet —offers the most salient example. The internet has proven to be a transformative technology and, yet, the stock market ’s initial reaction was clearly overly exuberant.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5091

California's Legislative Analyst's Office and the Value of Independence

Nov 15, 2024 - As such, our independent fiscal assessment underlies the Legislature ’s ability to assert an informed check on the executive branch, making any added complexity from diverging estimates a worthwhile trade-off.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4938

Building Reserves to Prepare for a Recession

Mar 7, 2018 - The funding levels for some programs, particularly in health and human services, depend on a combination of changes in their number of participants (caseload), the costs per enrollee (price), and the intensity at which participants use services (utilization).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3769

The 2016-17 Budget: California Spending Plan

Oct 5, 2016 - A special fund is like a special checking accounts that some households use to dedicate income to pay certain expenses, for example a mortgage payment or utility bill. This year 's budget allocated $44.6  billion in special fund spending.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3487/12

The 2018-19 May Revision: LAO Economic Outlook

May 12, 2018 - With a limited number of people looking for jobs, competition among employers for workers is high. This competition typically forces employers to pay higher wages to attract new workers. Rising wage costs, in turn, cause businesses to raise th eir prices.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3829

The 2017-18 Budget: California Spending Plan

Oct 18, 2017 - You can think of it like a checking account that a household uses to pay its bills. This year's budget package allocated $125 billion in General Fund spending. Special funds , on the other hand, are state accounts dedicated for specific purposes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3694/13

Whether or Not to Tap Reserves to Solve Estimated Budget Problem Emerges as Key Fiscal Decision Facing California’s Legislature

Apr 19, 2023 - Other downturns, such as the 2001 so-called dot-com recession, had severe fiscal implications while inflicting somewhat milder economic damage. The 2008 Great Recession had brutal effects on both the state ’s economy and budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4762

The 2017-18 Budget: California Spending Plan

Oct 18, 2017 - In addition, the budget makes a number of changes to realignment revenue streams, including the temporary redirection of health and mental health realignment revenues to pay for counties ’ IHSS costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3694/1

The 2017-18 Budget: California Spending Plan

Oct 18, 2017 - Funding will enable DPH to double the number of annual retailer compliance checks (to 5,600) that it conducts to prevent tobacco sales to minors and establish a grant program and training program for local law enforcement agencies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3694/6