^[PDF] The Master Plan at 50: Connecting Financing With Statewide Goals for Higher Education

In other words, as the state fi nds its way out of the current bud- get crisis, it will be important not simply to go back to “business as usual.” New investments in higher education should be made thoughtfully — not simply as a “restoration” of the old funding system — with an eye toward restructuring higher education fi nance for the workforce and educational needs facing the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2010/sb_testimony_mp50_040710.pdf

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/852

How Have Past Stock Market Downturns Affected Income Tax Revenue? [EconTax Blog]

Mar 9, 2026 - By most measures, the global financial crisis was more severe than the dot-com crash. The state 's unemployment rate, for example, peaked at 7 percent following the dot-com crash but reached nearly double that during the financial crisis and remained elevated for much longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/852

^[PDF] The Governor's Special Session Proposal to Reduce the Prison Population

Since roughly half of all county jails are under population caps, some jails would simply release other inmates early to “free up” limited beds. While such releases would likely be for lower-level offend- ers, this could raise some local public safety concerns.  And Could Have Unintended Consequences.
https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/crimjust/2010/SS_Prison_Population_Reduction_01_28_10.pdf

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

^[PDF] Overview of California’s Master Plan for Higher Education

Instead, they are reports com- missioned by the Legislature and in some cases endorsed by individual legislators. • Many significant principles expressed by the Master Plan have been adopted in statute.
https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2005/Master_Plan_Overview_022205.pdf

^[PDF] California's Tax Expenditure Programs: Overview

Put simply—what may be a “tax break” to one person may simply be part of the basic tax structure to another, and vice versa. Given that the state’s tax code contains literally hundreds of individual provisions, disagree- ments about defining TEPs are commonplace and to be expected.
https://lao.ca.gov/1999/tax_expenditure_299/tep_299_part_one_overview.pdf

Building Reserves to Prepare for a Recession

Mar 7, 2018 - Simply put, the SFEU is the difference between spending and available resources (most notably, revenues) for a given fiscal year. In any year, its balance (the amount by which resources available exceed spending) is the state ’s discretionary reserve.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3769

^[PDF] Building Reserves to Prepare for a Recession

Simply put, the SFEU is the difference between spending and available resources (most notably, revenues) for a given fiscal year. In any year, its balance (the amount by which resources available exceed spending) is the state’s discretionary reserve.
https://lao.ca.gov/reports/2018/3769/prepare-for-recession-030718.pdf

^[PDF] A Perspective on Bond Financing

Economists agree that this type of debt can be economically justified, and is fundamentally different from the federal government's debt, most of which has been incurred simply to finance ongoing operational ex- penses.
https://lao.ca.gov/reports/1987/364_1287_a_perspective_on_bond_financing.pdf