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

May 5, 2025 - Since 2016, the water boa rds have been trying to design permits in a way that minimizes creation of state-reimbursable mandates while also continuing to enforce state and federal water quality laws.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

The 2025-26 Budget: Oversight of Encampment Resolution Funding

Mar 5, 2025 - Broadly, state funds have been designated to support the creation of affordable housing and to provide services to people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness. Below, we describe ERF, one of the state ’s largest homeless-related initiatives.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5007

The 2022-23 Budget: Municipal Stormwater and Urban Runoff Discharges Mandate

Feb 28, 2022 - As noted, overarching regulatory requirements governing stormwater discharges are pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act, and the act directs states to design permits based on local conditions to implement the law and reduce pollutants.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4565

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Housing

Apr 5, 2022 - New communities will also need to be surrounded by design elements that can serve as natural fuel breaks, such as roads or greenbelts. While state requirements presently exist or are planned for the construction of new homes and communities in areas currently designated as being at high risk of wildfire or under the state ’s responsibility for fire protection, these requirements do not cover other areas that may become high risk in the near future.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4584

The 2019-20 May Revision: Opportunity Zones

May 11, 2019 - If designed very carefully, such a process potentially could make the program more efficient and transparent. Designate Administrative Agency to Track and Monitor Investments. A state agency (or agencies) should be tasked with tracking and monitoring compliance of Opportunity Zone investments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4038

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Crosscutting Issues

Apr 5, 2022 - Specifically, recent research suggests that communities the federal government designated in the 1930s as “hazardous ” for real estate investment through a process known as redlining tend to experience hotter temperatures and more flood risk than other areas.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4575

The 2019-20 Budget: Considerations for Governor's Proposals to Address Homelessness

Feb 21, 2019 - While it is difficult to rigorously evaluate these incentive programs given their design, we outline in The 2019‑20 Budget: What Can Be Done to Improve Local Planning For Housing? that they have not resulted in a notable increase in housing construction.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3942

An Initial Look at Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Local Government Fiscal Condition

May 12, 2021 - The allocation of this past funding was designed to get money to cities and counties as fast as possible largely by using readily available metrics, such as a jurisdiction ’s population and other commonly used allocation formulas, to determine the level of funding allocated to each jurisdiction.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4428

2018-19 Budget: Voting Equipment for Counties

Mar 16, 2018 - If a voter goes to a polling place other than the one designated for his or her precinct, the voter must cast a “provisional ” ballot. Depending on the election, each polling place may have numerous ballot types —for example, at a primary election the polling place may have different ballots for each political party.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3786

The 2022-23 Budget: The Governor's Housing Plan

Feb 14, 2022 - HCD has completed program design and intends to issue the NOFA in March  2022, with awards starting October 2022. Governor ’s 2022 ‑23 Budget Proposal Expands and Augments Funding for Portfolio Reinvestment Program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4535