California analyst reports on state’s ‘astonishing’ cash balance

California's Legislative Analyst's Office reported Wednesday that the state is sitting on a $90 billion cash balance, the internal reserve the controller taps to pay bills between revenue windows. That figure peaked above $100 billion in May 2024 and has let the state skip the bond market entirely for a decade, even through pandemic-era revenue swings.

The office's advice was blunt: don't accelerate the decline by borrowing more against it to paper over budget gaps. The cash balance now sits around 35% of annual disbursements, well above the 15-20% range seen before the Great Recession, and a return toward that older range is framed as normal rather than alarming.

Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón credited Democratic budgeting for the record balance and the interest savings it's produced. The Assembly Speaker's office had no comment.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.