M E M O R A N D U M

We have a winner for our eighth annual contest to test just how closely the members of the news media are reading our Analysis and Perspectives and Issues books—Lynda Gledhill of the San Francisco Chronicle Sacramento Bureau. Lynda is the winner, as promised, of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (not purchased at taxpayer expense). It’s not the Pulitzer Prize, but it is more edible.

To find the correct answer, click on the question:

1.  The budget proposes to purchase firefighting helicopters to replace 11 choppers it received free from the federal government’s “surplus” fleet. How much does the administration estimate the new helicopters will cost?

• (A) $1 million to $2 million each.
• (B) $2 million to $3 million each.
• (C) Up to $15 million for a whole new fleet.
• (D) $7 million to $15 million each.

2.  Our analysis indicates that the cost of “float” to the state under a proposed new state program could be tens of millions of dollars. What do we mean by the term float?

• (A) The cost of pumping dry Delta islands that have been flooded.
• (B) The cost of water subsidies to farmers who agree to water marketing agreements.
• (C) The cost of advancing drug rebates to pharmacies before the state collects rebate monies from drug companies.
• (D) The increased cost to the state of borrowing for certain operational expenditures.

3. Which of the following products is subject to a pesticide mill assessment when it is sold in California?

• (A) Pool chlorine.
• (B) Toilet bowl cleaner.
• (C) Weed killer.
• (D) All of the above.

4. States and the federal government can sometimes transfer foreign inmates back to their country of origin. The state has about 6,500 inmates eligible for transfer now. Over the past three years, the federal prison system has transferred 857 foreign inmates. With an inmate population of roughly the same size as the federal system, how many foreign inmates has California transferred from its prisons during the same period?

• (A) 15.
• (B) 100.
• (C) 500.
• (D) 1,000.

5. Which of the following phrases is not referenced in our analysis of how the new Medicare Part D drug law will affect the state?

• (A) The “woodwork effect.”
• (B) The “doughnut hole.”
• (C) The “clawback.”
• (D) The “black hole.”

6.  The administration proposes to modify an open meetings law to reduce the more than $15 million a year cost of this state mandate on local government to $2 million in 2005-06. How does the administration propose to achieve these savings?

• (A) It will cap local agency agenda posting costs at $1,000 per agenda and provide all local agencies with free thumbtacks.

• (B) The administration will develop a central Web site where local agencies can post agendas.

• (C) People and organizations requesting agendas will be charged a fee.

• (D) The administration has not said yet.

7.  The budget asks for additional funding for CalTrans to maintain storm water treatment structures. Based on a survey of four of the 12 CalTrans districts, the budget plan assumes CalTrans has 487 such structures. Based on a later survey of seven CalTrans districts, how many structures does CalTrans have to maintain statewide?

• (A) 97.
• (B) CalTrans did not say, but indicates the seven surveyed districts alone have 881 structures with 109 more expected by the end of the year.
• (C) Exactly 1,629.
• (D) More than 10,000.

8.  Which situation does LAO describe in the 2005-06 Analysis as being a “vicious circle” that will continue absent a chance in state policy?

• (A) The more tax auditors the state hires, the greater the state budget deficit will become.
• (B) As more road accidents occur, CHP officers are spending more time responding to accidents instead of on activities to prevent them.
• (C) As our Analysis of the state budget gets longer, budget subcommittee hearings are getting longer and more frequent.
• (D) The more things change in state agencies, the more they stay the same.

9.  The budget proposes to spend $829 million in the budget year to continue the construction of various state college and university buildings. Competing all of these projects would cost an additional $419 million in future years. How much state bond money is available to finish the job?

• (A) Exactly $419 million, allowing no room at all for cost overruns.
• (B) None.
• (C) Not enough — the state would be short by $220 million.
• (D) The state will have almost $500 million left over even after all the projects are completed.

10.  The budget plan would fund a new “state gaming testing lab.”  What would such a lab do?

• (A) Examine whether firearms used for hunting are calibrated within allowable state limits.
• (B) Verify whether waterfowl shot by hunters were endangered species.
• (C) Test the skills of blackjack dealers prior to their going to work in casinos.
• (D) Test games of chance before they are used in casinos.

11.  The Legislature authorized nine additional staff in 2003-04 for the Department of Health Services (DHS) to monitor the way counties are complying with certain Medi-Cal eligibility rules. The Governor's 2005-06 budget proposal seeks 2.5 state positions and funding for a contractor for DHS to perform similar tasks. Why?

• (A) The workload proved to be greater than anticipated, resulting in a backlog of work that needs to be addressed.
• (B) The original nine staff generated enough state savings that DHS would like to expand the program.
• (C) The DHS eliminated the original nine positions before they were ever filled.
• (D) A state hiring freeze prevented DHS from filling the new positions, and authority for them expired.

12.  The state education system is currently not spending all of the federal money it is allotted for before and after school care for disadvantaged K-12 students. How much unspent federal money does the LAO estimate could revert to the federal government by September 2006?

• (A) $12 million.
• (B) $23.6 million.
• (C) $47 million.
• (D) More than $100 million.

13. The state has been fighting Medfly infestations for 30 years. The budget includes about $16 million in state and federal funds to combat the fly. What is the money used for?

• (A) To breed sterile flies that will mate with fertile flies and produce fly eggs that will not hatch.
• (B) Aerial spraying of malathion.
• (C) To breed mosquitoes that consume Medfly eggs.
• (D) All of the above.