The 2026-27 Budget: Office of Emergency Services Next Generation 911 System

Feb 27, 2026 - On the other hand, the regional approach may have too much redundancy and may have become so complex that it suffers in operability compared to the envisioned statewide system. It is unclear if OES ’s choices are consistent with the Legislature ’s preferences if faced with the same set of options and trade ‑ offs —particularly since OES has not provided information on the trade
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5145

The 2025-26 Budget: State Departments’ Operational Efficiencies (Control Sections 4.05 and 4.12)

Feb 19, 2025 - On the one hand, it could be that some departments were able to identify more efficiencies than others. On the other hand, because little information is available about the identified savings, it seems that departments are still working to find ways to achieve their identified level of savings making it difficult to assess whether any variation is connected to real, identified efficiencies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4975

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2025 - There are a handful of differences in our estimates, but these changes are small enough on net that they do not substantively change our assessment of the budget condition. Specifically, the administration has higher revenue estimates than our office, but these are mostly offset by their higher spending estimates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program Review

Dec 2, 2025 - DVBE Incentive —The DVBE incentive, on the other hand, provides a competitive advantage to bidders who include a certified DVBE subcontractor in their proposals. The incentive applies to most competitive state solicitations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5095

The 2025-26 Budget: Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Reorganization

Feb 25, 2025 - On the one hand, a case can be made that BCSH is charged with too broad a mission with too many disparate issue areas —and that a split into two agencies could allow the administration to have more focused attention at the cabinet level.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4987

The 2018-19 Budget: Department of Consumer Affairs

Feb 6, 2018 - On the one hand, the $1.3  million reduction to DCA ’s budget could be an accurate reflection of the ongoing reduction in workload for DCA associated with the removal of CalBRE, but this would suggest that CalBRE was paying for substantially more services from DCA than it was receiving.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3744

The 2017-18 Budget: Considering the State's Role in Elections

Mar 30, 2017 - The state has placed a handful of requirements on counties related to elections administration costing roughly $30  million in general election years. For many years, however, the state has suspended the mandates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3634

The 2019-20 Budget: Office of Emergency Services

Mar 13, 2019 - On the one hand, a loan ensures that the General Fund would be repaid, thus ensuring that General Fund dollars will ultimately be available for other priorities. On the other hand, requiring repayment does not ultimately reduce the burden of additional costs for device users.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3961

The Property Tax Inheritance Exclusion

Oct 9, 2017 - Conclusion When a property changes hands the taxes paid for the property typically increase —often substantially. This is not true, however, for most inherited property. Three decades ago, the Legislature and voters decided that most inherited property should be excluded from reassessment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3706

The 2020-21 Budget: The Governor’s Cannabis‑Related Proposals

Feb 14, 2020 - Accordingly, the current split of taxpaying responsibilities often involves cash changing hands multiple times, leading to problems with security, compliance, and enforcement. Furthermore, distributor remittance of the retail excise tax requires a markup calculation that makes the tax more difficult to administer.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4162