The 2026-27 Budget: Contract to Achieve Operational Efficiencies

Mar 10, 2026 - BCG is expected to develop and pilot an analytical model that could save money in Medi-Cal by detecting pre-payment fraud, reducing improper claims, and flagging areas of possible waste and abuse. Workstream 5: DHCS —Hospital Financing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5156

The 2026-27 Budget: County Administration and H.R. 1 Implementation

Mar 5, 2026 - While there is no clear indication that the current Medi ‑Cal administration funding level is significantly out of alignment with costs, the current practice of holding funding flat year over year lacks an analytical basis that would allow the Legislature some assurance that funding is appropriately tied to workload.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5149

Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - For example, in court documents, CDCR estimated that the staff fill rate for ICF and APP beds in June would have been 98  percent for psychiatrists (instead of 81  percent), 73  percent for psychologists (instead of 52  percent), 105  percent for social workers (instead of 82  percent), and 127  percent for recreational therapists (instead of 101  percent) had all 249  inpatient beds been deactivated that month.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - A large portion of the General Fund support is used to support the Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) enforcement teams, which seize firearms from people prohibited from owning or possessing them.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

Property tax rules for inherited property. [Ballot]

Oct 22, 2025 - The special rules for vacation homes and business properties only app lied to the first $1  million of combined property value. Proposition  19 narrowed these special rules. The rules now only apply to two types of properties: (1)  homes that a child or grandchild uses as a primary residence and (2)  farms.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-017

The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandates—Regional Water Quality Control Boards

May 30, 2025 - Unless and until a different appellate court or the California Supreme Court were to reach an alternative conclusion in a future similar case, we cannot find a strong analytical reason for the Legislature to disregard the current court decision.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5054

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

May 5, 2025 - Unless and until a different appellate court or the California Supreme Court were to reach an alternative conclusion in a future similar case, we cannot find a strong analytical reason for the Legislature to disregard the 2022 decision by the Third District Court of Appeal.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

Trends in Higher Education [Publication Details]

Apr 30, 2025 - Trends in Higher Education [Publication Details] HTML Description: From January 2024 through April 2025, we released six analytical reports focused on higher education trends. The reports cover trends in student access, college affordability, student outcomes, finance, faculty and staff, and facilities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5071

Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - On an analytical basis, there is nothing inherently correct about this time frame, except that it is long enough to allow us to measure the cumulative effect of several economic cycles. Predicting the exact path revenues will take over the next 50  years is, of course, impossible.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028

The 2025-26 Budget: California Community Colleges

Mar 5, 2025 - Based on the proposed trailer bill language, the funds would be used to develop and expand the platform to all districts, incorporate new analytics tools, and support related data quality assurance and governance processes.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5005