California Journal of Politics and Policy

Late budgets have been an epidemic in the US at all levels of government for some time.  No state has felt this pressure more than California in the 2000’s.  Between FY1999 and FY2010, only three of 12 budgets were passed on time or early.  The focus of this article is to examine the effects of political and economic factors on the timeline of the budget, and how they contribute to the lack of punctuality of the state budget during the 2000’s.  The article presents a time-series analysis of the California budgeting process between 1999 and 2009.  The results indicate that both political and economic pressures play an important role in shaping compromise and conflict within the budgeting process.  The findings provide an interesting insight into the dynamics of budgeting in the state of California during the 2000’s, and the tumultuous nature of political and economic pressures in creating a financing plan for a state government.