Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Those departments may seek increases in compensation to ensure their pay remains competitive with CDCR —potentially adding still more costs to the state. Extending Licensing Exemptions to Out‑of‑State Licensed Providers State Licensing Policies Limit Pool of Potential Providers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Adding More Licensing Exemptions for Those Who Work at Prisons. Currently, providers with out ‑of ‑state licenses are required to obtain a California license to work in CDCR, though some may use their out ‑of ‑state license on a temporary basis.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

The 2026-27 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 11, 2026 - Trial courts have a limited ability to keep and carry over any unspent funds (also known as “reserves ”) from one fiscal year to the next. Specifically, trial courts are only allowed to carry over funds equal to 3  percent of their operating budget from the prior fiscal year under current law.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5113

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 19, 2025 - The Governor ’s proposal would commit the state to providing roughly $35  million General Fund annually over the next few years, and potentially even more in the following years. This  approach comes with significant trade ‑offs for other parts of the state budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4972

Retail Theft in California: Looking Back at a Decade of Change

Jun 12, 2025 - Added Time for Certain Theft or Property Damage Felonies. Chapter  174 of 2024 (S B  1416 , Newman), Chapter  220 of 2024 (A B  1960 , Rivas), and Proposition  36 all added similar language to state law, which allows for increased sentences for people convicted of felonies in which the amount of property that was stolen or damaged is over $50,000,  with longer enhancement terms as the dollar amounts increase.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

The 2025-26 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 12, 2025 - Assessment Proposed Project Generally Reasonable … The selection of the new Tracy courthouse is generally reasonable as it is the next project in line to be funded when following the judicial branch ’s 2019 ranked list of facility project needs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4959

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - Given that the results of the recommended data and studies have the potential to notably improve legislative decision ‑making on prison postsecondary education policy and programs moving forward, we believe the added administrative workload is warranted.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

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

Jan 13, 2025 - We recommend the Legislature use the next few months to review program performance to develop its own approach to addressing the deficits. Governor ’s Interest in Enhancing Reserve Policies Merited. The Governor has signaled interest in changing the state ’s reserve policy by: (1)  increasing the cap on BSA required deposits from 10  percent of General Fund taxes to 20  percent
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4951

The 2024-25 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 22, 2024 - As of January 2024, CDCR identified 44 deferred maintenance or capital outlay projects across 23 prisons at an estimated total cost of $2  billion that are expected to be needed over the next ten years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4852

The 2024-25 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 23, 2024 - Trial courts have a limited ability to keep and carry over any unspent funds (also known as “reserves ”) from one fiscal year to the next. Specifically, trial courts are only allowed to carry over funds equal to 3  percent of their operating budget from the prior fiscal year under current law.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4848