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636 Publications Found
February 21, 2007 - The Governor’s budget contains several augmentations for registered nursing programs at the University of California, California State University, and California Community College systems. We recognize the need to increase the number of registered nurses in the state, and find merit with some of the Governor’s proposals. Other proposals, however, lack adequate justification. We thus recommend approval of some proposals and reductions in others, as well as additional steps the Legislature could take to improve nursing programs.
February 21, 2007 - The Governor’s budget assumes that the University of California and the California State University will enact fee increases of 7 percent and 10 percent for resident students at their respective campuses. We recommend lower fee increases of 2.4 percent for both systems. The 2.4 percent fee increase would match the increase in overall costs experienced by the segments due to inflation, and would ensure that students continued to pay the same share of their educational cost as they are paying in the current year. We also recommend that the Legislature not “buy out” any portion of the Governor’s proposed fee increase because such an approach confuses the role of fees and undermines the Legislature’s role in budgeting. We do not recommend any change to the Governor’s proposed fee level for the community colleges, which would maintain the $20 per unit fee that went into effect in January 2007.
February 21, 2007 - The Governor’s budget proposes about $120 million to fund 2.6percent enrollment growth at the University of California (UC) and 2.5percent enrollment growth at the California State University (CSU). This amount would provide $10,876 in General Fund support for each additional student at UC and $7,837 for each additional student at CSU. The proposed budget also provides $109 million for a 2 percent enrollment increase at the California Community Colleges (CCC). In this write-up, we analyze the Governor’s proposed enrollment growth and funding rates for UC and CSU in 2007-08 and recommend alternatives to those rates.
February 21, 2007 - Currently, the state provides over $83 million in funding to the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) to support over 20 different K-14 outreach programs that focus on preparing and encouraging students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend college. For 2007-08, the Governor’s budget proposes a $26.3 million General Fund reduction to these programs. In this write-up, we (1) provide perspectives on UC and CSU’s outreach programs and efforts to evaluate their effectiveness and (2) present different approaches for the Legislature to consider in funding and evaluating these programs.
February 21, 2007 - Although the quality assurance (QA) initiative for In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) has improved the accuracy and standardization of service hour authorizations by social workers, there are limited controls assuring that recipients receive their service hours in accordance with their case plan. We review the department’s implementation of the QA initiative, and provide recommendations to enhance program integrity and increase the likelihood that recipients receive services in accordance with their case plans.
February 21, 2007 - In order to increase work participation to avoid federal penalties, the Governor proposes new time limits and sanctions on children whose parents cannot or will not comply with CalWORKs work participation requirements. However, under the budget’s own assumptions, California will meet federal participation requirements by FFY 2008. Thus, these policy changes are not needed to avoid federal penalties, and we recommend their rejection. We offer an alternative to the Governor’s full-family sanction proposal.
February 21, 2007 - California has made significant changes in the CalWORKs program in order to increase work participation among recipients. Estimates by the administration of the participation increases associated with recent policy changes, in conjunction with the caseload reduction credit, suggest that California would likely be in compliance with federal work participation requirements in federal fiscal year 2008.
February 21, 2007 - There is a substantial difference between the amount of taxes that are statutorily owed to the state versus the taxes that are actually remitted by taxpayers. This difference, known as the "tax gap," is currently estimated at $6.5 billion annually and is due to the underreporting of income and various other factors. The budget proposes to spend $19.6 million in 2007-08 to continue certain pilot programs and undertake several new initiatives aimed at narrowing the tax gap. We recommend that the Legislature redirect some of the proposed budget-year spending on tax gap enforcement activities in order to increase their payoff in terms of General Fund revenues."
February 21, 2007 - It is virtually impossible for California—or any other state—to implement the Real ID Act by the federal deadline of May 2008. Federal regulations for implementing the act are expected to be delayed until July or August of 2007 and there is no federal plan to fund the costly mandate. Nonetheless, the administration has indicated that it may request funding to implement Real ID as part of the spring revision process. Given the current lack of information regarding federal requirements and funding, as well as growing opposition to the act in other states, we recommend the state go slowly for now, and limit spending to planning activities.
February 21, 2007 - On numerous occasions, the Legislature has stressed the fundamental role that management of data—including permitting, enforcement, and water quality—plays in assisting the State Water Resources Control Board carry out its mission. Legislative oversight of the board’s information technology (IT) projects is critical, as we find that the board has been developing information technology systems outside of the budget process and that the board lacks an up-to-date strategic plan to guide its IT activity. We make a number of recommendations to provide the necessary oversight.
February 21, 2007 - The budget proposes $473.6 million across eight state agencies for the CALFED Bay-Delta Program in 2007-08. We recommend tying the use of performance measures (currently under development) to the budget process, and raise concerns about a number of CALFED’s budget proposals. Specifically, we find that the funding proposal for the South Delta Improvements program is premature, matching funds are lacking to allow the surface storage feasibility study work to practically proceed, and that the budget inappropriately proposes bond funds to replace water user funding contributions that have run out to support a conservation planning effort that benefits the water users.
February 21, 2007 - Despite a growing backlog in deferred maintenance at state parks (currently over $900 million) the budget provides no funding to address the problem. There is also a significant funding shortfall related to ongoing maintenance at state parks. To address these problems, we recommend using $160 million of Proposition 84 bond funds allocated to state park restoration and rehabilitation for deferred maintenance, and augmenting the department’s ongoing maintenance budget by $15 million, funded from fees.
February 21, 2007 - The fire protection budget of the state’s forestry department (mostly funded from the state General Fund) continues to rise significantly. This reflects changing forest conditions fueling fire risk, increasing housing development at the wildland-urban boundary, and increasing labor costs. We make a number of recommendations to control the rising costs, including clarifying state and local roles for providing emergency services, modifying the criteria by which land is designated a state responsibility for fire protection, and enacting a fee on private landowners to partially cover the state‘s costs in providing fire protection services that benefit them.
February 21, 2007 - The budget proposes $36 million across several state agencies to implement 2006 legislation (AB 32, Nuñez) that sets objectives and provides a roadmap for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state. The Governor’s climate change budget proposals circumvent legislative direction, by moving prematurely to implement a market-based regulatory mechanism and assigning a role to the Cal-EPA Secretary that goes beyond coordination. There also is no long-term plan for funding these proposals, a concern since most of the proposed funding sources will run out in the next budget year.