An Update on the Public Health Laboratory System After the Pandemic

Jun 12, 2025 - In 2024-25, approximately 60  percent of CLS ’s budget of $77  million (total funds) is supported by the General Fund, with the balance coming from a mix of federal funds and state special funds. Local public health laboratories receive a mix of 1991 realignment funding, local assistance from CDPH, federal funding, and other county funds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5056

The 2023-24 Budget: Department of Developmental Services

Feb 15, 2023 - The state has allocated $11  million annually since 2016 ‑17 ($77  million to date) for “equity grants ” to help close disparities in spending. As part of the 2021 ‑22 spending plan, the state also required DDS to contract with a research entity to evaluate the effectiveness of these grants.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4683

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Health

Oct 16, 2025 - The database, created as part of the 2018-19 budget, includes data from most health care payors in California (including private insurance, Medi-Cal, and Medicare) around health care utilization and costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5075

The 2025-26 Budget: Medi-Cal Pharmacy Spending

Apr 3, 2025 - As   Figure  5 shows, at the start of 2018, antipsychotics (drugs that treat certain mental health conditions) and insulin (drugs that help regulate blood sugar for diabetics) represented around one ‑quarter of gross spending.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5026

Building California’s Behavioral Health Infrastructure: Progress Update and Opportunities for the Proposition 1 Bond

Feb 5, 2025 - The share of Californians aged 12 and over having an SUD in the past year rose nearly 10  percent between 2015 ‑2017 and 2018 ‑2019. The consequences of these behavioral health challenges have also grown more severe.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4954

The 2024-25 Budget: Future of Public Health Budget Solution

May 21, 2024 - Historically, the General Fund —a flexible funding source —has been a very small source of support (3  percent to 5  percent of the department ’s total budget) that actually declined between a pre-Great Recession peak ($361  million) and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic ($167  million in 2018 ‑19).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4904

Mental Health Services Act: Proposed Bond to Fund Behavioral Health Facilities and Veterans Housing

Aug 17, 2023 - The Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018. The Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018 (Proposition  1) authorized $4  billion in general obligation bonds for various housing programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4790

The 2022-23 Budget: Analysis of the Medi-Cal Budget

Feb 9, 2022 - This significant upward adjustment reflects (1)  the federal government ’s clarification of how much the state must repay for prior years of erroneous claims within the managed care system ($249  million), (2)  a  shift in the timing of a repayment related to dental services from 2020 ‑21 to 2021 ‑22 ($190  million), (3)  a downward revision to the estimated amount of increased federal funding
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4522

Mental Health Services Act: Revenue Volatility and the Governor’s Proposal to Reduce Allowable County Reserves

Jul 13, 2023 - Legislature Set Caps on Reserves in 2018. Chapter  328 of 2018 (SB  192, Beall), caps the allowable cumulative balance of county prudent reserves at 33  percent of the average CSS revenue the county received in the prior five fiscal years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4780

The 2021-22 Budget: Behavioral Health: Community Care Demonstration Project

Feb 19, 2021 - There is significant variation by county in the rate of felony IST referrals for competency restoration, as shown in figure  2 in 2018 ‑19. (We use 2018 ‑19 data because this is the most recent full year of data that precedes any pandemic ‑related changes to the process of referring felony ISTs to treatment.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4382