The 2024-25 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision

May 17, 2024 - First, in April, the Legislature passed an early action package that reduced the size of the budget problem by $17.3  billion (Chapter  9 of 2024 [AB  106, Gabriel]). Second, the administration reduced the total amount of new discretionary spending proposals by roughly $200  million (from $1.2  billion in January to about $1  billion).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4902

Update on Student Housing Assistance

May 7, 2024 - UC  reports campuses are budgeting 32  percent of basic needs funding for staffing —the largest category of budgeted expenses. Based on campus spending plans, program staff have a variety of roles, including managing basic needs programs, operating basic needs centers (including food pantries), and providing case management to students.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4898

California’s Child Welfare System: Addressing Disproportionalities and Disparities

Apr 24, 2024 - This report examines disproportionalities and disparities across California’s child welfare system in terms of income and race/ethnicity. The report provides background on the child welfare system, describes child welfare system disproportionalities and disparities, and lays out potential drivers of these inequities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4897

Evaluation of a Tax Exemption for Zero-Emission Buses [Publication Details]

Apr 15, 2024 - Published in accordance with Chapter 353 of 2022 (AB 2622, Mullin), which directs our office to review the effectiveness of a partial sales tax exemption for zero-emission buses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4890

Evaluation of a Tax Exemption for Zero-Emission Buses

Apr 15, 2024 - Under AB  784, the exemption would have ended on January 1, 2024. Chapter  353 of 2022 (AB  2622, Mullin) pushed back the expiration date to January 1, 2026 and required our office to publish our analysis by May 1, 2024.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4890

Evaluation of the Better for Families Tax Refund [Publication Details]

Apr 1, 2024 - Submitted in accordance with Section 7(b)(1) of Chapter 51 of 2022 (AB 192, Committee on Budget) that directs our office to evaluate the extent to which the Better for Families tax refund helped families meet the demands of inflation during the pandemic.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4891

Increasing Transparency of County Office of Education Spending

Mar 14, 2024 - Chapter  32 established a requirement for county superintendents to prepare a summary of how the COE plans to assist all school districts within the county. The plan describes actions the COE will take in approving all LCAPs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4883

The 2024-25 Budget: California State Library

Mar 13, 2024 - Chapter  21 of 2021 (AB  128, Ting) appropriated $439  million one-time General Fund to support local library infrastructure projects. Chapter  249 of 2022 (AB  179, Ting) appropriated an additional $50  million one-time General Fund for the same purpose.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4882

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Over the last decade, two statutes —Chapter  351 of 2013 (AB  10, Alejo) and Chapter  4 of 2016 (SB  3, Leno) —gradually have increased California ’s statewide minimum wage from $8 per hour to $16 per hour.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Rate of Low-Wage Work Declines Substantially From Ages 25 to 32. As shown in Figure  3, our estimates suggest that the share of workers in low-wage jobs declines by more than one-third between the ages of 25 and 32.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/2