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June 7, 2011 - This document is a partially updated list of nearly 300 state boards and commissions. This list is based on a search for state boards and commissions that our office completed in 2009. In updating this list, we removed any entities that we know have been abolished since 2009. We post this list with the caveat that Legislative Counsel and the administration have not reviewed it. Without their review, we do not know whether this list includes all state boards and commissions currently in existence. It may be possible, for example, that some boards and commissions have been eliminated or created since 2009 without our knowledge.
February 9, 2011 - Presented to: Assembly Subcommittee No. 3 On Resources and Transportation Hon. Richard Gordon, Chair
January 25, 2011 - The VoteCAL system would serve as the state’s single system for storing and managing the official list of registered voters in California.
January 24, 2011 - The 21st Century Project is an information technology project that would replace existing human resources systems with one statewide integrated human resources management system.
December 16, 2010 - Current law requires the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) to report annually to the Legislature certain information related to real estate fraud cases in counties that participate in the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund Program. The report must also include information on the types of expenditures made by the law enforcement agencies of those counties. Our review found that, by 2009-10, 21 counties had reported data indicating their participation in the program at an annual statewide cost of about $10 million, with significant variation in expenditures from county to county. In this report, we further analyze this data and offer recommendations to clarify a 10 percent cap on administrative costs incurred in the program as well as to modify the current program reporting requirements.
November 9, 2010 - In a previous analysis, we pointed out that the sale-leaseback of state buildings authorized in 2009 legislation was poor fiscal policy and represented one imperfect option among many for balancing the state’s budget. Mainly due to changes in the interpretation of property tax assessments, our forecast of the cost of the sale-leaseback is approximately $800 million greater than our previous analysis. The Legislature may wish to consider whether this increase in costs merits changing course.
October 6, 2010 - Presented to the Conference Committee on the Budget
September 29, 2010 - Presented to Joint Hearing of Senate and Assembly Committees on Revenue and Taxation
September 28, 2010 - Presented to Joint Hearing of Senate Committee on Elections, Reapportionment, and Constitutional Amendments and Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting
April 27, 2010 -
Recent legislation authorized the Department of General Services (DGS) to sell and then lease back 11 state-owned office properties. The sale-leaseback is designed to free up the state’s equity in the buildings to provide one-time revenue for addressing the state’s current budgetary shortfall. We estimate that the sale of buildings would result in one-time revenue to the state of between $600 million and $1.4 billion, but that annual leasing costs would eventually exceed ownership costs by approximately $200 million.
Over the lives of these buildings, we estimate the transaction would cost the state between $600 million and $1.5 billion. The Legislature will need to weigh how these costs compare to other alternatives for addressing the state’s budget shortfall. In our view, taking on long-term obligations—like the lease payments on these buildings—in exchange for one-time revenue to pay for current services is bad budgeting practice as it simply shifts costs to future years. Therefore, we encourage the Legislature to strongly consider other budget alternatives.
(Short video introducing this report)
February 19, 2010 - A presentation on California's budget, economic outlook, and education funding. Presented at the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association Chief Business Officials Conference in Sacramento on February 19, 2010.
February 9, 2010 - Presented to: Senate Governmental Organization Committee Hon. Roderick Wright, Chair
December 14, 2009 - Presented to the Assembly Budget Committee on December 14, 2009
September 23, 2009 - Presented to Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review
August 18, 2009 - Presented to joint hearing of Senate Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Reform and Senate Select Committee on Constitutional Reform