The Brief

With tax revenues from high-earning Californians rebounding in recent months, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal analyst projects that the state budget remains “roughly balanced,” though spending growth is expected to drive increasing deficits in the years ahead.

In its annual fiscal outlook, issued today to prepare lawmakers for the upcoming budget process, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that California will face a $2 billion deficit next year, a potential gap that could be resolved with minor solutions.

“Given the size and unpredictability of the state budget, we view this to mean the budget is roughly balanced,” the office concluded.

Tax collections are forecast to beat expectations by $7 billion for the year, largely driven by stock market gains.

But that money is projected to be offset by spending more than $10 billion higher than the current state budget assumed, including more guaranteed funding for schools and community colleges from the additional revenue. Other large unexpected costs include for fighting wildfires and an expanding caseload for state health programs for seniors, as well as a November ballot measure approved by voters that raises reimbursement rates for doctors who treat poor residents.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature passed a $298 billion budget this summer that aimed to address a major deficit, estimated to be tens of billions of dollars over the next two years.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office warned today that the state is still on that path in the longer term, with a projected annual deficit of about $30 billion by the 2028-29 fiscal year, and urged lawmakers not to commit to any new ongoing spending.

“This recovery in income tax revenues is being driven by the recent stock market rally, which calls into question its sustainability in the absence of improvements to the state’s broader economy,” the office wrote, noting that hiring and consumer spending are still sluggish.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas agreed with that assessment in a statement emphasizing a cautious approach.

“We need to show restraint with this year’s budget, because California must be prepared for any challenges, including ones from Washington,” Rivas said in a statement. “It’s not a moment for expanding programs, but for protecting and preserving services that truly benefit all Californians.”

The annual fiscal outlook by the Legislative Analyst’s Office is merely a forecast and can vary greatly from the projection by the Department of Finance that the governor uses for his budget proposal in January.

Last December, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated a $68 billion deficit for the next fiscal year — frustrating Newsom, whose spending plan unveiled in January relied on a smaller $38 billion expected revenue gap. He repeatedly criticized the media for its widespread reporting on the Legislative Analyst’s Office figure.

Seemingly recalling those criticisms, Legislative Analyst Gabriel Petek published an essay last week defending his office and “the value of independence” as it helps the Legislature understand the choices it may face.

“Our independent fiscal assessment underlies the Legislature’s ability to assert an informed check on the executive branch, making any added complexity from diverging estimates a worthwhile trade-off,” Petek wrote.

In Los Angeles, volunteers have been painting their own crosswalks, reasoning that safer streets shouldn’t be held up by red tape.

Now, a group of them is channeling that same DIY energy to another everyday need: public seating.

“We just want to build a bunch of benches and hopefully people have some cool places to sit,” said Jonathan Hale, founder of People’s Vision Zero.

Hale, a Sawtelle resident and UCLA law school student, is leading a session next weekend to build public benches. The plan is to bypass the permitting process , set out the seats and create more third spaces.

“There’s not that many places where you can go that aren’t work or home,” Hale said. “Benches, parks [and] open, inviting public spaces are a way that we can rebuild that in L.A.”

For Hale, the gathering is just as important as the finished product.

“The point of the labor is that we form stronger bonds with our neighbors and we have a healthy discussion about the use of public space," he said.

A growing bench movement

That conversation is part of a larger one across the country, where residents are making small but impactful changes to improve public space — from pop-up bike lanes to guerrilla gardens in what's described as "tactical urbanism."

Unpermitted public benches have been popping up in cities from Chattanooga, Tenn. to Kansas City, Mo. and San Francisco.

Over the last couple years, the San Francisco Bay Area Bench Collective has installed more than 100 benches at bus stops that draw the most riders.

“Bus riders deserve to be treated with respect and to have a place to rest as they wait for the bus,” said Mingwei Samuel, an Oakland-based programmer who founded the group.

Samuel, who learned woodworking from his father, built and installed his first public bench in San Francisco in 2023.

The San Francisco Bay Area Bench Collective has placed more than 100 benches in the last couple years.

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SF Bay Area Bench Collective

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Bench locations chosen by the collective are usually located near bus stops.

“It’s sort of a revolt against the trend of hostile architecture,” he said. “Cities trying to remove benches just because they don’t want people to gather in public spaces.”

The Bay Area collective is seeing real change. More than 100 benches now dot the region, from Berkeley to Petaluma.

Last year, the city of Richmond approved a permit program allowing residents to add their own benches.  

Sawtelle resident Johnathan Hale is expanding the work of People's Vision Zero to include bench building.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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From crosswalks to benches 

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Hale’s group had already been gaining traction with its crosswalk projects.

Volunteers with People’s Vision Zero last year painted more than a dozen DIY crosswalks, taking a page from another volunteer group The Crosswalk Collective.

Most of the crosswalks have been left intact by the city. But in December, while volunteers were striping a street in Westwood, Hale was arrested and cited in an incident that went viral on social media.

Afterward, Hale met with the office of Mayor Karen Bass. In a statement to LAist, the mayor’s office said Bass was once a former community activist like Hale and wants to “explore solutions that are innovative and will expedite crosswalk installations across Los Angeles.”

The office did not respond to follow-up questions about what those solutions may look like or when they would be rolled out.

For now, Hale said he’s taking a hiatus from painting crosswalks “in the interest of working with them in good faith.”

That’s opened the door for more bench projects. Hale did a test run of sorts last summer in Sawtelle.

Drawing from skills learned as an Eagle Scout, he built four benches that he placed at the West Los Angeles Civic Center and Stoner Park, using the same design as those made by the Bay Area collective. All but one of the benches at the civic center are still there.

“When I’m just walking along and there’s people sitting on my bench, and they don’t even know that I built it, I get to feel like Batman or something,” Hale said. “It’s my little secret.”

Now he’s ready to scale up – and artists and woodworkers are answering the call. So many people have RSVP’d to the upcoming bench build next weekend that capacity has already been reached. Hale anticipates hosting more events.

He says Los Angeles should become a national leader in grassroots urban problem-solving or — as he puts it — “getting stuff done.”

Community volunteers say one of the first lesson they learned during ICE raids is to make as much noise as possible.

When they see people being detained by ICE, they use their voices, megaphones and, most effectively, whistles to signal danger.

One workshop being held in Downtown L.A. today will teach people how to use this tool.

Make some noise

Rain Skau is an organizer with the L.A. chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, he said the idea to hand out whistles came from community organizers in Chicago where they’ve been using them to alert neighborhoods of ICE presence.

Skau said his group had already been doing outreach to businesses across the city on how to better protect their workers from immigration raids, but they wanted to do more.

They plan to give out these kits in their future outreach.

The back and front of hotline cards included in the whistle kits.

The cards details what to do and who to call when a person has been detained or is being detained by ICE.

A hotline card with information on who to call when a person has been detained by ICE.

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Rain Skau

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DSA-LA

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A hotline card with instructions on what to do when encountering a person being detained by ICE.

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Rain Skay

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DSA-LA

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“This wasn't something that we were doing previously. We want to make sure that people have whistles and they have the hotline information,” said Skau.

The whistles are 3D printed and come with a phone number to advocacy group Unión del Barrio’s community hotline to report ICE sightings and those who might have been detained.

Amplify

Skau says there are two specific whistle patterns — one to alert people if ICE is nearby. The other to signify when someone is being detained.

In that event whistle-blowers are also instructed to “form a crowd, stay loud, and stay nonviolent.” 

But Skau said they’ve mostly been telling people to whistle as loud as possible, no matter the pattern, to raise awareness.

Jack Bohlka organizes Home Depot Patrols for DSA-LA, he said the whistles are tiny but mighty.

Jack Bohlka (center) poses with other members of DSA-LA during a recent "Know Your Rights" business walk.

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Jack Bohlka

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Jack Bohlka

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“It's a whole lot better than trying to yell. It's instantly recognizable, they're very effective,” Bohlka said.

Jack Bohlka's personal whistle he uses for Home Depot patrols.

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Jack Bohlka

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Jack Bohlka

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Spreading the sound

Some 300 people signed up for today's workshop, more than Skau and Bohlka anticipated. They had to end RSVPs early to keep attendance manageable. But Skau says more workshops are in the works (check their Instagram for new events).

Participants today will assemble and take home whistle kits with instructions on how to use them, what to note if someone is being detained, and who to call during a raid.

DSA-LA said lately immigration enforcement agents have changed their tactics, targeting specific areas, striking quickly and leaving. It’s part of why Skau thinks getting whistle kits to as many people as possible is critical.

“So that if you just happen to be walking down the street," Skau said. "And you see something happening right in front of you, you're not just standing there shocked and aghast, and unsure of how to respond."

In just four days, the Los Angeles Official Martin Luther King Day Parade will take over South L.A.

The LA Local recently spoke with Sabra Wady, the parade’s lead organizer, who said this year’s parade will look much the same as recent years.

So, whether you’re attending the parade or watching it on TV, here’s everything you need to know about Monday’s parade:

The procession will begin at 10 a.m., with ABC7 set to begin a broadcast at 11 a.m.

What time does the parade start? How can I watch? Is anything happening after?

Wady said the best place to catch the parade in person is the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. King Boulevard, or “camera corner,” where the parade will culminate and organizers are planning a live preshow. Bleacher seats, though, will be limited.

The Metro K Line runs directly to the intersection, dropping people off at the Martin Luther King Jr. Metro station.

Onlookers can also post up along the parade route with folding chairs and other self-arranged seating, Wady said.

The parade broadcast will run until 1 p.m., but Wady said the procession is expected to keep going until mid-afternoon.

“After the cameras stop rolling, it’s the people’s parade,” Wady said.

LA City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Councilmembers Curren Price and Heather Hutt – who represent council districts 8, 9 and 10, respectively — will organize the annual MLK Freedom Festival in the Leimert Park Plaza from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

What route will the parade take?

The route will remain the same, running down King Boulevard from Western Avenue to Crenshaw Boulevard before turning south down Crenshaw and heading to Leimert Park. Much of the route will be closed to traffic overnight before the parade.

More than 150 groups, including bands, floats, horseback riders and marchers, will trek down the boulevard. Wady said organizers cut off new sign-ups weeks ago in order to keep the parade manageable.

What will road closures look like?

Colin Sweeney, a spokesperson for the LA Department of Transportation, said in an email that the department will close off traffic down the main parade route overnight.

Here are the roads that will be closed to all vehicles for the duration of the parade and festival.

• King Boulevard from Vermont Avenue to Crenshaw Boulevard 
• Crenshaw Boulevard from King Boulevard to 48th Street
• Leimert Boulevard from 8th Avenue to Leimert Park 
• Degnan Avenue between 43rd Street and Leimert Park

Sweeney said only residents will be allowed to drive into the band of neighborhoods directly along the length of the parade route. That includes the blocks from 39th Street to 42nd Street along King Boulevard and the blocks between McClung Drive and Victoria Avenue along the Crenshaw closure.

The transportation department will allow traffic to cross the parade route at major intersections — including Western Avenue, Arlington Avenue and Stocker Street — but those crossings will be shut down at 10 a.m. All closed roads will stay blocked off until the parade and festival wrap up and transportation officials determine crowds have sufficiently dispersed, Sweeney said.

Wady said the parade is expected to peter out around mid-afternoon. The festival at Leimert Park Plaza is scheduled to end at 5 p.m.

Vehicles parked in the parade assembly area, parade route and disbanding area will be subject to impound or tickets, Sweeney wrote.

Topline:

By the numbers: Film and television shoot days totaled 4,625 in the final three months of 2025, up 5.1% in that timeframe. But overall last year, there were 19,694 shoot days, which is down 16.1% from 2024's total of 23.480.

Why it matters: Production in Los Angeles has been slow to rebound since the COVID-19 pandemic and the Hollywood writers and actors strikes in 2023. There is also increased competition from other states that offer appealing film tax credits and other incentives for productions that decide to take their shoot outside of California. This summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded California's Film and TV Tax Credit Program in an effort to lure productions back to the Golden State.

What's next: Film L.A.'s Phil Sokoloski says that many of the productions approved under the expanded tax credit program are just now getting underway, and he hopes the industry will start to see the effects of not only the tax incentive expansion in 2026, but also L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' directives to streamline the permitting and shooting process in the city.