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 - Coastal Flooding and Erosion From Rising Sea Levels Sea levels along the California coast are projected to rise by about six inches by 2030 and as much as seven to ten feet by 2100 compared to 2000 levels, depending upon the degree of warming the planet experiences.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4575

How Has COVID-19 Affected Renters and Homeowners?

Jan 19, 2021 - We hope that by shedding light on how COVID ‑19 has added to the financial stress of renters, we can inform policy solutions to help renters through this crisis. In particular, the state and local governments will soon have to determine how to allocate recently authorized federal funding for emergency rental assistance.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4312

The 2023-24 Budget: County of Los Angeles Citizens Redistricting Commission Mandate

May 2, 2023 - With these activities constituting state-reimbursable mandates, the state is responsible for reimbursing the County of Los Angeles for much of the costs related to its redistricting commission. For the 2020 redistricting cycle, the Commission estimates that the cost of these reimbursable act ivities totaled roughly $1.2  million.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4766

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

Feb 9, 2022 - In both cases, it is too early to know how these programs have performed. As the Legislature moves forward in its efforts to address homelessness, we suggest considering how to balance the state ‑local relationship and identify a predictable funding strategy that aligns with the balance of responsibilities between the state and local governments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4521

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

May 12, 2021 - Third, how much of these funds ultimately could be provided to governments in California is unclear. This is because local governments still are determining the full amount of potentially eligible costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4428

The 2022-23 Budget: The Governor's Housing Plan

Feb 14, 2022 - We suggest the Legislature assess how much total funding it wishes to allocate towards the AHCS Program, then assess if there is a gap between interest and available GGRF revenue. Any gap in funding could be addressed through a General Fund appropriation.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4535

Climate Change Impacts Across California - Housing

Apr 5, 2022 - In recent years, much of the new housing construction in the state has occurred in areas that are at significant risk of the effects of climate change. For example, over the past decade, six out of ten of the state ’s fastest growing counties have been in the Central Valley and Inland Empire, which are regions that are a comparatively high risk of excessive heat.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4584