The 2026-27 Budget: Re-Envisioning State Education Governance

Mar 18, 2026 - We recommend improving oversight by making the commissioner receive Senate confirmation. Regarding fiscal issues, we recommend directing the administration to submit a fiscal plan to make the shift cost ‑neutral and identify efficiencies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5165

The 2026-27 Budget: Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education

Mar 25, 2026 - Under this time line, the administration estimates BPPE would make annual payments of $1.9  million from 2026-27 through 2031-32, with those payments totaling $11.5  million (including interest) across the six-year period.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5169

The 2026-27 Budget: California Competes Extension

Mar 18, 2026 - More specifically, the objective of the program is to influence a business ’s decision to make investments in California that would have been made in another state, or not at all, absent the credit. GO-Biz negotiates individual agreements with each successful applicant, including year-by-year milestones and corresponding credit allocations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5162

The 2026-27 Budget: Child Welfare

Mar 3, 2026 - DSS Making Significant Progress Toward Implementation. In spite of this uncertainty around future funding, DSS has been undertaking significant efforts to prepare for implementation to begin in 2027-28.
https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/5147

The 2026-27 Budget: California State University

Feb 24, 2026 - The Governor’s budget continues to make out‑year funding commitments to CSU in fiscal years when the state is projected to have substantial General Fund deficits. Despite making these out‑year funding commitments, the administration has offered no plan for how to meet them (through new revenue, spending reductions in other areas, or other specific budget‑balancing actions).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5142

The 2026-27 Budget: California Public Utilities Commission’s Implementation of AB 1207

Feb 10, 2026 - In our view, making significant changes to the basic structure of the credit on a regular or ongoing basis is problematic. This is because frequent changes to the approach could increase customer confusion and make bills more unpredictable.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5120

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposition 98 Guarantee and K-12 Spending Plan

Feb 4, 2026 - The uncertainty about when the state will provide the $5.6  billion and how it will cover the associated costs makes it a weak form of protection for ongoing school programs. Prohibition on Prior ‑Year Spending Reductions Contributes to Actions Making School Funding More Unpredictable.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5110

The 2026-27 Budget: State Mandate—Disclosure Requirements and Deferral of Property Taxation

Feb 19, 2026 - In particular, state law directs our office to report on the annual state costs for new mandates and make recommendations to the Legislature as to whether the new mandates should be (1)  repealed (permanently eliminating it or making it optional), (2)  suspended (rendering it inoperative for one year), (3)  modified, or (4)  funded.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5130

The 2026-27 Budget: University of California

Feb 26, 2026 - The Governor ’s budget continues to make out ‑year funding commitments to UC in fiscal years when the state is projected to have deficits. Despite making these out ‑year funding commitments, the administration does not identify corresponding funding sources or budgetary offsets to support these commitments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5143

The 2026-27 Budget: Cap-and-Invest Expenditure Plan

Feb 10, 2026 - To effectuate this, we recommend the Legislature review prior plans and commitments for spending GGRF —including discretionary and statutory allocations, as well as state operations expenditures — to make sure they continue to reflect the Legislature’s highest priorities across the broader budget, and then make modifications accordingly.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5114