Local rent control laws. [Ballot]

Feb 10, 2023 - A state law, known as the   Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act  (Costa-Hawkins), limits local rent control laws. Costa-Hawkins creates three main limitations. First, rent control cannot apply to any single-family homes.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2022-008

Proposition 33 [Ballot]

Nov 5, 2024 - Another state law, known as the   Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act  (Costa-Hawkins), limits local rent control laws in three main ways. First, rent control cannot apply to any single-family homes. Second, rent control cannot apply to any housing built on or after February 1, 1995.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=33&year=2024

Building Permits Update: September 2021 [EconTax Blog]

Nov 1, 2021 - Los Angeles County led as usual with 1,197 units, far ahead of Contra Costa with 413, San Diego with 372, and (uncharacteristically) Yolo with 285. No other county broke 200 units. Nonresidential construction permit activity remains very weak.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/709

The 2023-24 Budget: Whole Child Model Expansion

May 5, 2023 - By contrast, the model changes in the three Single-Plan model counties ( Alameda, Contra Costa, and Imperial) do not create this complexity, as the affected managed care plans currently do not administer the Whole Child Model.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4767

Home Prices Update: September 2021 [EconTax Blog]

Oct 20, 2021 - All the other large counties in the state have seen growth near or above 20 percent, with San Francisco ’s relatively affordable neighbors Alameda and Contra Costa seeing higher growth than most. San Joaquin county, which is increasingly becoming a bedroom community for the Bay Area, has seen growth above 30 percent.  
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/706

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Transportation

Oct 16, 2025 - Chapter  104 of 2025 (SB  105, Wiener) requires the Department of Finance (DOF) —in consultation with the California State Transportation Agency —to examine loans or other financing options that could be used to provide short-term financial assistance to certain transit agencies: San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, and Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5077

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - Nevertheless, many Bay Area jurisdictions —including most parts of Marin County and Contra Costa County, and several jurisdictions in other counties —have not enacted local minimum wages. Assessment In this section, we summarize our findings and gauge whether California ’s statewide minimum wage is high, low, or somewhere in between.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/3

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

Mar 5, 2026 - What role do county policies and processes and the design and operation of automation and data systems play in determining the state ’s error rates in each program? Do some counties have significantly higher or lower error rates than others and are there practices or other circumstances that contribute to this  variation?
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5149

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposed Elimination of State Environmental Positions

Feb 17, 2026 - However, in many cases, the residual positions in question supported by special funds do not have a direct impact on the General Fund and thus do not factor directly into efforts to balance the budget.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5124

The 2026-27 Budget: California Highway Patrol Proposals

Mar 6, 2026 - We recommend the Legislature reject the proposed equipment and operating cost augmentations, as we do not find them to be well justified. We recommend the Legislature approve the capital outlay projects, but switch their funding source from the General Fund to the MVA.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5152