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February 11, 2003 - Summary of CalWORKs Stage 3 Child Care.
January 28, 2003 - The Department of General Services' (DGS) GS $Mart Program has been used to finance $521 million in state equipment purchases over the past seven years. We find that DGS has demonstrated initiative in developing this innovative program but that the program has significant deficiencies, including a lack of statutory authority.
November 6, 2002 - The Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) is taking a number of steps to help control the sharply rising cost of the state health insurance program for employees and retirees. We recommend that the legislature provide ongoing oversight of this program and highlight two Legislative options for limiting costs: developing lower-cost HMO options and changing the way state contributions are determined.
October 23, 2002 - Presentation by Elizabeth Hill for Early Care and Education Public Policy Forum 2002
August 29, 2002 - Congress is considering different approaches to the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. We estimate that over the next five federal fiscal years net state costs would be about $2.2 billion for the House bill (H.R. 4737) and $140 million for the version passed by the Senate Finance Committee.
August 8, 2002 - We discuss the reasons for the recent withdrawals of health coverage by health maintenance organizations (HMOs) from rural areas and recommend a number of steps that we believe will create a more attractive health care marketplace for HMOs. In those rural areas where these steps are not enough to attract HMOs, we identify ways communities can develop their own health care systems.
April 15, 2002 - President Bush's welfare reform reauthorization plan, if enacted by Congress, would increase the effective work participation rate requirement for California by a factor of almost ten. In order to have a reasonable chance of meeting this mandate, we estimate that the state would incur total additional net costs of approximately $2.8 billion over the next five federal fiscal years.
February 24, 2002 - Index of Information Technology Issues in the Analysis of the Budget Bill, 2002-03
February 20, 2002 - Federal Foster Care performance reviews will be conducted in California beginning in the fall of 2002. Preliminary analysis indicates that California may fail to meet national standards on a number of performance measures which could result in the loss of federal funds. We review California's record compared to other large states and make recommendations for improving California's performance.
February 20, 2002 - By June 2003 about 100,000 adult recipients (20 percent of caseload) will lose their cash aid because of the CalWORKs five-year time limit. We (1) present options for establishing guidelines for counties in providing exemptions and (2) recommend enactment of legislation providing transportation assistance to former recipients who are working at least 20 hours per week.
February 20, 2002 - Absent legislative action, funding pressures in the CalWORKs program will continue to erode the program's welfare-to-work component. We present policy considerations for the Legislature in developing a long-term budget plan for CalWORKs.
February 20, 2002 - Through the use of Enterprise License Agreements (ELAs), which are software contracts encompassing the entire state, could result in many benefits. We provide a number of suggestions and recommendations that can help the Legislature ensure ELAs are cost effective and beneficial to the state.
February 20, 2002 - The Department of Information Technology (DOIT) is scheduled to sunset on June 30, 2002. DOIT's overall performance of its legislative mandates is one of limited success. Therefore, we recommend a two-year reauthorization of DOIT and a Bureau of State Audits review of DOIT's progress in meeting its mandated responsibilities.
February 20, 2002 - The administration's proposal to "securitize" the state's future revenues from settlement of litigation with tobacco companies is a feasible and reasonable step for the Legislature to consider However, we recommend that the Legislature consider this transaction only if presented a more detailed analysis demonstrating that the net financial outcome would be beneficial to the state.
February 20, 2002 - We recommend the Legislature set aside funding for the AB 3632 program mandate--"Services to Handicapped Students"--pending development of a new program of county mental health services for special education pupils.