The California Budget

As we venture into the 2008/09 fiscal year, increasing attention is being paid to our current lack of an approved state budget.

Interested in the budget process? Take a look at this flowchart and explanation from the Department of Finance. You may also want to take a look at these answers to frequently asked questions about the California budget. And if you want to read about the constitutional requirements of the budget procedures (including the "super majority" requirement), start with Article 4, Section 12 of the California Constitution.

If you want to find some of the documents in the aforementioned flowchart and explanation, here is:

• The Governor's proposed and revised budget summaries and details


• The Governor's State of the State address (2009)


• Documents from the Legislative Analyst's Office (including "Analysis of the Budget Bill" and "Perspectives and Issues")


• State Assembly Budget Committee Reports

For other perspectives on the California budget, check out
The California Budget Project: "CBP provides fact-based, nonpartisan analyses of state fiscal and tax policies and their implications for all Californians, especially low- and middle-income residents." For an education-centered perspective, see this overview and this March report from the California Postsecondary Education Commission.

For the latest information on the budget, you can:
Read the Governor's press releases and conferences, watch the California Channel webcasts of legislative floor sessions and press conferences, and read the Sacramento Bee's CapitolAlert

Update: February 3, 2009

The Public Policy Institute of California recently reported survey results indicating that a majority of Californians now support reducing the state budget vote threshold to a 55% majority rather than the current 2/3 super majority (see page 23 of "Californians and Their Government" January 2009). California is among only a handful of states that has a super majority requirement for budget passage. To learn more about budget procedures for the various states, check out the Legislative Budget Procedures page from the National Conference of State Legislatures.