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Budget and Policy Post

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Annual Report on Tax Exemptions for Medicinal Cannabis

June 24, 2025 - Chapter 837 of 2019 (SB 34, Wiener) established new tax exemptions for donations of medicinal cannabis. The law directs our office to submit an annual report containing data on three outcomes related to the exemptions: the number of medicinal cannabis patients served, the amount of medicinal cannabis products donated, and the amount of tax revenue lost. This report fulfills that statutory requirement for 2023.


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An Update on the Public Health Laboratory System After the Pandemic

June 12, 2025 - This post provides background on the role of the public health laboratory system and changes that occurred during and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also provide a framework for the Legislature to use to assess the capacity of the laboratory system and whether any capacity gaps warrant further action.


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The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandates—Regional Water Quality Control Boards

May 30, 2025 - In this post, we discuss the Governor's May Revision budget proposal to retroactively suspend three municipal stormwater mandates.


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The 2025-26 Budget: May Revision Trailer Bill Proposals on the Delta Conveyance Project and Water Quality Control Plans

May 27, 2025 - This post describes and raises issues for legislative consideration about two proposed trailer bills related to (1) the Delta Conveyance Project and (2) water quality control plans.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Multiyear Budget Outlook

May 24, 2025 - This post presents our office’s forecast of the condition of the state General Fund budget through 2028-29 under our revenue estimates and assuming the Governor’s May Revision policies were adopted. (Our earlier analysis, The 2025-26 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision, differed in two ways: [1] it provided our assessment of the budget condition in the near term only, and [2] it was predicated on the administration’s revenue and spending estimates.)


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The 2025-26 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Reauthorization and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Proposals at May Revision

May 19, 2025 - Describes and comments on the Governor's May Revision proposals for reauthorizing the cap-and-trade program and spending Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund revenues.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Concession Bargaining

May 19, 2025 - This is our analysis of the Governor’s May Revision proposal to (1) not fund scheduled pay increases to state employees established in ratified labor agreements and (2) authorize the Department of Finance (DOF) to impose reductions to employee compensation if collective bargaining agreements to achieve savings are not in place by July 1, 2025.


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The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandate—Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board

May 5, 2025 - In this budget post, we discuss a municipal stormwater mandate issued by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2009 for local governments in Orange County.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Scholarshare Investment Board

April 30, 2025 - In this post, we analyze the Governor’s budget proposal to provide the Scholarshare Investment Board with three additional employee positions to support the California Kids Investment and Development Savings program.


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Preliminary Assessment of Significant Changes to State's Technology Project Approval and Oversight Processes

April 29, 2025 - This post discusses a new process introduced by the administration to plan, develop, and implement generative artificial intelligence projects—the Project Delivery Lifecycle—and its potential impacts on legislative oversight of technology projects.


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The 2025-26 Budget: SB 678 County Probation Grant Program

April 11, 2025 - In this post, we assess the Governor’s proposed changes to the Community Corrections Performance Incentive grant program, commonly referred to as the SB 678 grant program, and provide our recommendations to modify the Governor’s proposal to better achieve the goals of the program.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Financial Protection and Innovation

April 3, 2025 - In this post, we assess administration-proposed trailer bill language that would increase certain fees charged by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and make recommendations to help ensure the department has the resources it needs to meet its oversight and regulatory mission.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Real Estate

March 19, 2025 - In this post, we assess key drivers of the structural imbalance of the Department of Real Estate’s primary source of funding—the state Real Estate Fund—and make recommendations to help ensure solvency.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development

March 18, 2025 - The Governor’s budget includes several proposals under the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). In this post we evaluate and provide recommendations for three of these proposals: California Competes Grants, California Regional Initiative for Social Enterprises Grant Program, and CHIPS.


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The 2025-26 Budget: Community College Facilities

March 18, 2025 - This post assesses the Governor’s proposals to fund community college capital outlay projects under Proposition 2, the new education facilities bond.