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May 12, 2009 - Author Greg Jolivette summarizes the findings of our recent report, Department of Real Estate: Opportunities to Improve Consumer Protection, in a three and one-half minute video.
May 12, 2009 - In this report, we identify a number of deficiencies in the Department of Real Estate’s Licensing and Education Program and their Enforcement and Recovery Program. Our recommendations would tighten existing educational requirements, increase licensee accountability for violations of the real estate law, improve department accountability for program outcomes, and expand consumer access to—as well as oversight of—the Recovery Account. (Short video summary.)
March 6, 2009 - We review the administration's proposed labor agreements with SEIU Local 1000, the largest state employee union. The administration estimates that the state's net savings under the proposed agreements would be $337 million ($156 million General Fund) between now and June 2010--compared to costs negotiated in prior Local 1000 MOUs. We also discuss two alternate ways to view the costs of the proposed agreements--compared to costs under the Governor's previous two-day-per-month furlough plan and compared to costs included in the February budget package. The proposed agreements represent a cost increase for the state under both of these alternate methods.
January 30, 2009 - In this report, we identify issues and present recommendations related to the General Government portion of the budget. These include our belief that employee compensation reductions proposed by the Governor are necessary due to the magnitude of the budget problem. Nevertheless, we observe that the administration’s plans—especially savings from the furlough-will be difficult to achieve. We also note that due to the sagging economy and falling energy prices in recent months, our forecast for inflation is much lower than that used in the Governor's budget plan. Therefore we recommend the Legislature reject the price increase and direct departments to absorb any increases in operating expenses.
January 14, 2009 - Deputy Legislative Analyst Michael Cohen and Principal Fiscal and Policy Analyst Jason Dickerson the LAO report, California’s Cash Flow Crisis—the second in the LAO’s 2009-10 Budget Analysis Series.
June 24, 2008 - Informational for various items of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee (various agenda pages).
June 13, 2008 - Item 7100-001-0869 of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee (page 374).
June 13, 2008 - Item 7350-001-0001 of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee (page 378).
June 13, 2008 - LAO compromise for Item 5180-101-000 of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee (page 295).
June 13, 2008 - LAO Compromise for various items of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee (various pages)
June 11, 2008 - Loans From Special Funds to the General Fund. Various Items of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee.
June 10, 2008 - LAO Compromise for Item 8380 of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee (page 383).: Department of Personnel Administration
June 10, 2008 - LAO compromise for Item 1920 of the 2008 Budget Conference Committee (page 89).
May 19, 2008 - The state faces a remaining budget shortfall of $15 billion, after accounting for the $7 billion in solutions adopted as part of the special session. We have updated our LAO alternative budget, which remains balanced through our forecast period, to reflect the state’s worsening fiscal situation. Our plan includes a more responsible lottery securitization—resulting in a General Fund benefit of $5.6 billion over two years—with a dramatically reduced risk to education’s lottery funding. Finally, we offer some much simpler approaches to increasing the size of the state’s reserve in good fiscal times.
April 24, 2008 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee