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

May 5, 2025 - It also asserts that a 2002 appellate court decision ( Howard Jarvis Association v. City of Salinas ) —which found that the city did not have sufficient fee authority to levy a stormwater fee due to the voter approval requirement —was wrongly decided.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

The 2025-26 Budget: California’s Film Tax Credit

Feb 28, 2025 - One notable outlier to this pattern is a report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, who cla im to find a small fiscal benefit associated with the film tax credit. The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation estimates, however, very likely are overstated.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5000

Overview of K-12 Career Technical Education

Mar 25, 2025 - Federal Funding Perkins V Funding. The federal government provides roughly $1.4  billion in ongoing funding to states and discretionary grantees for high school and postsecondary CTE programs. The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) was signed into law in July 2018, reauthorizing the federal Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5021

Homeownership affordability. [Ballot]

Oct 27, 2023 - (Under current law, fees to mitigate the im pact of traffic are often calculated based on vehicle miles traveled —an estimate of the total additional miles driven by all drivers in the area as a result of the project.)
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2023-025

Statutory initiative that would establish a statewide vote to express the intent of California voters to seek independence from the United States of America. [Ballot]

Jan 8, 2025 - Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White that the initial act admitting a state to the Union “was final. ” The court said: “There was no place for reconsideration, or revocation, except through revolution, or through consent of the states. ” Initiatives and Constitutional Revisions.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2024-001

Overview and Update on the Prison Receivership

Nov 8, 2023 - Federal Court Orders State to Reduce Prison Overcrowding In November 2006, plaintiffs in the cases now known as Plata v. Newsom (involving prison medical care) and Coleman v. Newsom (involving prison mental health care) filed motions for the federal courts to convene a three ‑judge panel pursuant to the U.S.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4813

State Corrections: Response to COVID-19

May 8, 2020 - In 2009, a federal three-judge panel —convened at the request of the plaintiffs in Coleman v. Newsom and Plata v. Newsom —declared that overcrowding was the primary reason that CDCR was unable to provide adequate health care and ordered the state to reduce the population of its prisons.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4229

The 2023-24 California Spending Plan: Human Services

Nov 6, 2023 - As part of im plementing AB  2083, beginning in 2019-20, the state provided funding to the Department of Developmental Services for 15 staff specifically to coordinate with other local and state agencies serving foster youth with qualifying developmental disabilities who are served by regional centers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4812/4

The 2025-26 Budget: Proposition 98 Guarantee and K-12 Spending Plan

Feb 13, 2025 - v.  State of California ). In early 2024, the state agencies involved in the suit announced a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs. The agreement called for the Governor to propose new requirements for the LREBG.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4963

Weekly Unemployment Claims Update: August 30 - September 5 [EconTax Blog]

Sep 11, 2020 - Should continued claims keep rising, however, it could signal that a V-shaped recovery may be less likely.   Note: Previous versions of this post included data on claims paid under Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) —a new program that provides unemployment insurance for self-employed workers.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/544