Budget choices should reflect our collective values, priorities, and ideals, and this depends on budget deliberations that are fact-based. The Budget Center works to make budget issues — and the budget process itself — more accessible and easier to understand, so as to broaden participation in the debate and foster policies that work for all Californians, especially low- and middle-income individuals and families.
Budget
Featured
Report
Governor’s Inaugural Budget Proposal Includes Bold and Smart Investments, While Maintaining Fiscal Health
This “first look” analysis examines Governor Newsom’s proposed state budget for 2019-20, the state fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2019.
Data Hit
Since 2007-08, Spending Per State Prisoner Has Increased More Than Twice as Fast as Spending Per K-12 Student
This Data Hit shows that spending per state prisoner has outpaced spending per K-12 student in California and that ongoing overcrowding in prisons has resulted in higher costs per prisoner.
Fact Sheet
CalWORKs Grants Are Overdue for a Significant Investment
This Fact Sheet shows that CalWORKs grants remain below the federal deep-poverty line. The 2018-19 proposed state budget does not increase grant amounts or reinstate the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) despite the fact that state revenues are projected to exceed expenditures by billions of dollars.