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497 Publications Found
April 16, 2018 - In early March of 2018, we received data from the California Department of Education (CDE) on student attendance for the first half of the 2017-18 school year. In this post, we describe how the state tracks attendance and discuss the implications for Proposition 98 and school funding.
April 13, 2018 - In this post, we analyze the Governor’s eight California State Library budget proposals totaling $9.7 million in associated augmentations. We begin the post by providing an overview of the State Library and its budget. We then describe and assess the Governor’s proposals and offer associated recommendations.
April 12, 2018 - The 2015-16 budget package provided $2 million in one-time funding for the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to develop an Administrator Performance Assessment (APA) for individuals seeking an administrative services credential. At the time, the Legislature was told that the APA would be ready by the end of 2016-17. Since then, CTC has been developing the APA and has conducted two field trials of the assessment. The administration proposes to provide an additional $1.3 million one time (special funds) to conduct a third year of field trials. In this post, we provide background on the APA, assess the Governor’s proposal, and recommend the Legislature require CTC to explain during hearings why the APA is over budget and behind schedule.
April 11, 2018 - In this post, we provide background on the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and then discuss the Governor’s proposal to provide a $2 million augmentation for 15 new positions within the office.
April 6, 2018 - The State Constitution limits how much the Legislature can spend from tax revenues. The administration’s 2018-19 budget proposal reflects increased “room” under this limit—essentially spending capacity—of roughly $6 billion over June 2017 levels. Notably, the administration revised its approach for estimating costs to comply with federal and court mandates, which are excluded from the limit. We find that the mandates approach is inconsistent with the implementation of the spending limit because the administration reflects costs from any mandate whereas only costs resulting from mandates imposed after 1978-79 should be excluded from the limit. We recommend the Legislature direct the administration to revise its approach going forward to be consistent with the limit, which conceivably could increase or decrease room under the limit. In addition, we make several additional recommendations that would reduce room under the limit by several billion dollars.
March 28, 2018 - In this analysis, we assess two proposals in the Governor’s 2018-19 budget related to: (1) the Bee Safe Program, and (2) Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention. In addition, we briefly review the Governor’s safe and affordable drinking water proposal—for which CDFA would play an administrative role.
March 19, 2018 - In this post, we first provide background on the reimbursement rate used for certain child care providers. We then describe and assess the Governor’s related hold harmless provision and end by making associated recommendations.
March 16, 2018 - County governments in California administer most local, state, and federal elections pursuant to various requirements established under state and federal law. The Governor’s budget proposes providing counties $134 million to replace their voting equipment. This proposal assumes counties implement a the new “vote center” model of voting. Given the condition of counties’ voting equipment and the state’s interest in effective county administration of elections, state assistance for purchasing new voting equipment is warranted. We recommend that the Legislature direct the Secretary of State to distribute funds based on counties’ equipment costs for implementing the vote center model—assuming the state covers half of those costs.
March 13, 2018 - In this analysis, we assess two proposals for OES included in the Governor’s 2018‑19 budget: (1) the California Earthquake Early Warning (CEEW) system and (2) the California Disaster Assistance Act.
March 12, 2018 - This post addresses the Governor’s 2018‑19 budget proposal to provide $36 million General Fund over two years for local workforce development boards to fund employment training opportunities for at least 1,000 ex‑offenders and to integrate local employment training with programs offered by parole and probation departments. In the post, we (1) provide background on workforce development and employment programs for ex‑offenders, (2) describe and assess the Governor’s initiative, and (3) make recommendations regarding the proposal and raise outstanding issues for the Legislature’s consideration.
March 8, 2018 - The decennial census enumerates each person in the United States. The results of the census apportion seats in the House of Representatives, guide legislative redistricting, and form the basis for allocating half-a-trillion dollars in federal assistance annually. The Census Bureau is making a number of significant changes to the 2020 Census. The Governor proposes providing $40 million for outreach to encourage Californians to complete the census. Given the major changes to the upcoming census—and the potential impacts to state funding—preparing for a significant outreach campaign can be in the state’s fiscal interest.
March 6, 2018 - The Governor’s 2018-19 budget proposes $15.7 million General Fund for the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) to conduct a preliminary study to construct a new skilled nursing and memory care facility at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville. In addition, the Governor’s budget proposes to convert double occupancy rooms to single occupancy rooms in the domiciliary care unit at the Yountville veterans home. In this analysis, we (1) provide a brief background on the veterans home system, (2) describe the Governor’s proposal, and (3) provide our recommendations.
March 6, 2018 - In this post, we analyze the Governor’s proposal to provide $7.4 million in 2018-19 for the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) to contract for a new Grant Delivery System. Below, we first provide background on the Grant Delivery System. We then describe and assess the Governor’s proposal and offer associated recommendations.
March 2, 2018 - In this analysis, we describe the Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) Project and the major changes to the project based on the newly released Special Project Report (SPR). We also describe the Governor’s 2018-19 budget proposal to fund activities associated with the new SPR at the State Controller’s Office. Finally, we make associated findings and recommendations.
March 1, 2018 - The Governor’s budget assumes $760 million in additional General Fund will be needed in 2017‑18 for response and recovery associated with the 2017 fires in Northern and Southern California, $388 million of which will be reimbursed by the federal government in 2018‑19. For 2018‑19, the Governor proposes a total of $35 million from the General Fund for recovery costs associated the fires in Northern California, such as related to rebuilding public infrastructure and backfilling local tax revenue losses. While we do not raise specific concerns about the administration’s funding requests, we recommend that the Legislature direct the administration to report at budget hearings on the proposed funding and submit formal proposals for any future budget-year funding requests. We also recommend that the Legislature consider its priorities for allocating assistance to local governments affected by disasters and longer-term strategies for reducing future wildfire risk, such as strategies to improve forest health.
Correction (3/12/18): When this post was originally published, Figure 1 displayed the wrong graph. The correct graph is now in place.