The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandates—Regional Water Quality Control Boards

May 30, 2025 - State law tasks the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) with determining whether new state laws or regulations affecting local governments create state-reimbursable mandates. Typically, the process for determining whether a law or reg ulation is a state-reimbursable mandate takes several years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5054

The 2023-24 Budget: County of Los Angeles Citizens Redistricting Commission Mandate

May 2, 2023 - Historically, a city council or board of supervisors was responsible for establishing their own new council and supervisor districts, respectively. After the creation of the CRC, some charter cities established independent commissions with the authority to adopt a redistricting plan independent of their city council.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4766

The 2025-26 Budget: State Mandate—Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board

May 5, 2025 - State law tasks the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) with determining whether new state laws or regulations affecting local governments create state-reimbursable mandates. Typically, the process for determining whether a law or regulation is a state-reimbursable mandate takes several years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5039

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Housing, Homelessness and Local Government

Oct 22, 2025 - As a result of CEQA, unless a project falls under a statutory or certain other type of exemption, public agencies (such as cities and counties) generally must conduct a detailed study of the potential environmental effects of new housing construction (and many other types of development) prior to approving it.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5082

The 2019-20 Budget: California Spending Plan—Housing and Homelessness

Oct 17, 2019 - Creates New Incentives for Adopting “Pro-Housing ” Policies.   The budget package creates new incentives for cities and counties to adopt pro-housing policies. Cities and counties that adopt these policies would receive additional points in the scoring of their applications for certain state grant programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4102

SB 1 Has Doubled Major Source of State Funding for Local Streets and Roads

Jan 24, 2020 - Cities and counties receive equal splits of the shared revenues. City distributions are based on population, whereas county distributions are determined by the number of registered vehicles and miles of maintained county roads.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4142

An Initial Look at Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Local Government Fiscal Condition

May 12, 2021 - As a result, the actual amount local governments will receive in FEMA reimbursements may differ f rom their submitted claims and create additional budgetary strain on local governments. LAO Comments Condition of Local Governments ’ Finances Fiscal Condition of Local Governments Varies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4428

The 2019-20 Budget: What Can Be Done to Improve Local Planning for Housing?

Feb 20, 2019 - Further, in several cities that we examined, most projects required a significant increase in the density allowed by local zoning rules. The failure of housing elements to identify and adequately zone feasible sites for housing creates a drag on home building.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3938

The 2025-26 Budget: Oversight of Encampment Resolution Funding

Mar 5, 2025 - In 2021-22, the Legislature created the ERF program and charged Cal ICH with administering it. The purpose of ERF is to provide competitive grants to cities, counties, and CoCs to address “critical encampment concerns ” in their communities and transition individuals to “safe and stable housing, ” with a focus on permanent housing.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5007

The 2022-23 Budget: Municipal Stormwater and Urban Runoff Discharges Mandate

Feb 28, 2022 - Commission Determined Portion of Permit Requirements Created a State ‑Reimbursable Mandate for Some Local Governments. In 2003, Los Angeles County and several cities in the region filed test claims with the commission alleging that various sections of the 2001 Los Angeles RWQCB stormwater discharge permit constituted state ‑reimbursable mandates.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4565