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

Jan 13, 2022 - Finally, as a result of the SAL, the Legislature has limited flexibility to reallocate these proposals to other purposes. In particular, for the majority of the Governor ’s infrastructure ‑related proposals, the Legislature could only reallocate those funds to another SAL ‑related purpose, such as more spending to respond to COVID ‑19, different types of capital outlay, tax reductions or tax payments, and additional school payments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4492

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/4492/1

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Mar 13, 2026 - Data Limitations While the department provides some data on spending drivers, publicly available data are fairly limited. This means that the Legislature ’s ability to understand spending drivers at a more nuanced level is limited.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5157

Mental Health Services Act: Proposed Bond to Fund Behavioral Health Facilities and Veterans Housing

Aug 17, 2023 - Data limitations and the limited scope of the RAND study make the precise extent of the shortfall in behavioral health facilities uncertain in terms of facility types, target population (adults versus children and adolescents), and geographical region.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4790

The 2021-22 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision

May 17, 2021 - (We also include links to Appendix tables at the end of this post and the top left of this page. These appendix tables itemize select proposals by policy area based on our understanding at this time.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4432

Building California’s Behavioral Health Infrastructure: Progress Update and Opportunities for the Proposition 1 Bond

Feb 5, 2025 - One key reason seems to be limited data on the existing capacity —in terms of inpatient beds or outpatient slots —in most behavioral health facility types. While the quantitative estimates of shortages of other facility types may be limited, alternative evidence of the need for more behavioral health facilities comes from the
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4954

The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Pharmacy Spending

Apr 3, 2025 - Because we combined data from different sources, some of which use different methodologies, our findings have some limitations. As such, the below trends should be treated as rough estimates. Below, we summarize trends on overall pharmacy spending and spendin g by type of drug.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5026

The 2026-27 Budget: Medi-Cal Analysis

Mar 2, 2026 - Federal rules include an overall limit on how much revenue provider taxes can generate. California historically has set its provider taxes and fees well below this revenue limit. In recent years, however, California pursued notably larger taxes, getting much closer to the federal limit.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5146

Mental Health Services Act: Proposed Restructuring of the MHSA Funding Categories and Impacts on County Spending

Jul 13, 2023 - This is compounded by the fact that the majority of BHSS funds must be spent on early intervention programs, further limiting what current expenditures can align with the proposed funding catego ry limit for BHSS programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4782

Analysis of California’s Physician-Supervision Requirement for Certified Nurse Midwives

Mar 11, 2020 - Importantly, the studies that examine births in freestanding birth centers do not necessarily examine which type of provider attends the planned birth. Therefore, the studies do not show the impact of the provider type on safety and quality within this setting.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4197