The 2026-27 Budget: California Highway Patrol Proposals

Mar 6, 2026 - We recommend the Legislature reject the proposed equipment and operating cost augmentations, as we do not find them to be well justified. We recommend the Legislature approve the capital outlay projects, but switch their funding source from the General Fund to the MVA.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5152

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

Feb 27, 2026 - How Do the Options Compare? How do different options compare on parameters such as cost, effectiveness of addressing the problems encountered to date, and length of time to decommissioning of the legacy 911 system?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5145

Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program Review

Dec 2, 2025 - In 2023 ‑24, 369 unique DVBEs were doing business as a prime contractor, and 220 were doing business as subcontractors, with state entities that use FI$Cal. However, the actual number of unique DVBEs with active state contracts may be higher because some departments that make significant use of DVBEs —such as the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5095

The 2026-27 Budget: Contract to Achieve Operational Efficiencies

Mar 10, 2026 - For each workstream, the contract outlines a series of deliverables or milestones that the contractor would be required to meet over the course of a 28-week period as well as the amount of payment it would receive in exchange for doing so.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5156

The 2025-26 Budget: California Military Department—STARBASE Classroom Building

Feb 20, 2025 - Given the state ’s current fiscal position —with a budget that is only roughly balanced in 2025-26 and notable deficits projected in the out-years —the state does not have capacity for projects that expand services, which this proposal is designed to do.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4976

Improving Legislative Oversight of Emergency Authorities

Apr 10, 2025 - Governor Can Bypass the Legislative Process Unnecessarily Under CESA, the Governor determines when a state of emergency exists and, as a result, determines when typical legislative budget and policy processes do not need to be followed.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5029

The 2025-26 Budget: The California State Payroll System IT Project

Mar 7, 2025 - Estimate the number of FTEs at departments that do not process their own HR and payroll work (that is, “non-processing departments ”), and add their FTEs to the total estimated number of FTEs at their processing department.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5011

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions 90 $6,314.1 For a variety of reasons, we do not reflect certain capital outlay projects in the figure or linked table. Specifically, to avoid double counting previously provided funds or because specific data are not available, we do not include projects for which funding is: (1)  continuously appropriated,
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081/

The 2025-26 Budget: Governor’s Office of Service and Community Engagement

Mar 11, 2025 - As a result, we do not think this proposal meets the high benchmark needed to justify new spending. Therefore, we recommend rejecting the Governor ’s proposals to expand College Corps and make it ongoing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5015

The 2025-26 Budget: CDTFA’s Tobacco Programs

Feb 14, 2025 - What strategies do CDTFA and other law enforcement partners use to address these avenues for tax evasion? Why has the number of tobacco inspections declined so much? We have seen workload trends presented in terms of total inspections, seizures, citations, and appeals.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4966