Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - While CDCR is not allowed to use tele ‑mental health services in inpatient settings, the Coleman court allows up to 50  percent of outpatient providers —those working with the CCCMS or EOP populations —to be remote.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

Artificial intelligence and child safety. [Ballot]

Jan 27, 2026 - State law limits how businesses may sell or share the personal information of minors. Specifically, businesses must obtain explicit consent before selling or sharing the personal information of minors under the age of 16.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-036

The 2026-27 Budget: Proposition 4 Spending Plan

Feb 10, 2026 - Overall, Proposed Plan Seems Reasonable and Consistent With Bond Requirements. Based on our review, the Governor ’s proposal appears reasonable. We have not identified any proposed actions or appropriations that conflict with bond requirements, and the timing of the funding allocations generally seems to account for and align with what we know about department capacity and local demand.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5115

Oversight of certain nonprofit charities and related entities. [Ballot]

Jan 20, 2026 - Background Organizations May Seek Nonprofit Charitable Status. Organizations may seek nonprofit charitable status under federal and state law to access various benefits —most notably exemptions from certain taxes, such as income tax.
https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-032

The 2026-27 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 11, 2026 - We find that the identified projects meet this higher threshold as they seek to address critical health, safety, and other facility needs in buildings frequented by the public. Additionally, the costs and scopes of these identified projects generally seem reasonable.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5113

The 2026-27 Budget: Governor’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Tax Credit Proposal

Feb 24, 2026 - While such a scenario may seem far‑fetched, the most recent federal data show that California consumes more RD than is produced in the entire United States, indicating that producers have responded strongly to existing state policy incentives for renewable fuels by selling in California.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5139

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - As seen in Figure  3 , IHSS caseload has grown significantly since 2013. Despite slower caseload growth between 2016 ‑17 and 2020 ‑21 (the caseload continued to grow during this period, just at a slower than usual rate).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - This includes conducting background checks for people seeking to purchase firearms and ammunition, licensing firearm and ammunition vendors, and administering various other firearm and ammunition programs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118

The 2026-27 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 23, 2026 - Additionally, because tele ‑mental health providers can only serve people in outpatient settings, further tele ‑mental health expansions could result in remaining on ‑site providers having more of the most challenging patients to treat —those in the inpatient settings —potentially resulting in reduced job satisfaction for these providers.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

California’s Strong Revenue Trends Mask Looming Budget Risk

Jan 23, 2026 - As we described in our November Fiscal Outlook , the recent stronger-than-expected revenue trends are almost entirely explained by the personal income tax (PIT), which has seen double digit growth this year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5104