The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Housing, Homelessness and Local Government

Oct 22, 2025 - Budget Package Addresses State ’s Long-Standing CEQA Policy. The budget package included a number of notable policy changes aimed at speeding up and streamlining CEQA, which was originally enacted by the Legislature in 1970.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5082

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

May 5, 2025 - Because the California Constitution does not require the state to reimburse local governments for costs to comply with federal law, disagreements have arisen over the years about whether all of the requirements in a given water quality permit are specifically required by federal law or whether they impose ad ditional requirements from the state.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Crosscutting Issues

Apr 5, 2022 - In addition to episodic disruptions, some of the most affected industries and regions may need to make long ‑term adjustments to remain viable, forcing some workers to relocate, train to adopt new industry practices, or shift to new types of work.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4575

The 2025-26 Budget: Oversight of Encampment Resolution Funding

Mar 5, 2025 - A long-standing way that California and the rest of the United States have estimated the number of people experiencing homelessness is through a point-in-time count. Since the count is only a snapshot of people experiencing homelessness on one given night in a year (typically in late January) and those conducting the count may miss individuals who are hidden from view at the time (such as people sleeping in a secluded area), the homelessness data collected is an undercount.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5007

The 2022-23 Budget: The Governor’s Homelessness Plan

Feb 9, 2022 - The Governor proposes $2  billion one ‑time General Fund over two years that is intended to address near ‑term homelessness needs while previously authorized funds for long ‑term housing solutions are implemented.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4521

The 2024-25 Budget: Juvenile Custodial Interrogation Mandate

May 28, 2024 - This is because youths can lack the capacity to weigh the long-term consequences of waiving their rights and may do so as a matter of compliance with authority. In addition, research suggests that youths are at risk for involuntary and false confessions in interrogations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4910

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

May 30, 2025 - Maintains Mandates From January 1, 2018 Forward. Because the Governor ’s proposed suspensions would only concern the historic time periods in question, the permit requirements mandated by the state would remain in effect as of January 1, 2018 and until each regional board adopts a new permit.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5054

An Initial Look at Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Local Government Fiscal Condition

May 12, 2021 - Long ‑Term Uncertainties Remain Pandemic Could Have Unknown Long ‑Term Effects on Local Governments. The long ‑term consequences of the pandemic are yet to be known. For instance, if there are broad, long ‑standing changes to where people chose to live and work, the pandemic could, over time, change the key economic drivers of a community.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4428

The 2025-26 Budget: Oversight of Encampment Resolution Funding [Publication Details]

Mar 5, 2025 - To assist the Legislature in its fiscal oversight role of this large and multiyear program, this post: (1) provides data on the size of the population of people experiencing homelessness in California and recent state spending on housing and homelessness; (2) describes the ERF program’s goals, funding, and reporting requirements; (3) provides an update on ERF grantee awards,
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5007

How Has COVID-19 Affected Renters and Homeowners?

Jan 19, 2021 - The crisis is a long time in the making, the culmination of decades of shortfalls in housing construction. Just as the housing affordability crisis has taken decades to develop, it will take years or decades to correct.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4312