Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Jason Sisney

No. 20 Jason Sisney

Sisney is the Assembly’s top budget advisor and has been so since 2018. In that role he provides the counsel that helps lawmakers through the boom and bust cycle of California’s tax revenue gathering system. That alone would earn him a spot in the Top 100. But Sisney’s #CABudget newsletter on Substack is also essential reading for anyone trying to understand in layman’s terms our Byzantine budgeting system. It would be so even if it was a paid subscription publication, but Sisney does it in his spare time and, get this, he doesn’t even charge for it! Not that we cheapo scribes would pay for it, but still. I guess he probably makes a good living educating lawmakers about the arcane details of trailer bills and budget stabilization funds and Prop 98 requirements and….oops, sorry… I nodded off there for a moment even thinking about all that stuff. But while I’m not cut out for these things, thankfully he is. He and Chris Woods, his counterpart in the Senate, are in fact indispensable and thus a pair of the most influential wonks around.

Updated Aug. 11, 2026