by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2013 08:59:00 PM

An update on the California budget: Controller Releases March Cash Update

State Controller John Chiang today released his monthly report covering California's cash balance, receipts and disbursements in March 2013. Total revenues for the month were $395.5 million above (7.2 percent) estimates found in the Governor's proposed 2013-14 State budget.

Total revenues for the fiscal year through the end of March were $4.7 billion ahead of the Governor’s estimates.

“While the first nine months of revenue far exceeded expectation, income tax deposits over the next two weeks will show whether that uptick is solid or fleeting,” Chiang said. “The Governor and lawmakers have exercised discipline by waiting to make spending decisions until we can explain whether this surge reflects economic growth, or simply means that taxpayers paid their taxes earlier than usual.”

So far so good, although as Chiang noted, the next two weeks are worth watching to see if the "uptick is solid".  The Controller has a website showing daily income tax collections compared to last year ...

Thursday economic releases:
• 8:30 AM ET, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to decrease to 365 thousand from 385 thousand last week. The "sequester" budget cuts appear to be impacting weekly claims.