Other Government Areas Publications

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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.

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Overview of the Legislative Analyst's Office

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

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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

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

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California’s Housing and Homelessness Challenges in Context

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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How California Governments Respond to Disasters

January 10, 2019 - Government agencies are responsible for reacting quickly to disasters to help limit damage to people and their property. This includes assessing the disaster situation and bringing in the necessary resources to respond in a coordinated way. This post describes the state system used to facilitate a coordinated response to disasters. It also describes various types of disaster declarations that state and local governments make in order to receive financial assistance for response and recovery costs.

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Main Types of Disasters and Associated Trends

January 10, 2019 - In this post, we summarize the most common disasters affecting California—floods, fires, and earthquakes. We also provide some information on key disaster trends.

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Main Types of Disaster Recovery Assistance

January 10, 2019 - In the event of a large-scale disaster, state and local governments, individuals and households, and businesses all can face damage to their properties and other possessions. Many of these losses ultimately are borne by these entities or individuals, their insurance, or the parties deemed responsible for the disaster, if applicable. However, both the federal government and the State of California provide various types of financial and in-kind assistance following certain disasters to offset some of the costs associated with recovering from disasters. Notably, the type of federal and state assistance that is available can vary by disaster, with some assistance only available in the aftermath of larger state or federally declared disasters. In this post, we summarize some of the major types of recovery assistance that can be available.

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Recent Changes to State and County IHSS Wage and Benefit Costs

December 14, 2018 - In this post, we (1) explain how the scheduled state minimum wage increases impact IHSS wages and state and county costs, (2) describe the recent temporary and permanent changes to the state and county cost-sharing structure for IHSS wage and benefit increases, and (3) explain how these changes could impact county wage decisions and costs for the state.

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
 
Seth Kerstein
(916) 319-8365
Sales and Excise Taxes and Demographics