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April 22, 2015 - California imposes excise taxes on cigarettes and on other tobacco products such as cigars and chewing tobacco. The state also licenses tobacco sellers and distributors. Recently, there has been considerable legislative interest in the cost of these programs, which are administered by the State Board of Equalization (BOE). The Legislature faces two key decisions: (1) how to pay for BOE’s cigarette and tobacco programs, and (2) how much to spend on them. This report recommends that the state use excise tax revenue to pay for excise tax administration but not for the tobacco licensing program. To address the imbalance between the licensing program’s costs and revenue, we further recommend the Legislature (1) temporarily increase fees on tobacco retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, and (2) direct BOE and the California Department of Justice to explore options to reduce the program’s costs by promoting electronic filing of schedules and tax returns.
April 21, 2015 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
April 17, 2015 - Presented to: California Student Aid Commission
April 16, 2015 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy and Transportation
April 16, 2015 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education Hon. Marty Block, Chair Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Hon. Holly Mitchell, Chair
April 16, 2015 - The state authorizes six types of alternative schools to provide educational options for students who could benefit from an environment different from their traditional schools or who cannot stay at traditional schools because of behavioral issues. These schools often are designed as short-term interventions to get these students back on track to graduate.
Currently, the state does not have sufficient information to determine how well alternative schools are educating students. We recommend the state collect better performance data for alternative schools and then use this information to set performance expectations, monitor their progress toward meeting those expectations, and support underperforming schools.
(5/13/15: Correction made to Figure 1 regarding number of opportunity and juvenile court schools.)
April 16, 2015 - Presented to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education and Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services
April 14, 2015 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
April 8, 2015 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
April 7, 2015 - This report provides a preview of possible budgetary outcomes that the state’s elected leaders may face while finalizing the 2015–16 budget package in May and June. We do not produce a new revenue or budget outlook in this report. Rather, we consider the key factors that will affect May estimates. In general, this report’s scenarios discuss revenues and spending relative to the administration’s January 2015 budget estimates.
March 27, 2015 - This report provides background regarding CalTech’s IT project responsibilities, discusses common project challenges, describes how projects are currently managed in the state, comments on the administration’s plan to centralize project management, and makes recommendations on how the Legislature should proceed with implementing a centralized Project Management Office in California.
March 26, 2015 - Presented to: Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety and the Judiciary
March 25, 2015 - Chapter 620, Statutes of 2012 (AB 970, Fong), also known as the Working Families Student Fee Transparency and Accountability Act, requires the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) to fulfill three types of requirements related to systemwide tuition and fee increases. As detailed in this report, our review found UC was not in compliance with most provisions of Chapter 620. Though the legislation deems its provisions required for UC, UC believes it is not legally obligated to comply because of its constitutional autonomy. We found CSU complied with all Chapter 620 provisions.
March 25, 2015 - Proposition 2—approved by the voters in November 2014—places formulas into the State Constitution that determine the minimum amount of debt payments and budget reserve deposits to be made in a fiscal year. This publication analyzes the administration’s Proposition 2 proposal outlined in the 2015-16 Governor’s Budget. We recommend that the Legislature develop a long-term plan for Proposition 2 and suggest that the Legislature solicit proposals from the administration, state pension systems—including CalPERS, CalSTRS, and the UC Regents—and others concerning the benefits of applying Proposition 2 debt payment funds toward eligible liabilities. In addition, we note that, as of the Governor's January budget proposal, the administration's Proposition 2 plan for 2015-16 pays down more debt than required under the measure.
March 24, 2015 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance