The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - A large portion of the General Fund support is used to support the Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) enforcement teams, which seize firearms from people prohibited from owning or possessing them.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

The 2026-27 Budget: County Administration and H.R. 1 Implementation

Mar 5, 2026 - What role do state policy decisions about eligibility processes play in affecting the complexity of operations and increasing or reducing the error rate in each program? Are there changes in state policy the state could consider that would reduce errors?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5149

The 2026-27 Budget: Streamlining California’s Affordable Housing Funding System

Mar 6, 2026 - Also, HCD currently plays a key role in the review and implementation of AHSC, so it already has “in house ” knowledge of the program. Further, the intent is that this knowledge and program capacity will be transmitted to HDFC through the proposed position transfers from HCD  to HDFC.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5154

The 2026-27 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 18, 2026 - This dynamic is at play in the 2026-27 Governor ’s Budget , which newly identifies $270  million in prior-year unspent TANF funds. Before accounting for other changes in spending levels, this unspent TANF funding results in a downward swing in General Fund dollars in CalWORKs in 2025-26.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5122

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - For example, in court documents, CDCR estimated that the staff fill rate for ICF and APP beds in June would have been 98  percent for psychiatrists (instead of 81  percent), 73  percent for psychologists (instead of 52  percent), 105  percent for social workers (instead of 82  percent), and 127  percent for recreational therapists (instead of 101  percent) had all 249  inpatient beds been deactivated that month.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposed Zero-Emission Vehicle Incentive

Feb 24, 2026 - While ZEV ‑specific programs can play a role in augmenting the state ’s broader programs —such as by making ZEVs more accessible to low ‑income households and helping to encourage the market to produce a greater number and variety of vehicles —they are less critical than they otherwise would be without the “backstop ” of those broader GHG ‑reducing programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5140

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

Mar 18, 2026 - Given the high stakes for fish and water users, the Legislature can play a critical role in monitoring plan implementation. Because the VAs are designed to adapt as new information becomes available —and the board retains authority to terminate the VAs for some or all water users if they are not working as intended —performance will require ongoing evaluation.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5163

The 2026-27 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 23, 2026 - For various reasons, including that current CDCR compensation appears to meet or exceed market rates and factors outside of compensation likely play a major role in the state ’s ability to staff mental health positions, we do not find across ‑the ‑board compensation increases to be a cost ‑effective strategy, though more targeted increases could be appropriate.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137