Other Government Areas Publications

To browse all LAO publications, visit our Publications page.

 

Handout

Governor’s May Revision Plan to Expend Cannabis Tax Revenues

May 13, 2019 - Governor’s May Revision Plan to Expend Cannabis Tax Revenues

Report

A Review of LifeLine Budget Estimates and Enrollment Process

April 3, 2019 - The California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC's) LifeLine program provides free or discounted phone service to about 1.7 million households and has an annual budget of more than $350 million. The Supplemental Report of the 2018-19 Budget Act requires our office to (1) review the caseload and budget estimates for this program and make recommendations about how CPUC could improve the accuracy of its estimates and (2) assess and make recommendations about ways to improve enrollment and re-enrollment in the program. This report fulfills those requirements.

Handout

CalSTRS Pension Proposals

March 28, 2019 - Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Education

Handout

Supplemental Pension Payments and Deferrals

March 28, 2019 - Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and General Government

Post

Housing and Homelessness Funding Impacting Children

March 25, 2019 - These materials were prepared for an informational hearing about housing challenges and their impact on the well-being of children by the Senate Select Committee on the Social Determinants of Children’s Well-Being.

Handout

Overview of the Legislative Analyst's Office

March 18, 2019 - Presented to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee

Report

The 2019-20 Budget: Increasing Compliance With Unclaimed Property Law

March 15, 2019 - California requires banks, insurance companies, and many other businesses (called “holders”) to report and transfer to the state personal property considered abandoned by owners—this is called unclaimed property. Holder compliance with unclaimed property law is very low—likely around 1 percent. To address this problem, the Governor’s budget proposes allocating resources to the State Controller's Office (SCO) for more audits of potential holders. We agree with the Governor’s goal to increase holder compliance. However, the scale of SCO’s audits cannot address the vast holder under-compliance rate. To try to significantly increase holder compliance, this report presents policy options for legislative consideration.

Report

The 2019-20 Budget: Office of Emergency Services

March 13, 2019 - In this report, we assess the Governor’s 2019‑20 budget proposals for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES).

Report

The 2019-20 Budget: California Department of Food and Agriculture

March 5, 2019 - In this analysis, we assess the Governor’s 2019‑20 budget proposals for the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Specifically, we review and make recommendations regarding the Governor’s proposals to (1) create a new Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division (CPDPD) within CDFA and (2) combine seven separate budget proposals into a single budget document. We also briefly discuss the Governor’s proposal related to safe and affordable drinking water.

Post

The 2019-20 Budget: The Governor’s Proposed Supplemental Pension Payment to CalPERS

March 4, 2019 - This post evaluates the Governor’s proposed supplemental pension payment to CalPERS and provides some alternative ways to structure the payment.

Handout

Office of Emergency Services’ Role in Disaster Response and Relief Efforts

February 25, 2019 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Public Safety

Handout

California’s Housing and Homelessness Challenges in Context

February 21, 2019 - Presented To: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Hon. Holly J. Mitchell, Chair

Report

The 2019-20 Budget: Department of Consumer Affairs

February 13, 2019 - In this analysis, we assess the Governor’s 2019‑20 budget proposals for the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). Specifically, we review and make recommendations regarding the Governor’s proposals (1) for increased funding for Consumer Affairs administration workload and (2) associated with the department’s updated business modernization plan for information technology (IT) projects at Release 3 boards and bureaus.

Report

The 2019-20 Budget: Department of State Hospitals

February 13, 2019 - The Governor’s budget proposes $2 billion for the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) in 2019‑20—an increase of $59 million (3 percent) from the revised 2018‑19 level. In this report, we assess four specific DSH proposals and offer recommendations for legislative consideration.

Report

The 2019-20 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

January 14, 2019 - This report presents our office’s initial assessment of the Governor’s Budget. The budget’s position continues to be positive. With $20.6 billion in discretionary resources available, the Governor’s budget proposal reflects a budget situation that is even better than the one our office estimated in the November Fiscal Outlook. The Governor’s Budget allocates nearly half of these discretionary resources to repaying state liabilities. Then, the Governor allocates $5.1 billion to one-time programmatic spending, $3 billion to reserves, and $2.7 billion to ongoing spending. Although the Governor’s allocation to discretionary reserves represents a smaller share of resources than recent budgets, the Governor’s decision to use a significant share of resources to pay down state debts is prudent. The Governor’s ongoing spending proposal is roughly in line with our November estimate of the ongoing capacity of the budget under an economic growth scenario. This was just one scenario, however. Recent financial market volatility indicates revenues could be somewhat lower than either we or the administration estimated.

Other Government Areas Staff
Chas Alamo
(916) 319-8357
Personal Income Tax, Employment, and Labor Law
 
Ross Brown
(916) 319-8345
Property Taxes, Bonds, and the Economy
 
Ann Hollingshead
(916) 319-8305
State Budget and Federal Funding
 
Lourdes Morales
(916) 319-8320
Local Government, Housing, and Homelessness
 
Nick Schroeder
(916) 319-8314
Public Employment, CalPERS, and Elections
 
Angela Short
(916) 319-8309
Teachers' Retirement Policy/ Child Welfare/ Community Care Licensing
 
Jared Sippel
(916) 319-8335
Emergency Services and Business Regulation
 
Brian Weatherford
(916) 319-8337
Corporation Tax and Insurance
 
Seth Kerstein
(916) 319-8365
Sales and Excise Taxes and Demographics