Retail Theft in California: Looking Back at a Decade of Change [Publication Details]

Jun 12, 2025 - In this report, we provide background on trends in retail theft over the past decade, discuss some of the possible contributors to these trends, describe recent retail theft-related law changes, and outline key questions that the Legislature may want to ask as it continues to provide oversight of this issue.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5055

Retail Theft in California: Looking Back at a Decade of Change

Jun 12, 2025 - In response to growing concerns, the Legislature and voters have enacted several law changes aimed at reducing retail theft, including Proposition  36 (2024) and various bills, such as Chapter  168 of 2024 (A B  2943 , Zbur).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

The 2025-26 Budget: SB 678 County Probation Grant Program

Apr 11, 2025 - This means it would not be adjusted for policy changes such as Proposition  36 (2024). Proposition  36 increased punishment for various theft and drug crimes, which could make it easier for people to fail-to-prison while on county felony supervision.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5031

Improving Legislative Oversight of Emergency Authorities

Apr 10, 2025 - Specifically, 36 states limit the amount of time states of emergency can be open before the Governor or Legislature must act to renew them —ranging from 15 days to six months. For example, Florida state law requires a state of emergency to expire after 60 days unless renewed by the Governor.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5029

The 2025-26 Budget: Community College Facilities

Mar 18, 2025 - Of the project proposals that districts submitted for 2025-26, 17 out of 36 eligible modernization projects (47  percent) were included in the Governor ’s budget, compared to 8 out of 14 eligible growth projects (57  percent).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5017

The 2025-26 Budget: Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development

Mar 18, 2025 - Since the Governor ’s proposal would provide $60  million for grants, compared to $120  million in prior iterations, the cap on individual awards would be $18  million, down from $36  million. There have been several grant awards made previously in excess of this amount.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5018

The 2025-26 Budget: College of the Law, San Francisco

Mar 10, 2025 - CLSF estimates that its 2024 ‑25 year ‑end reserves will total $36  million, equating to five months of operating expenditures. The Government Finance Officers Association historically has recommended that government agencies hold at least two months of unrestricted budgetary fund balances.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5014

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

Mar 7, 2025 - According to the CSPS IT project, the following number of processing departments are in each classification: 12 micro, 36 small, 36 medium, 5 large, and 3 mega. (The project added California State University as a mega processing department for this analysis because, although they are not a civil service state department, their payroll is processed by the current USPS.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5011

The 2025-26 Budget: Estimated State Savings From Proposition 47 [Publication Details]

Feb 26, 2025 - In this post, we assess the administration’s estimate of the level of spending required by Proposition 47 (2014), which reduced punishment for various crimes and requires the resulting state savings be spent on certain grant programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4991

The 2025-26 Budget: Estimated State Savings From Proposition 47

Feb 26, 2025 - Reflects Proposition 36 in effect for half of the fiscal year. c Estimated savings amount is a projection. Reflects Proposition 36 in effect for the full fiscal year. Projected Savings of $30.5  Million in 2025-26 and $24.7  Million in 2026-27.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4991