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 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2025 - As such, if the Legislature wishes to have substantively more reserves available when responding to downturns or other emergencies, we would recommend also changing the formulas that set aside funds each year to increase how much is saved.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

The 2025-26 Budget: Undertaking Fiscal Oversight

Feb 24, 2025 - How Do You Focus Your Efforts? The Legislature cannot reasonably undertake in-depth oversight of all state programs in one budget season. As such, the Legislature must determine how to focus its efforts so as to provide information that would be most helpful in making future budget decisions.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4983