The Bay-Delta Plan and Voluntary Agreements: Ensuring Effective Legislative Oversight

Mar 18, 2026 - The last comprehensive update occurred in 1995 and largely guides management today. (The 1995  update concerned the entire Bay ‑Delta watershed and included substantive changes to water quality objectives for fish and wildlife beneficial uses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5163

Addressing California’s Convenience Zone Recycling Center Closures

May 16, 2016 - Based on our conversations with CalRecycle and recent news reports , declining scrap values have occurred for a couple of reasons. First, California exports a significant amount of its recycled scrap material, primarily to China for manufacturing and other uses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3466

The 2026-27 Budget: Framework for Approaching the Natural Resources, Environmental Protection, and Agriculture Budget

Feb 10, 2026 - Recommended Framework for Approaching Environment Budget Decisions Below, we offer a framework for approaching environment budget decisions in today ’s challenging fiscal circumstances —namely , how to evaluate the Governor ’s new spending proposals across CNRA, CalEPA, and CDFA in the context of a General Fund condition that is only precariously balanced in the near term and faces significant deficits in the coming years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5116

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

Jan 13, 2025 - The underlying budget dynamics today are particularly challenging for three reasons. First, revenues have not caught up with expenditures. Second, under our estimates, expenditure growth exceeds estimated revenue growth.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

The 2023-24 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2023 - (That is, in our view, these costs would not have occurred absent legislative action and as a result do not contribute to the budget problem the Legislature faces today.) Comparison to LAO November Outlook.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4662

The Salton Sea: A Status Update

Aug 29, 2018 - According to news reports from that period,  the resulting blanket of dead fish along the north side of the Sea was ten miles long and three miles wide. Moreover, a retreating Sea will dry out the established vegetation and wetlands that exist along the edges of the Sea, degrading that habitat for birds as well as the fish and insects that they eat.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3879

The 2018-19 Budget: Resources and Environmental Protection

Feb 14, 2018 - While CalFire was not able to provide information on the ratio of applicants to position openings in time for our analysis, some news out lets have reported only a few percent of applicants being hired.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3747

Evaluating California's Pursuit of Zero Net Energy State Buildings

Nov 14, 2017 - The analyses should apply a reasonable discount rate that takes into account that dollars in the future are worth less than those today. Evaluate Key Alternatives. The analyses should compare a reasonable set of alternatives.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3711

Cap-and-Trade Extension: Issues for Legislative Oversight

Dec 12, 2017 - An allowance issued today can be purchased today and used to cover emissions in a future year —a design feature commonly known as banking. Since the annual cap on emissions becomes more stringent in later years, banking gives firms an incentive to obtain extra allowances in early years as a way to protect against the risk of higher prices in later years when allowances are more scarce.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3719

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Crosscutting Issues

Apr 5, 2022 - Moreover, many existing structures were built to different standards than are commonplace today, making them less resilient to the effects of climate change. For instance, many older homes were built with features —such as wood shake roofs, cedar siding, or single ‑paned windows —that make them more vulnerable to igniting during wildfires.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4575