The 2026-27 Budget: Child Welfare

Mar 3, 2026 - If the Legislature does not make an appropriation to implement the Tiered Rate Structure beginning in 2027-28, how would the department reallocate resources? Our understanding is that a number of DSS staff are working exclusively or primarily on Tiered Rate Structure Implementation preparation.
https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/5147

Implementing California’s Child Welfare Prevention Services Program

Jan 28, 2026 - Under 2011 realignment, however, the state has limited insight into how counties use their realignment dollars, making it difficult to assess the true impact of various cost pressures. Whenever considering increased program requirements and/or funding for child welfare —as a realigned program area —we recommend bearing these complex factors in mind.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5106

The 2026-27 Budget: County Administration and H.R. 1 Implementation

Mar 5, 2026 - Taken together, these cost pressures will make it challenging for counties to balance ongoing program operations and H.R.  1  implementation. Recommendations Direct Administration and Counties to Report on Drivers of Payment Error Rates and Plans to Manage Them.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5149

The 2026-27 Budget: In-Home Supportive Services

Mar 18, 2026 - Moreover, costs to administer the program also make up a small component of the growth listed above. Difficult to Account for Interaction Effects. It is important to note that some of these components may be interactive, making it difficult to conclusively attribute a portion of the growth to one specific component.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5166

The 2026-27 Budget: Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program

Mar 3, 2026 - Under this assumption, the Governor ’s January budget makes a corresponding General Fund reduction to 2025-26 to account for the expected federal reimbursement. As a result, SSI/SSP costs increase from 2025-26 to 2026-27 as the Governors 2026-27 budget does not include a technical downward adjustment.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5148

The 2026-27 Budget: Food Assistance Programs

Feb 18, 2026 - As shown in Figure  1, the amount of the state share depends on how much the state ’s error rate exceeds 6  percent. Based on the state ’s most recently measured payment error rate of 11  percent, the state would have a 15  percent share of CalFresh benefit costs, resulting in about $2  billion in new annual costs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5126

The 2026-27 Budget: Streamlining California’s Affordable Housing Funding System

Mar 6, 2026 - The  administration ’s overall plan is for HDFC to begin making awards beginning in 2026 ‑27 but with HCD and CalHFA staff providing support over the next year or two as HDFC engages in this redesign work and builds internal capacity.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5154

The 2026-27 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 18, 2026 - It is unclear how the legal questions around the federal funding freeze will be resolved. Should the freeze be implemented, the state could be faced with losing access to federal TANF funding for weeks or longer.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5122

Preliminary Assessment of Significant Changes to State's Technology Project Approval and Oversight Processes

Apr 29, 2025 - The absence of this information makes it very difficult for the Legislature to know whether a key feature of the new PDL process works well, and to understand how it will differ in practice from the current PAL process.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5034

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - This amount includes $10  million for Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup security costs, $10  million for Family Justice Centers, and $8  million to the City of Los Angeles for fire engine purchases.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081/