COVID-19: American Rescue Plan’s Major Health-Related Funding Provisions

May 6, 2021 - The green line shows how the ARP Act goes beyond the level of subsidies provided by the state subsidy program across all income groups. The ARP Act ’s subsidies are more generous than those currently provided by the state subsidy program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4425

Second Round of Higher Education Federal Relief Funds

Jan 20, 2021 - Like the CARES Act, the new relief act requires institutions to spend a portion of their base funds on student financial aid. Specifically, public and private nonprofit institutions are required to spend at least the same amount of base funds on student aid as they were required to spend on this purpose under the CARES Act.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4315

Improving Legislative Oversight of Emergency Authorities

Apr 10, 2025 - Figure  3 shows the distribution of the 36 states by the amount of time in which their Governors or Legislatures must act. At the federal level, the National Emergencies Act (NEA) was enacted in 1976 to rein in presidential emergency powers and provides that a national emergency will end automatically after one year unless the President publishes a notice of renewal in the Federal Register.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5029

Improving Legislative Oversight of Emergency Authorities [Publication Details]

Apr 10, 2025 - In this report, we describe how the Legislature has delegated some of its core powers to allow the Governor to exercise emergency authorities during a state of emergency. Next, we assess the degree to which this is necessary to facilitate emergency response and whether there are adequate oversight mechanisms in place.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5029

The 2026-27 Budget: Permitting Support at the State Water Resources Control Board [Publication Details]

Mar 2, 2026 - In this post, we assess the Governor’s proposal for new positions and associated funding at the State Water Resources Control Board to manage increased workload stemming from a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5144

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

Mar 2, 2026 - Water quality is governed by the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and state Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. Under CWA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes national standards and delegates authority to SWRCB and its nine regional water boards (collectively referred to as the water boards) to administer federal permitting programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5144

The 2021-22 Budget: Department of Water Resources [Publication Details]

Jan 27, 2021 - This publication provides an overview of the Governor's 2021-22 January budget proposals for the Department of Water Resources, including $284 million for flood management and $60 million to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4321

Assessment of the Strong Workforce Program

Dec 10, 2025 - Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Sets Planning Requirements. In California, WIOA is administered primarily by the California Workforce Development Board and 45 local workforce development boards.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5098

Assessment of the Strong Workforce Program [Publication Details]

Dec 10, 2025 - This report focuses on the Strong Workforce Program, which the state created to increase the availability and quality of career technical education at the California Community Colleges. We provide background on the program, assess its implementation and outcomes, and raise a few issues to consider relating to coordination of workforce development programs more broadly.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5098

The 2022-23 Budget: Analysis of Child Welfare Proposals and Program Implementation Updates

Feb 22, 2022 - Passed as part of the 2018 Bipartisan Budget Act , FFPSA expands allowable uses of federal Title IV ‑E funds to include services to help parents and families from entering (or re ‑entering) the foster care system.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4558