California Budget Choices - Making the Budget Easier to Understand for Everyone

Next 10 worked with Common Knowledge to create a short highly visual budget basics brochure called California Budget Choices. The nonpartisan brochure answers basic questions about the budget such as where do revenues come from, where does spending go, and how did the continuing budget deficits happen. This brochure is ideal for newcomers to the topic and anyone who would like a quick overview of the budget that is easy to understand.

As part of the development process for this brochure we heard from 28 stakeholders about what budget education materials might be useful in their civic education work. We also conducted several focus groups across the state and found there was indeed widespread interest among the general public in an overview to the state budget – but they wanted the information in a user-friendly format. The resulting brochure was tested extensively with users across California to ensure that the text and visuals would be accessible to a broad audience.

Fast Facts about California

In addition to our new eight-page brochure we developed a one-page fact sheet that gives a quick overview of some interesting facts about California, our population, our creativity, and our economy.

For example, did you know that Californians create 20,000 new inventions per year, more than the next four states combined? Or that more than 1/5th of the nation’s trade passes through California? We have a great state and we should all remember that.

California at a Glance is now available for widespread use by individuals or organizations who wish to share it with their audiences.