The 2026-27 Budget: Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation Proposals

Mar 19, 2026 - In 2023, the Legislature approved the administration ’s request to transition most of the office ’s employees to traditional civil service status, which required standardization of various processes such as hiring and employee classifications.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5167

The 2026-27 Budget: Permitting Support at the State Water Resources Control Board

Mar 2, 2026 - Supreme Court Decision in 2023 Narrowed Federal Jurisdiction … A 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision — Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( Sackett ) —narrowed the definition of WOTUS. The ruling limits federal jurisdiction to relatively permanent bodies of water and to wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to WOTUS.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5144

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposition 4 Spending Plan

Feb 10, 2026 - (The exception to this approach is that the proposal includes small amounts of state operations —or “program delivery ” —funding scheduled for appropriation in future fiscal years to enable departments to hire and plan for program administration and oversight activities.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5115

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

Feb 10, 2026 - CCC proposes $11.7  million General Fund and 49 positions in 2026 ‑27 (as well as a similar amount ongoing) for its hand crews to operate on a daily, year ‑round schedule consistent with CalFire ’s hand crew requirements.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5116

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposed Elimination of State Environmental Positions

Feb 17, 2026 - The final budget agreement instead eliminated fewer positions (4,994) and provided the Legislature additional time to review 1,009 additional positions which we refer to as “residual: ” (1)  those associated with implementing legislation chaptered in 2022 and 2023 across numerous departments, and (2)  all of those in nine specified departments which we highlight in Figure  1.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5124

The 2026-27 Budget: Cap-and-Invest Expenditure Plan

Feb 10, 2026 - In part because some of these funds had originally been scheduled to be provided in previous years but then were delayed due to the state budget condition, some local transit agencies already have committed portions of this funding to specific local projects.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5114

The 2026-27 Budget: Governor’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Tax Credit Proposal

Feb 24, 2026 - These pressures are expected to grow as the state works to further increase ZEV adoption to meet its ambitious climate goals, as we discuss in our 2023 report, Assessing California’s Climate Policies—Implications for State Transportation Funding and Programs .
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5139

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

Mar 18, 2026 - According to estimates from the Delta Stewardship Council, California achieved only about 10 percent of the annual target on average between 2018 and 2023. Recognition That Rivers Need More Water to Support Native Fish.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5163