Upcoming Changes in Medi-Cal Create Fiscal and Policy Uncertainty

Oct 9, 2015 - Under the current waiver, the state received a total of $10  billion in federal funding over five years to implement a number of programs in Medi-Cal, such as the Low-Income Health Program that expanded Medi-Cal coverage to low-income adults who were not previously eligible for Medi-Cal in advance of ACA ’s coverage expansion.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3300

Related to the cultivation, use, possession, and sale of marijuana (Amendment #1). [Ballot]

Oct 9, 2015 - For example, individuals could not (1) cultivate a marijuana garden that exceeds 25  square feet in size per “residence or, in the absence of any residence, the parcel ” or (2)  possess more than one ounce of marijuana, unless the marijuana is a product of the individual ’s marijuana garden and is within the premises where grown.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2015-049

A proposed statutory initiative related to felony sentencing (Amendment #1). [Ballot]

Oct 2, 2015 - After third strikers have served the minimum number of years required by their sentence, a BPH panel conducts a parole consideration hearing t o consider their possible release. For example, BPH would conduct such a hearing for a third striker sentenced to 25-years-to-life after the third striker served 25 years.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2015-048

Amend the California Constitution to generally require physicians to notify a minor’s parent or guardian before performing an abortion on that minor, with certain exceptions. [Ballot]

Oct 1, 2015 - The measure would require such a legal action to commence within four years of the minor ’s 18th birthday or later, under specified circumstances; however, no new legal action may commence more than 12  years after the abortion occurred.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2015-047

2014 GDP Growth: San Jose MSA Leads Western Region [EconTax Blog]

Sep 23, 2015 - The BEA data indicates that the economies of the Madera (Madera County), Merced (Merced County), and Visalia-Porterville (Tulare County) MSAs shrunk in real terms last year. For each of these regions, the BEA data shows that real declines in natural resources and mining were the key factors behind the overall real GDP decline.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/134

Framework For Cap-And-Trade Investment Plan Needs Further Development

Sep 22, 2015 - The investment plan is meant to identify general strategies for allocating auction proceeds over the next three years, and the ARB’s concept paper is the first step in the public process of developing the final investment plan.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3298

Lower-Income Households Moving to Inland California from Coast [EconTax Blog]

Sep 16, 2015 - Expensive Coastal Metros Added Virtually No Lower-Income Households In Recent Years. Amid rapidly rising housing costs, movements of lower-income households out of expensive coastal metro areas have been notable in recent years, based on a look at data from the American Community Survey between 2011 and 2013.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/133

International protocol official in state government. [Ballot]

Sep 16, 2015 - Accordingly, it is conceivable that the fiscal effect of this measure would be limited to the creation of the Office of the Chief of Protocol, which would re sult in additional state costs of at least a few hundred thousand dollars per year.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2015-046

State legislative districts. [Ballot]

Sep 11, 2015 - The measure also specifies that the compensation for each Senator and Assembly Member shall be $1,000 per year and the compensation for each member of the Working Comm ittees shall be $50,000 per year.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2015-045

Vacation Homes Becoming More Common in Many Parts of California [EconTax Blog]

Sep 10, 2015 - Vacation homes grew faster than the overall housing stock in four-fifths of counties in recent years. As a result, about 2.5 percent of houses statewide were used for vacationing during the period 2011-2013, compared to only 2 percent between 2005-07, a 25 percent increase.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/130