The 2026-27 Budget: Framework for Approaching the Natural Resources, Environmental Protection, and Agriculture Budget

Feb 10, 2026 - Recommended Framework for Approaching Environment Budget Decisions Below, we offer a framework for approaching environment budget decisions in today ’s challenging fiscal circumstances —namely , how to evaluate the Governor ’s new spending proposals across CNRA, CalEPA, and CDFA in the context of a General Fund condition that is only precariously balanced in the near term and faces significant deficits in the coming years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5116

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

May 27, 2025 - The proposal may offer benefits —namely, potentially expediting (and thereby also reducing costs for) this large infrastructure project intended to improve the reliability of the water supply delivered to Southern California.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5053

The 2024-25 Budget: Salton Sea Management Program

Feb 26, 2024 - The Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge —now named for Sonny Bono —was established in 1930 for waterfowl and other migratory birds. Hundreds of thousands of birds use the Sea as a stopover point on their migrations each year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4859

The 2023-24 California Spending Plan: Resources and Environmental Protection

Oct 16, 2023 - These bills cover a variety of topics, such as related to tracking and reporting on GHG and conservation goals, updating state strategies, and removing derogatory place names. Department of Water Resources The budget package includes a total of $3  billion from various funds for DWR in 2023 ‑24, including $863  million from the General Fund.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4807

Cap-and-Trade Extension: Issues for Legislative Oversight

Dec 12, 2017 - (Assembly Bill  398 does not specify a name for these compliance instruments, but in this report we refer to them as allowances because, like allowances, they could be used as a permit for covered entities to emit GHGs.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3719

The Salton Sea: A Status Update

Aug 29, 2018 - The Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge —now named for Sonny Bono —was established in 1930 for waterfowl and other migratory birds. Hundreds of thousands of birds use the Sea as a stopover point on their migrations each year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3879

The 2022-23 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2022 - On January 10, 2022, Governor Newsom presented his proposed state budget to the Legislature. In this report, we provide a brief summary of the proposed budget based on our initial review. In the coming weeks, we will analyze the plan in more detail and release several additional budget analyses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4492