The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst warned Wednesday that lawmakers should prepare for lower revenue projections later this spring as a result of changes on both Main Street and Wall Street. In its annual assessment of the governor’s proposed 2019-20 spending plan for K-12 schools and community colleges in advance of budget negotiations, the LAO said legislative leaders should consider setting more money aside.
Indeed, this week the state controller’s office said that revenues collected during the month of January fell almost $19 billion short of expectations—a surprisingly high number since the projections were made by the governor’s staff only a few weeks before. Over the first seven months of the fiscal year, the controller said that the state has collected almost $3 billion less than anticipated.
