The state budget is the foundation of policy decisions in California. Yet the process and opportunities to influence the state budget, one of the most critical aspects of state government, are complicated and challenging to understand. This makes it difficult for advocates, policymakers, and everyday Californians looking to make a positive change to influence the state’s spending plan.
The California Budget & Policy Center has been working to change just that.
The Missing Link
California’s policy landscape looked vastly different thirty years ago. Recognizing the need for expert budget analysis, research, and public education at the state level, a small group of community leaders coalesced to establish a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization modeled after the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, DC.
“It was an essential missing piece,” said Board Member Ruth Holton-Hodson, one of the leaders who helped establish and shape the direction of the organization in 1995. “The Budget Center filled that gap and they’ve been filling it ever since.”
Since its inception, the Budget Center has focused on demystifying the budget process, making it more accessible to a wider audience. Because the budget impacts virtually every policy issue, the organization has become a trusted resource for advocates and policymakers across the political spectrum.
“You can’t change policies if you don’t understand how the system works and how you can get involved, so one of the baseline efforts we’ve been trying to make as an organization since the beginning is to help people understand how to engage with policy processes,” said Budget Director Scott Graves, who has spearheaded the Budget Center’s public education efforts over the past two decades.
From presentations and webinars to infographics and fact sheets, the Budget Center has provided the Legislature, advocacy community, philanthropy, media, and the public with expert information and resources to better understand and engage in the budget process.
The Key to the Budget
Exclusive by design, the budget process has historically shut out certain voices due to their race, gender, class, or immigration status. Ongoing racial disparities in budget and policy spaces make it difficult for underrepresented Californians to advocate for policy changes that directly impact their families and communities.
“The Budget Center’s main lever is to open the door wide open and to make sure that we all have sight lines into it,” said John Kim, President & CEO of Catalyst California. “So many more non-traditional players have been able to walk through the door because of the Budget Center.”
Budget Academy
The Budget Center’s essential resources for understanding and navigating the California state budget — all in one place.
Explore tools, videos, and expert insights designed to strengthen your advocacy and guide informed decision-making.
By revealing the inner workings of government and linking arms with advocacy partners, the Budget Center is addressing traditional power imbalances in the budgeting process, ensuring broader representation at the decision-making table. This has been especially transformative for advocates like Yesenia Jimenez, Senior Policy Associate at GRACE & End Child Poverty California, to establish a footprint in Sacramento and secure public investments for their local communities.
“We’re that voice that needs to also be present and heard throughout our budget process,” said Yesenia. “The California Budget & Policy Center has just been so crucial in helping us know and understand that we are absolutely that people-powered movement that needs to be present in these budget conversations.”
A just and equitable California starts with the state budget. Join us in moving California forward.
