Use either the form or links on the side to filter the list of publications. Browse other LAO products using the links at the bottom of the sidebar.
4,914 Publications Found
March 16, 2010 - In February 2006, the federal court in the Plata v. Schwarzenegger case pertaining to inmate medical care appointed a Receiver to take over the direct management and operation of the state’s prison medical health care delivery system from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). In this brief, we (1) provide a status report on the Receiver’s actions, (2) present an overview of state spending on inmate medical care, (3) analyze the various requests contained in the Governor’s budget for the Receiver, and (4) identify issues and recommendations for legislative consideration. Specifically, we recommend that the Legislature: require the administration to present at budget hearings a detailed plan on how its proposed $811 million in savings will be achieved; withhold action on staffing requests pending the submission and our review of the above plan; and, fund only the most critical IT projects in the budget year and delay funding for the less critical projects.
March 15, 2010 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance
March 11, 2010 - Presented to: Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 On State Administration Hon. Mark DeSaulnier, Chair
March 10, 2010 - Presented to: Assembly Select Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Hon. Jim Beall, Chair Assembly Select Committee on Prisons and Rehabilitation Reform Hon. Alberto Torrico, Chair
March 10, 2010 - Presented to Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee
March 10, 2010 - Presented to Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education
March 9, 2010 - This responds to Assembly Member De León's request relating to California’s regulatory environment and AB 32 (Núñez), the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006). Specifically, you have asked that we analyze the methodologies, data, and reliability of the findings of two studies by Varshney and Associates. In our response, we summarize the methodologies and analyses contained in these two studies, discuss their findings, and provide our assessment of the analyses supporting their conclusions.
March 9, 2010 - Presented to: Senate Human Services Committee Hon. Carol Liu, Chair
March 9, 2010 - Presented to Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 2 on Resources, Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, and Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Resources
March 8, 2010 - In reviewing the Governor's budget proposal, we uncovered current actions and proposals of the administration that either circumvent the Legislature's authority, make it difficult for the Legislature to oversee the administration's spending, or limit the Legislature's flexibility in making decisions. We found that the administration is: developing new renewable energy procurement requirements that circumvent legislative policy as reflected in current state law (known as the renewables portfolio standard); using an Emergency Fund--intended to pay for large-incident wildland firefighting costs--to cover some day-to-day departmental expenditures that are more appropriately made subject to legislative budget review; proposing a somewhat similar emergency fund for flood management that would be structured to allow the administration to augment it at its discretion without notifying the Legislature; and proposing again to fund recreation activities at State Water Project facilities in a way that escapes legislative budgetary review for all the spending. Finally, we recommend rejection of the Governor’s proposal to dedicate the ongoing Tranquillon Ridge oil lease revenues to support state parks, because it limits the Legislature's future decision making.
March 5, 2010 - In this short webcast, analysts Eric Thronson and Jessica Digiambattista discuss the recently published LAO report "The 2010-11 Budget: Transportation."
March 4, 2010 - This responds to Senator Cogdill's request for an analysis of the net impact on jobs in California that would occur as a result of the implementation of AB 32 (Núñez), the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006. In our response, we briefly summarize the basic provisions of AB 32 and its planned implementation through the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) Scoping Plan (SP), discuss the avenues by which the SP would potentially affect California jobs, and present the jobs-related effects of the SP as estimated by CARB. We then comment on CARB’s analysis and offer our own view about how the SP might affect jobs.
March 4, 2010 - Presented to: Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 4 On State Administration Hon. Mark DeSaulnier, Chair
March 3, 2010 - We review the 2010-11 budget request of the High-Speed Rail Authority.
March 2, 2010 - The Governor’s budget proposes $18 billion in expenditures (mostly from special funds) for transportation programs in 2010‑11. We recommend the Legislature (1) reduce Caltrans' capital outlay support (COS) staffing by about 1,500 (and $200 million a year) to align with actual workload if Caltrans does not provide workload justification for its COS budget; (2) reject the Governor's request to appropriate $3.45 billion in future federal transportation funds for public-private partnerships because this program does not appear to be permissible under current law and because details are not available regarding how the majority of the funds (about $2.5 billion) would be used; and (3) adopt new reporting requirements for the High-Speed Rail Authority to increase accountability.
(Short video introducing this report)