March 13, 2017 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Public Safety
February 10, 2022 - This brief analyzes the Governor’s proposal to provide $1.5 billion in one-time Proposition 98 funding for electric school buses. It provides background on school transportation and school bus fleets, describes the advantages and limitations of electric school buses, and makes recommendations to the Legislature.
March 3, 2017 - The Governor’s 2017‑18 budget includes three specific proposals related to the state’s criminal fine and fee system. In this report, we provide a general overview of the fine and fee system and then discuss each of the Governor’s proposals. In particular, we assess the impact that each proposal would have on the system and make recommendations for legislative consideration.
March 6, 2014 - The Governor’s budget provides a total of $16.7 billion from various fund sources—the General Fund, special funds, bond funds, federal funds, and reimbursements for various transportation departments and programs under the Transportation Agency in 2014-15. This is a decline of $560 million, or 3.2 percent, below estimated expenditures for the current year. In this report, we review the Governor’s 2014-15 budget proposals for various transportation departments and programs, including the California Department of Transportation, the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the California Highway Patrol, and the Department of Motor Vehicles. We identify concerns with several of the proposals and make recommendations for legislative consideration. For example, we find that the Governor's high-speed rail proposals raise several issues. Specifically, we find (1) using cap-and-trade auction revenues for high-speed rail may not maximize greenhouse gas reductions, (2) there currently is not a funding plan to complete the project’s Initial Operating Segment, (3) it is unclear how much cap-and-trade revenue will actually be available for high-speed rail in the future, and (4) that bond funds approved in Proposition 1A for high-speed rail currently face legal risks.
August 28, 2014 - The core responsibility of the California Department of Education (CDE) is to administer federal and state education programs. Our review found the department currently is adequately positioned to fulfill this core mission. We also found, however, that the scope of CDE’s responsibilities—and the associated need for staff and funding—change frequently based on shifting state and federal policies. In order to maintain the department's capacity to meet its responsibilities, we recommend the Legislature ensure that additional responsibilities placed on CDE in the future are paired with additional resources. Similarly, should the Legislature notably reduce CDE’s responsibilities, we recommend it make a conforming reduction to associated CDE positions and funding. We also believe CDE could find ways to make its existing services more valuable to districts and integrate state and federal accountability activities. Finally, we recommend that the Legislature repeal some CDE reporting requirements that provide limited value.
April 27, 2018 - In this post, we provide background on new staffing requirements for certified nursing assistants working in skilled nursing facilities, describe the Governor’s proposals to address these new staffing requirements, assess those proposals, and make associated recommendations.
February 22, 1994 - Analysis of the 1994-95 Budget Bill, Transportation Chapter
February 23, 2016 - The Governor’s budget provides a total of $17 billion from various fund sources for all departments and programs under the California State Transportation Agency in 2016–17. This is an increase of $664 million, or 4 percent, over the estimated current–year expenditures. In this report, we assess the Governor’s budget proposals in the transportation area and summarize our major findings and recommendations.
February 26, 2019 - The Governor's budget provides a total of $23.5 billion from various fund sources for all transportation departments and programs in 2019-20. This is a net increase of $1.4 billion, or 6 percent, over estimated current-year expenditures. In this report, we (1) review the Governor's 2019-20 transportation proposals, including those for the Motor Vehicle Account (MVA), the implementation of REAL ID, and the high-speed rail project, and (2) identify issues for legislative consideration.
February 3, 2009 - The Governor’s budget proposes $16.5 billion in expenditures (mostly from special funds) for transportation programs in 2009‑10. This is a net decrease of $3 billion, or about 16 percent, below the estimated current-year expenditure level. In this report we examine ways the Legislature can reduce the impact of the Governor’s transportation funding proposals. We also explain how a number of major funding sources for transportation are unstable, and describe ramifications of this situation for transportation programs. We offer several recommendations to the Legislature to help stabilize funding for these purposes. The specific actions the Legislature can take include more clearly setting funding priorities, providing more funding from ongoing sources by raising the per gallon tax on gasoline and diesel, and exploring new ways of funding transportation programs, such as charging a mileage-based fee to generate revenues for transportation. In addition, we look at how the state is implementing Proposition 1B bond programs for transportation and offer recommendations to improve program accountability. We also examine the Governor's economic stimulus proposals for transportation and recommend that the Legislature consider an alternative to achieve greater stimulus effect.
August 27, 2002 - In an effort to determine the extent to which racial disparity is a factor in traffic enforcement, many law enforcement agencies in California have begun collecting traffic-stop data. In this report, we discuss many of the issues concerning the collection and analysis of these data and recommend a number of changes for racial profiling data collection, analysis, and training in the state.