The 2025-26 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 25, 2025 - The proposal includes 21.6 custody positions, which would be assigned to housing units to engage with residents to build trust, rapport, and help them navigate rehabilitative opportunities at the  prison.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4986

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - (Please see our post, The 2025-26 Spending Plan: Housing, Homelessness, and Local Government for more detail on the CEQA changes.) Final Year of Funding for California Education Learning Lab. The budget package includes a final year of funding totaling $5.5  million from the General Fund for the California Education Learning Lab, with the intention to eliminate the program beginning in 2026-27 (which will achieve $4  million in ongoing savings).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081

The 2025-26 Budget: SB 678 County Probation Grant Program

Apr 11, 2025 - The proposed formula uses the state ’s average cost to house a person in state prison to estimate the amount the state saves when such people are diverted. We find that using the marginal cost is a more reasonable approach.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5031

Assessing Community College Programs at State Prisons

Jul 1, 2024 - The federal government does not allow Pell  Grants to be used for costs to house incarcerated  students. Assessment In this section, we provide our assessment of community college education at state prisons.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913

The 2024-25 Spending Plan: Judiciary and Criminal Justice

Sep 10, 2024 - This consists of (1) $77  million (growing to $132  million in 2025-26) from the previously planned deactivation of Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, (2) $82  million from the deactivation of 42 housing units across 11 state prisons, and (3) $10  million (growing to $11  million in 2025-26) related to reduced administrative costs resulting from these and previous deactivations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4924