The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements [Publication Details]

Feb 20, 2026 - The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements [Publication Details] Translate Our Website This Google ™ translation feature provided on the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) website is for informational purposes only.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5133

The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements

Feb 20, 2026 - The 2026-27 Budget: How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements The 2026-27 Budget How to Use One-Time Revenue Improvements Recent stock market performance continues to boost income tax collections. In our Fiscal Outlook , we strongly advised the Legislature to treat near-term strength in tax collections as temporary because we expect these gains to reverse.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5133

The 2026-27 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 19, 2025 - AI Enthusiasm Boosting Revenues, but for How Long? Middling Corporation and Sales Tax Collections in Line With Generally Weak Economic Conditions. Both the California and U.S. economies currently face significant headwinds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5091

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - Moreover, investors have been aggressive in taking on high levels of margin debt (borrowing to buy stocks), which has reached approximately three times the historical norm. These and other indicators are at levels previously only seen at times when the market was approaching a peak before entering a period of retrenchment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104

Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - Proposition  2 limits how much can be saved in the constitutional reserve to 10  percent of General Fund taxes. (There is no limit on how much can be saved on a discretionary basis.) Currently, this is about $21  billion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028

The Definition of Qualified Capital Outlay for the State Appropriations Limit

Feb 18, 2022 - If the homes were scattered throughout a city, however, we think the argument is more tenuous. For this reason, in the case of vehicles, we think a vehicle represents an asset —not a fleet —and so the value of an individual vehicle must exceed $100,000 in order to count as an exclusion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4547

The 2022-23 Budget: State Appropriations Limit Implications

Mar 30, 2022 - That is because these calculations are wholly separate —the availability of a surplus depends on how much the state has committed to spending over time, while SAL  requirements exist because revenues exceed a limit established by voters in 1979.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4583

COVID-19 and California’s Evolving Fiscal Outlook

Mar 18, 2020 - Earlier revenue estimates now clearly require downward revision, though it is premature to say by how much. While our office will provide updated economic and fiscal analyses as more information becomes available, this could take a few months.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4203

Federal COVID-19-Related Funding to California

Apr 28, 2020 - For example, in some cases, federal funding will be provided on a competitive grant basis, meaning that the eligible entities will not know how much funding they will receive until the grant applications are accepted.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4226

With New Deficits Looming, California Will Weigh its Options for Allocating a Large Revenue Windfall

Dec 1, 2020 - Within just a few weeks, the budget process was upended from a discussion about how to allocate a surplus into the much less welcome task of solving a large anticipated deficit problem. Moreover, the situation presented the Legislature with a difficult dilemma.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4305