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March 11, 2025 - This post contains assessments and recommendations related to two proposed budget augmentations: the College Corps program and a new Belonging Campaign.
March 7, 2025 - This post provides issues for legislative consideration, as well as questions for the Legislature to ask, ahead of an expected May Revision budget proposal to fund development and implementation of the California State Payroll System information technology project.
February 25, 2025 - Presented to: Joint Legislative Budget Committee
February 25, 2025 - In this post, we provide background on state agencies in California government in general; the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing (BCSH) Agency, in particular; and the process for reorganizing state government. Next, we describe our understanding, based on discussions with the administration and available information at this time, of the Governor’s intent to reorganize BCSH. We conclude by providing key considerations for the Legislature when evaluating the Governor’s proposal when it is received in the Spring.
February 25, 2025 - The post assesses the adminstration's 2025-26 proposal for the fourth year of information technology (IT) modernization at the Employment Development Department (EDD). The portfolio, known as EDDNext, is now entering a critical phase, when aging IT systems that manage worker claims for Disability Insurance, Paid Family Leave, and Unemployment Insurance are to be replaced with new, integrated IT systems. Given this critical phase, as well as recent unscheduled changes and fund shifts within the EDDNext portfolio, we recommend the Legislature include stronger oversight tools going forward. These include: (1) remove extended encumbrance and expenditure deadlines; (2) add a notification period for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to review final project documentation for the proposed Integrated Case Management System / Integrated Data Management IT project; (3) require the California Department of Technology to publish oversight reports every other month; and, (4) require EDD to provide quarterly legislative meetings.
February 24, 2025 - In this post, we provide an assessment of the administration’s request to effectively extend the pilot phase of the Office of Emergency Service’s Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Assistance Fund.
February 20, 2025 - This post provides our assessment of a California Military Department proposal to spend $419,000 in 2025-26 (and $5.5 million in subsequent years) to construct a STARBASE classroom building at Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base.
February 19, 2025 - In this post, we discuss the savings to state departments assumed in the Governor's proposed 2025-26 budget resulting from the administrative exercises to seek operational efficiencies under Control Section 4.05 and Control Section 4.12.
February 14, 2025 - In this post, we provide information to support the Legislature’s oversight of the Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s (CDTFA’s) tobacco programs. In particular, we offer background information; comments on revenue trends, CDTFA’s enforcement activities, and the AB 3218 budget change proposal (BCP); and questions that budget subcommittees may wish to ask about these issues.
January 13, 2025 - Update (1/16/25): A set of tables detailing various solutions and proposals has been appended to the online version of this report. They are available using the HTML link above.
On January 10, 2025, Governor Newsom’s administration presented its proposed state budget to the California Legislature. In this report, we provide a brief summary of the Governor’s budget based on our initial review as of January 12. In the coming weeks, we will analyze the plan in more detail and release many additional issue-specific budget analyses. For those additional analyses, please see our budget page.
December 2, 2024 - CalFacts presents a wide range of facts and trends about the state's economy, finances, and programs.
August 23, 2024 - We reviewed the proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Bargaining Unit 5 (Highway Patrol). This review is pursuant to Section 19829.5 of the Government Code.
August 14, 2024 - We reviewed the proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Bargaining Unit 8 (Firefighters). This review is pursuant to Section 19829.5 of the Government Code.
August 14, 2024 - We reviewed the proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Bargaining Unit 10 (Professional Scientific). This review is pursuant to Section 19829.5 of the Government Code.
May 23, 2024 - This post assesses and makes recommendations regarding the Governor’s 2024-25 May Revision proposals related to broadband infrastructure.