Updating the California Necessities Index

Aug 14, 2025 - First, the new measure should —to the extent feasible —minimize quantitative differences from the old measure. To assess this, we calculate each new measure using data from prior years and calculate the difference between each new measure and the CNI in prior years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5065

Updating the California Necessities Index [Publication Details]

Aug 14, 2025 - Recent changes were made to the publication of statistics required to calculate the California Necessities Index, which is used to adjust certain benefit rates and cost-of-living adjustments. In this brief, we provide details on the changes and evaluate alternatives for the index that require only currently available data and conform to the original intent of the index.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5065

Sales Tax Exemption for Bunker Fuel

Nov 19, 2025 - In the same month, the average prices per metric ton of marine gas oil in the Americas and in the Asia-Pacific region were $837 and $786, respectively. Maritime Fuel Deliveries. To estimate California deliveries of residual fuel oil (a major type of maritime fuel), we combine data from a couple of sources.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5094

Review of the California Competes Tax Credit

Oct 31, 2017 - We also think the resources consumed by the program are not as focused as they should be on winning economic development competitions with other states to attract major employers that sell to customers around the country and the world.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3709

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - As we noted in another post , a new law will raise many of these workers’ wages to $20 per hour on April 1, 2024. After that law goes into effect, fast-food workers very likely will not be a low-wage occupation as defined above.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/1

Do Communities Adequately Plan for Housing?

Mar 8, 2017 - Many residents see new housing —and the changes it will bring to their community —as a threat to their well ‑being. At the same time, many who would benefit from new housing in a community do not live there and therefore have little say in planning decisions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3605

California’s First Film Tax Credit Program

Sep 29, 2016 - If a project was allocated a film tax credit during the initial allocation period, it was roughly 5  percent more likely to be made —at all, anywhere —than the projects that did not win the lottery and were initially placed onto a waitlist.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3502

Local Sales Tax Rebates in 2023-24

Sep 16, 2025 - One-quarter of Californians live in a jurisdiction that paid rebates in 2023-24. Focusing on these areas, Figure  3 displays the distribution of rebate payments across jurisdictions, weighted by the number of residents.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5074

The 2019-20 May Revision: Opportunity Zones

May 11, 2019 - Our analysis (discussed below) of New Market Tax Credits —a federal program similar to Opportunity Zones —suggests this program did not measurably increase the incomes of residents living in California communities targeted for investment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4038

The 2019-20 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 14, 2019 - Even though LCFF was a key reform initiated by the prior administration, the new administration continues to fund it. The largest Proposition  98 augmentation in the Governor ’s budget is $ 2  b illion for LCFF, which covers a 3. 46  p ercent cost ‑of ‑living adjustment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3916