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

May 5, 2025 - State statute tasks CSM with determining what constitu tes a state-reimbursable mandate and estimating associated costs. (The process is initiated when a local government files a “test claim ” with CSM for reimbursement of costs to comply with the new requirement.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

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

May 12, 2021 - First, there remains uncertainty about what costs will be eligible for FEMA reimbursement. Second, how much funding in total will be made available to states for COVID ‑19 ‑related reimbursements is unknown.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4428

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Housing

Apr 5, 2022 - What should the state ’s role be in helping mitigate risks to existing housing? What should the state ’s role be in encouraging community ‑level efforts to mitigate climate change impacts on housing?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4584

The 2024-25 Budget: Juvenile Custodial Interrogation Mandate

May 28, 2024 - Unknown What Effects Legal Counsel at This Stage Has. In our review, we did not identify robust research on the effects of providing youths with legal counsel before the waiver of Miranda rights or interrogations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4910

The 2022-23 Budget: The Governor’s Homelessness Plan

Feb 9, 2022 - These outstanding details concerned (1)  the funding plan, (2)  what requirements local entities would need to meet to apply for and obtain funds, and (3)  what the ultimate match requirement from local entities would be.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4521

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

Feb 14, 2022 - For instance, (1)  what were the challenges and successes in standing up some of the newer programs, such as the State Excess Sites Program and the Portfolio Reinvestment Program; (2)  what are the demonstrated  program successes and/or are there opportunities for improving these programs; (3)  are there capacity constraints that are limiting the effectiveness of
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4535

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

Feb 21, 2019 - What Is the Rationale for Permanently Establishing HDAP? The 2017 ‑ 18 b udget appropriated funds over three years to pilot the HDAP program. Funding for HDAP remains available in 2019 ‑20. The administration should explain what experience from the pilot justifies permanently establishing HDAP in 2019 ‑20 when the initial funding still remains available for the program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3942

Local Government Bankruptcy in California: Questions and Answers [Publication Details]

Aug 7, 2012 - In this report, we answer some of the common questions about the Chapter 9 process for California local governments such as: which local governments are allowed to file for bankruptcy protections and under what circumstances, what are the major steps of the bankruptcy process, and what types of obligations can be changed or eliminated through bankruptcy.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/2648

The 2017-18 Budget: Local Update of Census Address Program Overview

Mar 23, 2017 - To reach this measurement, the Census Bureau estimates what proportion of the count was enumerated correctly, what proportion was enumerated incorrectly (double counted, for instance), and the extent to which indi viduals were omitted from the count.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3629

What Is a Mandate? - What Is a Mandate: An Overview [Video]

What Is a Mandate? - What Is a Mandate: An Overview [Video] Search LAO Videos What Is a Mandate? January 16, 2007 When the state mandates that a local government provide a new program or higher level of service, the California constitution often —but not always —requires the state to reimburse the local government.
https://lao.ca.gov/Videos/Player?playlistId=42&videoId=43