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March 6, 2006 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 2
February 24, 2006 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4
February 23, 2006 - We highlight the major K-12 recommendations in our Analysis of the 2006-07 Budget Bill.
February 23, 2006 - Index of Information Technology Issues in the Analysis of the 2006-07 Budget Bill
February 23, 2006 - The current structure of the Emergency Repair Program (ERP) makes it difficult for districts to apply for funds and provides incentives for districts to avoid addressing facility problems until they become real emergencies. We recommend the Legislature enact legislation to grant the ERP funds directly to districts with low performing schools to address facility needs identified by their facilities needs assessments, and maintain $50 million at the state level to provide districts with loans for pressing emergency repair needs.
February 23, 2006 - As approved by voters in 2002, Proposition 49 requires the state to increase funding for the After School Education and Safety (ASES) program beginning in 2006-07. We continue to recommend the Legislature enact legislation placing before the voters a repeal of Proposition 49 because (1) it triggers an autopilot augmentation even though the state is facing a structural budget gap of billions of dollars, (2) the additional spending on after school programs is a lower budget priority than protecting districts’ base education program, and (3) existing state and federal after school funds are going unused.
February 23, 2006 - The Governor’s budget proposes $133.6 million from the General Fund to pay for the costs of state-mandated local programs in K-12 education and community colleges in 2006-07. We find that the amount proposed in the budget bill for mandates falls short of fully funding ongoing mandate costs; the mandates claims process could be streamlined and simplified by reimbursing districts on a per-pupil basis for all K-12 mandates; recent action by the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) mandate raises issues about how the state should address local implementation costs of this program; and funding for state truancy mandates could be used more effectively by transforming these programs into a categorical program aimed at reducing truancy and dropouts.
February 23, 2006 - In our Analysis of the 2005-06 Budget Bill, we discussed the range of fiscal issues facing school districts. These included low general purpose reserves, internal borrowing from self-insurance funds, and falling state revenues due to declining enrollment. We also discussed the long-term challenge created by new accounting requirements on retiree health benefits. The financial health of districts has not improved significantly, and may have even worsened somewhat, over the past year. Here we deepen our discussion of the impact of the new accounting requirements on K-12 school districts and reiterate our recommendations for ensuring that districts address retiree health liabilities. We also provide the Legislature with an option to help improve district financial conditions through a fiscal solvency block grant, which would give districts flexible funds to address the broad range of fiscal problems encountered locally.
February 23, 2006 - The Governor’s budget contains almost $400 million in new ongoing funding for seven categorical programs. We recommend rejecting these seven proposals because they: (1) do not address the major fiscal issues facing the state or school districts; (2) take a step backwards for categorical reform; (3) have basic policy flaws; and (4) contain virtually no planning, reporting, evaluation, or accountability components.
February 23, 2006 - The Governor’s budget proposes to spend $1.7 billion more in 2006-07 for K-12 education and community colleges than the administration’s estimate of the Proposition 98 minimum guarantee. If approved, this increase would widen the state’s structural spending gap in 2007-08 and beyond, and raises the issue of whether the state would be able to sustain the budget’s proposed overall level of General Fund expenditures in the future. We recommend the Legislature reject all proposals for new K-14 programs and fund Proposition 98 at the level needed to fully fund base program costs in the budget year. While this would result in $1 billion less in K-14 spending than the Governor’s budget, it would still provide an increase of $3.3 billion over the current year.
February 23, 2006 - Our updated economic and revenue forecasts lead us to project different Proposition 98 outcomes than the Governor. Specifically, we estimate a somewhat higher Proposition 98 minimum guarantee for both the current and budget years. We also discuss various issues related to Proposition 98, including an update on the outstanding maintenance factor and our recommendation that the Legislature enact trailer bill language to rebench the Test 1 factor. Finally, based on updated economic data, we estimate that the K-12 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be higher than the Governor’s projection-5.8 percent instead of 5.2 percent. Funding COLAs at this level could lead to additional state costs of around $300 million.
February 23, 2006 - As the state’s beverage container recycling rates persist below statutory targets, the balance in the Beverage Container Recycling Fund continues to swell. We recommend that the Legislature consider options to reduce the fund balance, both by reducing monies that flow into the fund and by increasing monies that flow out of the fund to support activities intended to increase the rate of recycling.
February 23, 2006 - The California Public Utilities Commission administers several programs designed to subsidize telecommunications services in order to ensure universal access to these services. One of these is the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF) program, which provides discounts to schools, libraries, public hospitals and clinics, and community-based organizations (CBOs). While most of the eligible schools and libraries participate in the program, many eligible CBOs and public hospitals and clinics do not. We provide options to increase participation in the program by eligible entities.
February 23, 2006 - The Legislature intended that the monies in the School Land Bank Fund, managed by the State Lands Commission, be invested in land acquisitions that would generate revenue for the Teachers’ Retirement Fund (TRF). However, our review finds that the commission made no such investments over the past five years, nor does it propose to in the budget year. We therefore recommend that the balance in the School Land Bank Fund be transferred directly to TRF for investment by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.
February 23, 2006 - The budget proposes increased funding for flood management activities in the Department of Water Resources. Due to the critical need to improve the Central Valley flood control system, we recommend approval of this proposal. The Legislature will be evaluating other flood management proposals this session, including the Governor’s in his Strategic Growth Plan ($2.5 billion of bonds). When evaluating these proposals, the Legislature should consider: (1) the role of bond funding, (2) the relationship between land use and flood control, (3) application of “beneficiary pays” financing, and (4) the potential for increased state oversight of levees in the Delta region that are outside the Central Valley flood control system.