The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 19, 2025 - The budget also included budget bill language authorizing the Department of Finance to transfer additional General Fund to the DNA Identification Fund if revenues deposited into fund decline further and are insufficient to support BFS.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4972

Improving Legislative Oversight of Emergency Authorities

Apr 10, 2025 - Specifically, when a local emergency is declared by a city, county, or city/county governing body, CESA requires the emergency to be reviewed every 60 days by the governing body until the local emergency is terminated.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5029

Frequently Asked Questions About Wildfires in California

Jan 28, 2025 - This kaleidoscope of ownership has implications for management responsibilities and also makes coordination important when conducting both wildfire resilience and response activities. The next Figure displays these forest ownership patterns across the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4952

The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandates—Regional Water Quality Control Boards

May 30, 2025 - CSM determined that several of the requirements in the permit issued by the regional board in 2010 constitute state-reimbursable mandates for Riverside County and the cities of Riverside County that are within the Santa Ana region (some cities in Riverside County fall within the jurisdiction of the Santa Ana Regional Board and some within the jurisdiction of the San Diego Regional Board).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5054

LAO May Outlook Estimates of Proposition 98 Guarantee [EdBudget]

May 27, 2025 - LAO May Outlook Estimates of Proposition 98 Guarantee [EdBudget]   a Excludes nontax revenues and transfers, which do not affect the calculation of the guarantee. b The change in attendance for calculating the guarantee is deemed to be zero in these years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Education/EdBudget/Details/966

The 2025-26 Budget: Oversight of Encampment Resolution Funding

Mar 5, 2025 - The purpose of ERF is to provide competitive grants to cities, counties, and CoCs to address “critical encampment concerns ” in their communities and transition individuals to “safe and stable housing, ” with a focus on permanent housing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5007

The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandate—Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board

May 5, 2025 - City of Salinas ) —which found that the city did not have sufficient fee authority to levy a stormwater fee due to the voter approval requirement —was wrongly decided. Senate Bill  231, which took effect in 2018, makes increasing stormwater-related fees more straightforward for local governments because they can use the majority protest provision rather than having to seek voter approval.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

Proposition 98 Key Inputs and Outcomes Under the May Revision [EdBudget]

May 16, 2025 - Absent suspension, Test 2 would have applied and the guarantee would have been $106.5 billion. c Excludes nontax revenues and transfers, which do not affect the calculation of the guarantee. d As set forth in the State Constitution, reflects change in per capita General Fund plus 0.5 percent. e Includes adjustments to the previous year's maintenance factor for growth in per capita personal income and K-12 attendance as required by the State Constitution.
https://lao.ca.gov/Education/EdBudget/Details/962

January 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires Impact on Local Property Tax Revenues [EconTax Blog]

Feb 10, 2025 - These property tax revenues would have gone to the County and City of Los Angeles and the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre, as well as a number of local school districts and special districts. We expect assessed values to recover over time as debris are removed and homes are rebuilt.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/819

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

Feb 26, 2025 - We estimate that the 2025-26 transfer could be underestimated by around a few million dollars. The projected 2026-27 and subsequent transfers could be underestimated by significantly more —potentially in the tens of millions annually.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4991