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516 Publications Found
October 8, 2020 - This post describes the 2020-21 budget actions related to housing and homelessness issues.
October 7, 2020 - The 2020-21 Budget: California Spending Plan — Other Provisions.
October 5, 2020 - The budget package provides a total of $10.9 billion from various fund sources—the General Fund, bond funds, and various special funds—for programs administered by the California Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Agencies. This is a net decrease of $4.4 billion (29 percent) compared to 2019‑20 estimated expenditures.
October 5, 2020 - The 2020-21 Budget Act includes several new initiatives and policy changes related to labor and employment programs. This post provides a high-level overview of the state’s major labor and employment programs and highlights the major labor issues in the budget package, including provisions related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
October 5, 2020 - The 2020‑21 budget provides a total of $26.4 billion for transportation-related programs, including the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), high-speed rail, local streets and roads (shared revenues), California Highway Patrol (CHP), and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
October 5, 2020 - The federal government has several programs to provide financial assistance to small businesses affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis. The Small Business Finance Center (SBFC) at the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) makes loan guarantees to small businesses that cannot otherwise get financing from conventional sources. CDFIs are lenders that provide loans and other financial services to low-income communities that are underserved by traditional banks and credit unions.
October 5, 2020 - The 2020‑21 budget package included several tax policy changes. Overall, the budget package assumes these changes will result in a net revenue increase of about $4 billion in 2020‑21. Starting in 2023‑24, the net effect of these changes are expected to reduce revenues below what they otherwise would have been.
September 21, 2020 - This Budget and Policy post is intended to notify the Legislature of the federal government’s recent decision to withdraw the proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR), proposed in 2019. If finalized as proposed, MFAR could have resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in non-General Fund funding for Medi-Cal on annual basis. Withdrawal of the regulation means that a major, near-term state fiscal risk has been averted.
September 17, 2020 - The state has experienced reductions in gasoline and other tax revenues that support California's transportation system. This post discusses these declines and the potential effects on major state transportation programs.
August 31, 2020 - Provides an update on California’s cash management situation, including recent developments in spring 2020 and the outlook for 2020-21.
June 9, 2020 - In this post, we (1) explain the differences between the Governor’s January and May Revision budget estimates for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS); (2) describe the administration’s IHSS caseload, hours per case, and hourly wage projections; (3) compare the May Revision monthly estimates for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) costs in IHSS to April 2020 actuals; (4) recommend a downward adjustment of at least a $20 million General Fund in 2019-20 to reflect lower-than-estimated utilization and cost of IHSS COVID-19-related response efforts in April 2020; and (5) recommend the Legislature request actual May 2020 utilization data to determine whether additional adjustments to COVID-19 cost estimates are warranted for May 2020 and possibly June 2020.
June 4, 2020 - The final quarterly cap-and-trade auction in 2019-20—which was held in May 2020—generated very little revenue compared to recent auctions. In this post, we discuss how the reduction in cap-and-trade revenues might affect the state’s high-speed rail project.
June 4, 2020 - The 2020-21 May Revision includes a $965 million Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) discretionary expenditure plan, plus a budget provision to make spending contingent on the amount of revenue collected in 2020-21. In this post, we (1) discuss a few potential 2020-21 revenue scenarios, (2) summarize the Governor’s May Revision GGRF expenditure plan, and (3) identify key issues for the Legislature to consider as it develops a 2020-21 GGRF spending plan in a period of high revenue uncertainty.
June 2, 2020 - The 2020-21 May Revision projects California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) caseload to reach historic highs in response to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and subsequent public health emergency. In this post, we describe this projection, assess it in light of recent data and historical trends, and recommend an alternative set of assumptions.
May 22, 2020 - This post provides our analysis of the Governor’s May Revision projections related to Medi-Cal caseload. The May Revision assumes significant General Fund cost increases related to projected increases in Medi-Cal caseload due to the deteriorating economic environment caused by the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). As we describe below, we find that the administration’s assumed caseload costs in Medi-Cal are likely significantly overstated and recommend a downward reduction to the Medi-Cal budget of $750 million General Fund across 2019-20 and 2020-21.