Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - Those departments may seek increases in compensation to ensure their pay remains competitive with CDCR —potentially adding still more costs to the state. Extending Licensing Exemptions to Out‑of‑State Licensed Providers State Licensing Policies Limit Pool of Potential Providers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

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

Feb 23, 2026 - Adding More Licensing Exemptions for Those Who Work at Prisons. Currently, providers with out ‑of ‑state licenses are required to obtain a California license to work in CDCR, though some may use their out ‑of ‑state license on a temporary basis.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

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

Jun 12, 2025 - Added Time for Certain Theft or Property Damage Felonies. Chapter  174 of 2024 (S B  1416 , Newman), Chapter  220 of 2024 (A B  1960 , Rivas), and Proposition  36 all added similar language to state law, which allows for increased sentences for people convicted of felonies in which the amount of property that was stolen or damaged is over $50,000,  with longer enhancement terms as the dollar amounts increase.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5055

The 2025-26 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 19, 2025 - For example, one potential funding option discussed in the report was to increase the specific fee added when individuals are convicted of criminal offenses which generates the revenue deposited into the DNA Identification Fund.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4972

The 2023-24 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

Jan 13, 2023 - (That is, in our view, these costs would not have occurred absent legislative action and as a result do not contribute to the budget problem the Legislature faces today.) Comparison to LAO November Outlook.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4662

The 2025-26 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 12, 2025 - As such, in our view, any restoration —which would be a change from the enacted 2024 ‑25 budget package —should require legislative review. Ultimately, the judicial branch and DOF recently submitted a JLBC letter requesting to implement the 2024 ‑25 restoration by increasing the amount available for trial court operations funding using unrestricted TCTF fund balance monies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4959

The 2024-25 Budget: County Probation Grants to Support Temporary Increase in the Supervision Population

Feb 20, 2024 - In our view, this proposal does not meet that higher bar. Recommendation Reject.  We recommend that the Legislature reject the Governor ’s proposal for two primary reasons. First, the proposed funding is likely not needed.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4849

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - Given that the results of the recommended data and studies have the potential to notably improve legislative decision ‑making on prison postsecondary education policy and programs moving forward, we believe the added administrative workload is warranted.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

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

Feb 22, 2024 - In  view  of  the  opportunity for significant savings and the possibility of mitigating negative effects on housing flexibility, PC 2067 arguably requires CDCR to further reduce capacity. Recommendations Direct CDCR to Deactivate Prisons.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4852

Overview and Update on the Prison Receivership

Nov 8, 2023 - An estimated $194  million was added to the state budget from 2002 ‑03 through 2006 ‑07 to address the problems identified in prison medical care. However, upon further review of the state ’s performance, the federal court found that the state had failed to comply with its orders.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4813