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January 24, 2011 - The Governor’s budget for 2011-12 provides an additional $395 million in General Fund support for CDCR for expenses that the department indicates have exceeded its budget authority in previous years.
January 24, 2011 - Over the last several years, the state has deferred payments to school districts as a way to achieve significant Proposition 98 savings. Relying on deferrals has allowed the state to achieve significant one-time savings while simultaneously allowing school districts to continue operating a larger program by borrowing or using cash reserves. As the magnitude and length of payment deferrals have increased, however, school districts have found fronting the cash required to continue operating at a higher programmatic level increasingly difficult. As part of his 2011-12 budget plan, the Governor continues to rely heavily on payment deferrals. His one major budget proposal for K-12 education is a $2.1 billion deferral. In this report, we track the state's increased use of deferrals, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of deferrals, and highlight several other major factors the Legislature should consider as it decides whether to approve additional K-12 deferrals.
January 24, 2011 - The Governor’s budget solutions in higher education include unallocated General Fund reductions of $500 million for the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU). As we discuss in our recent publication, The 2011‑12 Budget: Higher Education Budget in Context, while these reductions are large, in our view they do not appear unreasonable given the size of the state’s budget problem, and considering that the current-year budget imposed no program reductions on the universities. Despite some new revenue from tuition increases, the universities would have to implement a range of service reductions affecting students, faculty, and staff to absorb these reductions. This brief provides our recommendations for mitigating the impact of the reductions on UC’s and CSU’s educational missions.
January 24, 2011 - The Governor’s budget plan provides $2.2 billion for child care and development (CCD) in 2011-12—a reduction of $535 million, or 19 percent, compared to the current year. To achieve these savings he proposes several significant changes to current policies. In assessing the Governor’s CCD proposals and building its own CCD package, we recommend the Legislature: (1) balance access to and quality of care, (2) prioritize services for those who most need them, and (3) prioritize direct service over administrative activities. Consistent with these principles, we recommend the Legislature reject the Governor’s proposal to cut state subsidies by 35 percent, reconsider the Governor’s proposal to restore CalWORKs Stage 3 child care, and approve—perhaps in modified form—his proposals to change eligibility criteria and reduce administrative and support activities. We also offer the Legislature a menu of additional CCD savings options and build three illustrative CCD packages.
January 21, 2011 - Persuant to recent legislation authorizing the California State University (CSU) to independently offer Doctor of Education (Ed. D. ) degrees, the CSU, the Department of Finance (DOF), and the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) prepared a report describing and assessing the early implementation of the new doctorate programs. In this brief, we outline our recommendations to the legislature, which include placing conditions on the further expansion of CSU doctoral programs and requiring the CSU to provide additional reporting about their doctoral degrees.
January 20, 2011 - In recent years, community college enrollment has been constrained by two major factors: (1) reductions in course-section offerings as a result of state budget cuts, and (2) strong demand for CCC services by adults seeking retraining and other skills at a time of weak state and national economic growth. Given limited resources, we believe that the state should target funds that best meet the state’s highest priorities for community college services. We recommend the Legislature: (1) adopt statewide registration priorities that reflect the Master Plan’s primary objectives, (2) place a limit on the number of taxpayer-subsidized credit units that students may earn, and (3) restrict the number of times that a student may repeat physical education and other classes at taxpayers’ expense. Our recommendations would (1) help increase opportunities for high-priority students to enroll in courses they need to progress toward their educational goals, and (2) reduce funding for lower-priority enrollment by approximately 50,000 FTE students—for savings to the state of about $235 million.
January 19, 2011 - We will release several reports aimed at addressing the 2011-12 budget situation. These will include all major areas of the budget, including Proposition 98 and K-12 Education, Higher Education, Health, Social Services, Resources, Transportation, and Criminal Justice.
January 19, 2011 - The Governor’s proposed 2011-12 budget includes sizable General Fund reductions for the state’s university systems and the community colleges totaling about $1.4 billion. While the administration does not provide many specific proposals as to how those reductions would be accommodated, they could affect access to higher education programs, the price paid by students, average class size, and the availability of various related services, among other things. The budget assumes fee and tuition increases at all three public segments. At the same time, the Governor’s budget would fully fund financial aid programs, thus helping to ensure that cost does not prevent enrollment by financially needy students. The budget also includes General Fund augmentations to backfill one-time federal funds received by the universities in 2010-11, pay for increased retirement costs, and cover other workload adjustments.
January 18, 2011 - The 2011-12 Governor’s Budget proposes to dissolve redevelopment agencies and shift the revenue to other state and local programs. In this initial overview we provide background on redevelopment agencies, assess the Governor’s proposal, and provide some additional issues for the Legislature to consider.
January 13, 2011 - In this ten minute video, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor discusses the building blocks that comprise California's state budget including the difference between general and special funds, major sources of revenue, and the largest categories of expenditure.
January 12, 2011 - Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor speaks with the media about the LAO's report The 2011-12 Budget: Overview of the Governor’s Budget.
January 12, 2011 - The Governor's proposed budget plan addresses an estimated $25.4 billion state budget problem—consisting of an $8.2 billion deficit that would remain at the end of 2010-11 absent additional budgetary action and an estimated $17.2 billion gap between current-law revenues and expenditures in 2011-12. We believe the Governor's proposal is a good starting point for legislative deliberations. It includes reductions in nearly every area of the state budget and a package of revenue proposals that merit serious legislative consideration. We credit the Governor's efforts to craft a budget plan that focuses on multiyear and ongoing solutions, and his proposals to realign state and local program responsibilities and change local economic development efforts have much merit. Still, there are some significant risks in his plan and some optimistic savings assumptions. There is significant work ahead to fill in the details of some of the Governor's ambitious, complex proposals, particularly given his proposed accelerated timeline for budget deliberations and a June special election concerning extensions of tax increases.
January 6, 2011 - This responds to Senator de León's request for additional information on the single sales factor apportionment.
December 22, 2010 - Presented to: Hon. Alan Lowenthal Senator, 27th District