A decade ago, expenditures and revenues matched pretty evenly year after year. Lately, though, the government has started spending more than it collects. Also, even when adjusting for inflation, the state is spending 61 percent more than it did during fiscal year 1994.
Notes: All figures adjusted for inflation.
Education funding jumps sharply
The state spends more on education, health and human services than anything else. Inflation-adjusted education spending increased 70 percent from fiscal year 1994 to fiscal year 2008, state budget documents show.
Notes: All figures adjusted for inflation.
Health care costs drive prison spending
Lately, spending on corrections has boomed as a lawsuit has forced officials to reform the prison health care system.
Notes: All figures adjusted for inflation. The state put money in a deficit recovery fund earlier in the decade -- a figure that shows up under general government. They stopped the practice in fiscal year 2005, which explains the big dip in this chart.
State putting extra cash toward environment
Spending on natural resources and the state Environmental Protection Agency has boomed in recent years. The core branches of government are also seeing sharp spending increases.
Notes: All figures adjusted for inflation. Technology, Trade and Commerce is no longer a line item; Labor and Workforce Development became a line item earlier this decade.
Sources: California Department of Finance -- Governor's Budget Summary Schedules 8, 9, 10; Inflation figures from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Bee research by Phillip Reese.
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