Use either the form or links on the side to filter the list of publications. Browse other LAO products using the links at the bottom of the sidebar.
4,809 Publications Found
March 1, 2012 - The Governor’s budget plan proposes to eliminate DMH and create a new Department of State Hospitals (DSH), shifting the remaining community mental health programs to various departments. This new structure would allow the administration to better focus on the fiscal and programmatic issues unique to state hospitals. In 2008-09, the Office of State Audits and Evaluations (OSAE) conducted an audit which outlined the problems state hospitals experienced, concluding that staffing did not adequately reflect hospital workload, funding was not sufficient for annual operating expenditures, and that state hospitals were not efficiently using their staff. Similarly in a 2011 self-audit, DMH found that many of the same problems from the 2008 audit remained. We concur with both audit teams’ assessments. In this brief report, therefore, we recommend an audit be conducted that looks at a number of issues, including state hospital budgeting practices, the fiscal controls being put in place, and the level of vacancies and their impact on the state budget and on hospital performance. We recommend this added oversight with respect to state hospitals should take place regardless of the Legislature’s decision on the creation of a new DSH.
March 1, 2012 - Over the three-year period from 2009-10 to 2011-12, the Department of Developmental Services’ (DDS) General Fund spending has remained relatively flat. This has been the case in spite of rapidly growing caseloads and other cost pressures. In this brief, we discuss the measures adopted by the Legislature over these three years to reduce General Fund costs in both Developmental Centers (DCs) and Regional Centers (RCs).
March 1, 2012 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Hon. Mark Leno, Chair
February 29, 2012 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services, Hon. Holly J. Mitchell, Chair
February 29, 2012 - State budget update presented at California Charter Schools Conference.
February 27, 2012 - There are plenty of mixed signals in economic data for California’s policymakers, as they continue to craft state and local budgets in a constrained fiscal environment. The economy now is clearly improving in many important ways, including employment growth, but significant impediments block the state’s path to a more robust economic recovery. Like the economic data, reports concerning state revenues have been mixed recently too, with weakness in income tax payments accompanied by speculation concerning a future bonanza of tax revenues due to the possible offering of stock by Facebook, Inc. This report provides our updated projections concerning these and other trends in the economy and state revenues.
February 24, 2012 - The DMV, which provides service to over 20 million customers per year and operates 313 facilities, has made efforts in the past decade to improve its efficiency and provide better customer service in field offices and elsewhere. The 2012-13 Governor’s budget includes several proposals to build on these efforts, including incentivizing DMV customers to complete transactions without visiting a field office, combining information technology systems, expanding electronic driver's license testing, and undertaking infrastructure projects to adjust to demands at DMV field offices due to shifting populations. We find that the Governor’s budget proposals have merit and could improve DMV’s efficiency. We have identified, however, a number of shortcomings and recommend that the Legislature modify some of the Governor’s proposals, as well as take additional actions to further expand some of the department’s current efforts to increase efficiency and outreach.
February 23, 2012 - In 2011, the state enacted several bills to realign to county governments the responsibility for certain felon offenders who previously had been eligible for state prison and parole. These changes will significantly reduce the inmate and parole populations managed by CDCR. This report identifies the impacts of the realignment of adult offenders on CDCR's operations and facility needs, discusses whether realignment will enable the state to meet the prison population limit required by the federal court, as well as whether the change in the makeup of CDCR's inmate population following realignment will affect its housing, mental health, and medical facility needs. The report provides recommendations on how to better match CDCR facilities and programs with the remaining inmate population following the realignment.
February 22, 2012 - Presented to: Senate Transportation and Housing Committee and Senate Governance and Finance Committee, Hons. Mark DeSaulnier and Lois Wolk, Chairs
February 22, 2012 - Presented to the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review and Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committees
February 22, 2012 - The Governor proposes to reduce funding for the CalWORKs program and state-subsidized child care programs. Under his budget plan, these programs would be reduced a total of $1.4 billion or about 20 percent in 2012-13 compared to what current law otherwise would require. These savings would be achieved by imposing stricter limits on which families are eligible to receive which types of services, as well as lowering state payments for CalWORKs recipients and child care providers. Additionally, the Governor’s proposal would make major changes to the way the state administers both welfare-to-work and child care services. In this report, we describe and analyze the Governor’s proposals related to the CalWORKs program and then turn to a similar discussion of the proposed changes to child care programs. We conclude by providing the Legislature with illustrative packages of ways to achieve savings in these two areas using different approaches than the Governor's.
February 22, 2012 - In 2011, the state enacted several bills to enact a wide-ranging “realignment,” shifting several state programs and a commensurate level of revenues to local governments. Perhaps the most significant programmatic change implemented as part of the 2011 realignment was realigning to county governments the responsibility for managing and supervising certain felon offenders who previously had been eligible for state prison and parole. This report provides an update on the status of realignment, reviews changes proposed by the Governor, and makes several recommendations designed to promote the long-term success of realignment, such as creating a reserve fund for revenue growth as well as designing an ongoing allocation formula that is responsive to future demographic changes.
February 21, 2012 - Presented to: Joint Oversight Hearing of the Assembly and Senate Health Committees and Assembly and Senate Budget Subcommittees on Health and Human Services Hons. Bill Monning and Ed Hernandez, Chairs, Assembly and Senate Health Committees Hons. Holly Mitchell and Mark DeSaulnier, Chairs, Assembly and Senate Budget Subcommittees on Health and Human Services
February 21, 2012 - Presented to: Joint Oversight Hearing of the Assembly and Senate Health Committees and Assembly and Senate Budget Subcommittees on Health and Human Services