The 2022-23 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2022 - Finally, as a result of the SAL, the Legislature has limited flexibility to reallocate these proposals to other purposes. In particular, for the majority of the Governor ’s infrastructure ‑related proposals, the Legislature could only reallocate those funds to another SAL ‑related purpose, such as more spending to respond to COVID ‑19, different types of capital outlay, tax reductions or tax payments, and additional school payments.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4492

The 2022-23 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2022 - On January 10, 2022, Governor Newsom presented his proposed state budget to the Legislature. In this report, we provide a brief summary of the proposed budget based on our initial review. In the coming weeks, we will analyze the plan in more detail and release several additional budget analyses.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4492/1

The 2026-27 Budget: Estimated State Savings From Proposition 47

Feb 23, 2026 - Previously, some of these crimes could be punished as felonies depending on the type of property taken or if the defendant had certain previous theft-related convictions. The measure limited these reduced penalties to people who have not committed certain severe crimes, such as murder, and are not re quired to register as sex offenders.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5108

The 2021-22 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision

May 17, 2021 - (We also include links to Appendix tables at the end of this post and the top left of this page. These appendix tables itemize select proposals by policy area based on our understanding at this time.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4432

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Approve Funding for Separating Employee Leave Cashouts on a Limited ‑Term Basis. Given that CDCR ’s need for the $91  million for separating employee leave cashout payments may not be ongoing, we recommend providing the funding only on a three ‑year, limited ‑term basis.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

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

Jun 12, 2025 - Proposition  47 (2014) limited punishment for most types of retail theft involving $950 or less to a misdemeanor, when previously, some of these crimes could be punished as felonies. In doing so, Proposition  47 changed how these crimes are handled at certain key stages of the justice system.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Extending Licensing Exemptions to Out‑of‑State Licensed Providers State Licensing Policies Limit Pool of Potential Providers. Licensing restrictions limit the number of people that can work as mental health providers in California prisons.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

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

Feb 22, 2024 - For example, CDCR recently promulgated regulations to consolidate its six types of restricted housing units into three types. (Restricted housing units can be used to temporarily house people as punishment for certain serious rule violations or who constitute a particular threat to prison security.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4852

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - Both budget packages included some budget requests to fund similar types of workload but this workload was supported with different fund sources in each budget act. For example, FITSM was funded by the DROS Special Account in 2023-24 and the General Fund in 2024-25.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 19, 2025 - Because this amount would be limited, it would similarly provide an incentive for these entities to consider what evidence is submitted and why it is submitted. We note that adopting this recommendation could require some level of increased resources for state agencies that receive BFS services, such as CHP and CDCR.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4972