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1,015 Publications Found
January 28, 2003 - The Sales and Use Tax exclusion granted through Chapter 592 is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2004. Based on our examination of the impact of this exemption on state and local governments, we believe that a strong case can be made for removing the sunset and allowing the exclusion to continue
December 19, 2002 - We review the administration's report, 2002: California's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan, its first legislatively mandated plan for funding public sector capital outlay needs. We examine its strengths and suggest improvements for future plans.
December 16, 2002 - The Governor recently released his current-year plan for partially addressing the state's enormous budget shortfall. The plan calls for $10.2 billion in budgetary reductions and adjustments. We discuss the Governor's proposal, consider its general viability, and identify additional options available to the Legislature.
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.
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 27, 2002 - In an effort to determine the extent to which racial disparity is a factor in traffic enforcement, many law enforcement agencies in California have begun collecting traffic-stop data. In this report, we discuss many of the issues concerning the collection and analysis of these data and recommend a number of changes for racial profiling data collection, analysis, and training in the state.
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.
May 21, 2002 - Reducing losses due to rural crimes poses a significant challenge to policymakers and criminal justice officials. The Rural Crime Prevention program has had mixed results. Should the Legislature decide to reauthorize the program, we recommend steps to more effectively target it, and to improve data collection.
May 15, 2002 - Much of the data being reported to the Legislature and the public regarding crimes on school campuses is of questionable use for the development of effective policies for crime prevention and thus is not serving the legislative intent behind the school crime reporting system. We recommend budget bill language to correct this problem.
May 7, 2002 - Proposition 40 provided a $2.6 billion bond for natural resource conservation, parks, and historical and cultural resources. We recommend several actions to improve legislative oversight of these expenditures. We also recommend inclusion of future costs for state parks in the budget process.
April 29, 2002 - We find that the effectiveness of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review by the Department of Fish and Game is limited by its lack of a formal process for prioritizing projects for review and determining their level of review. We recommend improvements to, and funding for, the review process.
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.
March 18, 2002 - California law requires certain employers who provide free parking to their workers to also offer cash in lieu of the parking. The goal is to provide workers an incentive to use transportation alternatives to driving alone. The Air Resources Board has conducted little outreach to make employers aware of the program. Additionally, there are no statewide data on the effectiveness of the program. We recommend that the board (1) conduct outreach to all firms with 50 or more employees and (2) perform periodic surveys to assess the program's effectiveness.