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511 Publications Found
January 25, 2022 - In this post, we provide a description and analysis of the Governor’s 2022-23 budget proposals to spend the additional revenues the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is expected to receive from last year’s governance and fiscal reform. Overall, we find that the proposals are consistent with the information the Legislature used as the basis for approving DTSC’s governance and fiscal reform. However, we recommend the Legislature continue to conduct oversight of the programmatic expansions being proposed and to revisit staffing levels in future years.
December 17, 2021 - This post summarizes the state’s 2021-22 spending package for child care and preschool. It is part of our Spending Plan series, which contains posts focused on each major sector of the state budget.
December 10, 2021 - This post describes the mental health services available to students attending California’s public colleges and universities, highlights recent developments in student mental health since the start of the pandemic, and assesses the data currently available on student mental health issues. It concludes with a recommendation to enhance related reporting requirements applying to the three public higher education segments.
December 6, 2021 - Revenue from quarterly cap‑and‑trade auctions is deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), and the funds are allocated to various climate‑related programs. In this post, we (1) summarize the results from the recent November 2021 cap‑and‑trade auction, (2) estimate future GGRF revenue and the amount available for discretionary spending under three different scenarios, and (3) identify issues for legislative consideration as it begins its 2022‑23 budget deliberations.
December 1, 2021 - Chapter 226 of 2019 (AB 321, Patterson) created a sales and use tax exemption for certain truck deliveries. The law also directs our office to submit a biannual report measuring the number of truck deliveries affected by the new exemption. This post describes our attempts to fulfill this requirement.
November 22, 2021 - The 2021‑22 spending plan provides just over $23 billion from the General Fund for human services programs. This is an increase of over $6 billion, or 37 percent, compared to the revised prior-year spending level. This significant increase is primarily the result of higher spending in several different departments and programs.
November 18, 2021 - This post provides an update on the progress of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) funding plan. The post: (1) describes the changes to unfunded actuarial obligation and contribution rates in 2021-22, based on the most recent actuarial valuation; (2) describes the potential effects of the 2020-21 investment returns; and (3) revisits the recommendations we raised in our March 2021 publication, Strengthening the CalSTRS Funding Plan, using the extreme volatility in investment returns to illustrate how those recommendations would strengthen CalSTRS’ ability to successfully pay down unfunded actuarial obligation—both the state’s share and employers’ share—by 2046.
November 17, 2021 - This post describes our fiscal outlook for Medi‑Cal, the major factors that we expect to drive changes in General Fund spending in Medi Cal, and a number of our key underlying assumptions. (Specifically, this post concerns projections of Medi‑Cal local assistance spending within the Department of Health Care Services [DHCS].)
November 1, 2021 - This post summarizes the state’s 2021-22 spending package for Home- and Community-Based Services. It is part of our Spending Plan series, which contains posts focused on each major sector of the state budget.
October 29, 2021 - The 2021‑22 budget provides $10.7 billion ($5 billion General Fund) to 50 housing and homelessness-related programs across 15 state entities. Some of the major uses of housing and homelessness funding in the state budget support the Homekey Program’s acquisition of properties for use as permanent housing, provide flexible aid to local governments to address homelessness in their communities, provide funding to address the backlog in affordable housing development, and help local governments plan to meet their housing production goals. The budget also provides funding in other areas of the budget that could be used to address homelessness and/or housing affordability, including, the health, human services, veteran services, courts, transportation, higher education, and labor areas of the state budget.
October 27, 2021 - As part of the 2021‑22 spending plan, the administration and the Legislature agreed to spend $6 billion ($1.7 billion General Fund) over three fiscal years (starting in 2021‑22) on broadband infrastructure. Of the $6 billion, $4.372 billion is appropriated in 2021‑22—$4.322 billion in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) fiscal relief funds and $50 million General Fund. This post details the key actions and events that preceded the 2021‑22 budget agreement, outlines the agreement (including a breakdown of the 2021‑22 appropriations), and describes key components of accompanying changes in state law—Chapter 112 of 2021 (SB 156, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review). We note that while the administration and the Legislature are considering other broadband-related changes through administrative action and the legislative policy process, this post focuses on broadband infrastructure funding in the spending plan.
October 25, 2021 - This post summarizes overall Proposition 98 funding and K-12 education spending in the 2021-22 budget package. It is part of our Spending Plan series, which contains posts focused on each major sector of the state budget.
October 22, 2021 - The spending plan provides $33.7 billion General Fund for health programs. This is an increase of $6.7 billion, or 25 percent, compared to the revised 2020‑21 spending level. This year-over-year increase primarily is due to significant growth in projected General Fund spending in Medi-Cal. About two-thirds of the increase in General Fund Medi-Cal spending reflects technical budget adjustments (for example, adjustments due to projected caseload increases), while the remaining one-third reflects a large number of discretionary policy augmentations.