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.
4,809 Publications Found
February 22, 2005 - The Legislature has an important budget opportunity. We project that revenues are $2.2 billion higher (for the current and budget years combined) than reflected in the Governor's budget. This, combined with the magnitude of ongoing solutions proposed in the budget plan, would result in a balanced 2005-06 budget with a solid reserve. However, the price of inaction is significant. Without the adoption of ongoing solutions of the magnitude offered by the budget plan, the 2005-06 budget would be precariously balanced and the state would experience major budget shortfalls in 2006-07 and beyond. These shortfalls would be close to $10 billion.
February 22, 2005 - The Governor has proposed constitutional reforms involving several areas of the budget—including Proposition 98 K-14 education funding, the budget process, and transportation. The Governor has indicated that the main purpose of the reforms is to deal with "autopilot spending" and instill discipline in future budgets. We believe, however, that the administration's specific proposals work in exactly the opposite direction. That is, they would put more spending on autopilot and make it more difficult to balance future budgets in a rational way. The changes would also result in a diminution of legislative authority.
February 22, 2005 - California “defined benefit” pensions in the public sector raise certain benefits and cost issues. The Governor proposes shifting all new public sector employees to “defined contribution” plans to address the high cost of the current system. Defined contribution plans address concerns with defined benefit pensions, but also introduce issues of their own. The Legislature could also address the benefits and cost concerns of current retirement plans within the existing defined benefit structure or with other pension plan alternatives.
February 22, 2005 - The administration proposes to suspend $1.3 billion in Proposition 42 transportation funding and to reduce the General Fund's commitment to repay transportation loans in the near term. This would help the General Fund condition but restrict already limited transportation funding and increase near-term funding uncertainty. The administration also proposes changing the State Constitution to protect transportation funding in the long run by preventing future suspensions of Proposition 42. We recommend that the administration provide information to the Legislature that would allow it to determine (1) the effect of the Governor's proposals on the size of the transportation program and (2) TCRP project funding requirements in 2005-06. In order to provide long-term transportation funding stability while freeing up General Fund revenue for other purposes, we continue to recommend (1) the repeal of Proposition 42, (2) an increase of the gas tax to generate an amount of funding equivalent to Proposition 42, and (3) adjusting the gas tax for inflation.
February 22, 2005 - Two of the most important water policy issues facing the state today are how to address what has been characterized by the administration as a “crisis” in flood management and how to finance the $8.1 billion CALFED Bay-Delta Program (CALFED). We analyze a Department of Water Resources White Paper recently submitted to the Legislature on addressing the state’s flood management challenges and make recommendations for legislative action. We also analyze a ten-year finance plan for CALFED that the budget indicates will be incorporated in the Governor’s May Revision. We find that the finance plan’s revenue assumptions may be unrealistic. As a result, the Legislature will need to establish its expenditure priorities so that the program can be “right sized” consistent with those priorities.
February 22, 2005 - On January 6, 2005, the administration released its plans to eliminate 88 boards and commissions and to reorganize the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency (YACA). For each of the plans, we provide an assessment of its fiscal effect and raise key issues. Although the administration recently has decided not to forward its boards and commissions proposal to the Legislature, the piece provides key considerations for the Legislature when seeking to consolidate these types of entities. Regarding the YACA proposal, we conclude it has the potential to improve the efficiency, accountability, and effectiveness of the state's prison system. However, the plan omits important details that the Legislature requires in order to fully evaluate its merits. Our analysis indicates that the proposed reorganization would probably result in net costs in the short term, but has the potential to achieve significant long-term net savings by placing a greater emphasis on inmate rehabilitation as a means of increasing public safety.
February 17, 2005 - State agencies purchase about $4.2 billion annually in prescription and nonprescription drugs as part of their responsibilities to deliver health care services to their program recipients. Our review—which focused on 10 percent of these purchases—found several deficiencies in the state's procurement of drugs which lead to it paying higher costs than necessary. We make a number of recommendations to correct these procurement and administrative deficiencies which would, if implemented, generate savings totaling tens of millions of dollars annually.
February 16, 2005 - Chapter 892, Statutes of 2001, (SB 740, O’Connell), directed our office to extend our contract with the RAND Corporation to include an assessment of the state’s process for funding nonclassroom-based charter schools. RAND found that the state’s funding determination process had reduced nonclass-room-based charter schools’ possible misuse of funds. The process also resulted in non-classroom-based schools increasing spending on instruction and teacher compensation. It did not, however, result in an increase in students’ exposure to teachers. Compared to the state’s existing “threshold” funding approach, RAND suggests the state use a more holistic funding determination process that still could detect possible financial wrong-doing without triggering automatic funding cuts for schools that might have reasonable justifications for their different expenditure patterns. Report Summary
February 10, 2005 - Our analysis indicates that the Governor's California Rx plan for drug discounts for the uninsured provides a reasonable starting point for the development of such a program. However, we propose, among other changes, that in the event that drug makers fail to make good on their promises for significant price concessions, an automatic trigger would phase-out the proposed voluntary approach to obtaining rebates from drug manufacturers, and be replaced by an alternative strategy likely to result in greater discounts on more drugs for consumers.
A related report—Lowering the State's Costs For Prescription Drugs—which addresses the state's purchasing of drugs for its own programs, will be released shortly.
February 9, 2005 - Presented to a joint hearing of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittees No. 1 and No. 3 on February 9, 2005.
February 8, 2005 - Proposition 98 is a complex formula for setting a minimum annual funding level for K-12 schools and community colleges. This primer is intended to assist the Legislature in understanding the basic "mechanics" of the proposition and showing how it has affected school spending since its passage in 1988. We also describe the Governor's proposed changes to Proposition 98 and discuss our concerns about how they would diminish legislative budget authority.
February 7, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Rules Committee on February 2, 2005.
February 3, 2005 - We examine the advantages and disadvantages of the design-build method compared to the traditional design-bid-build method and find that design-build can be a useful option for some public construction projects. We make recommendations for statutory changes to provide that option while preserving the public's confidence in the procurement process, quality control, and access for small contractors to public contracts.
February 2, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation
February 2, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Rules Committee on February 2, 2005.