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

Jan 13, 2025 - New Tax Expenditures of $150   Million. The Governor ’s budget includes some revenue proposals, which would expand existing tax expenditures and create new ones. This includes increasing the existing film tax credit from $330  million to $750  million per year and excluding some military retirement income from taxation.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - Relatedly, action taken in Chapter  27 of 2025 (AB  1138, Zbur and Allen) makes additional changes to version 4.0, including but not limited to: increasing the size of tax credit awards as a percentage of qualified expenditures, expanding the range of productions that are eligible for the credit, and enhancing the size and scope of the Career Pathways Program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081

Cap-and-Invest: November 2025 Auction Update and 2026-27 Budget Context

Dec 9, 2025 - Considering this uncertainty, it will be important for the Legislature to closely monitor upcoming cap-and-invest auction results before finalizing its GGRF expenditure decisions for 2026-27. Subscribe | California State Legislature | Online Voter Registration | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Legislative Analyst's Office | The California Legislature's Nonpartisan Fiscal and Policy Advisor 925 L Street, Suite 1000 Sacramento, CA 95814 | (916) 445-4656
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5096

The 2025-26 Budget: Natural Resources and Agriculture Discretionary Spending Proposals

Feb 18, 2025 - As we discuss in our January 2025 report, The 2025‑26 Budget: Overview of the Governor’s Budget , the Governor proposes $2.2 billion in actions that would create capacity in the General Fund to support $570 million of discretionary proposals (including the three proposals discussed in this brief), $150 million of tax expenditures, and a larger discretionary reserve than the state typically plans.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4967

Overview of New Updates to the Cap-and-Invest Program

Dec 9, 2025 - Legislative Intent for Discretionary Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Expenditures Through the passage of recent legislation, the Legislature has expressed its intent to use discretionary Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) monies to support certain activities in future years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5097

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Natural Resources and Environmental Protection

Oct 16, 2025 - Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Expenditure Plan Assumes $4.1  Billion in Total GGRF Expenditures. The budget package assumes a total of $4.1  billion in expenditures from GGRF in 2025-26. This includes $2.4  billion in statutorily-required appropriations —most of which are continuously appropriated —for the high-speed rail project and various other programs, such as for housing, transit, forest health, and drinking water.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5080

The 2025-26 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Reauthorization and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Proposals at May Revision

May 19, 2025 - Since the passage of AB  398 in 2017 (with a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature), GGRF is considered akin to a tax. As such, it is a flexible funding source that can be used to help meet the state ’s most important activities (similar to the General Fund).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5049

The 2024-25 Budget: Insolvency Risks for Environmental and Transportation Special Funds

Feb 27, 2024 - Typically, doing so requires increasing existing taxes or fees or establishing a new revenue stream. In some circumstances, fee or tax increases must be approved by the Legislature or by voters. In  other cases, the Legislature has granted the administration statutory authority to increase charges, sometimes up to a threshold or according to a schedule.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4858

The 2025-26 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan

Feb 12, 2025 - Assessment Governor ’s Proposal Maintains Agreed ‑Upon Expenditure Plan. We find the Governor ’s GGRF proposal to be largely consistent with the expenditure plan agreed to in 2024 ‑25. (The one relatively small modification is related to the proposed fund shift for CERIP.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4960

The 2024-25 Budget: Sustainable Funding for the Department of Pesticide Regulation

Mar 5, 2024 - For instance, a single tax rate is easier for the state to administer and offers a more predictable revenue stream. It  also is simpler and more predictable for the entities that pay the tax. A flat increase also aligns with the recommendations in the independent contractor ’s report.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4873