Analysis of California’s Physician-Supervision Requirement for Certified Nurse Midwives

Mar 11, 2020 - In our view, they are likely to be more cost ‑effective than physician supervision since they do not lead to similarly direct anti ‑competitive effects as does physician supervision. Alternative Requirements Could Ensure Safety and Quality In the absence of a physician ‑supervision requirement for nurse midwives, the Legislature might want to consider alternative requirements for
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4197

California’s Child Welfare System: Addressing Disproportionalities and Disparities

Apr 24, 2024 - This report examines disproportionalities and disparities across California’s child welfare system in terms of income and race/ethnicity. The report provides background on the child welfare system, describes child welfare system disproportionalities and disparities, and lays out potential drivers of these inequities.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4897

Rethinking California's Reserve Policy

Apr 10, 2025 - Yet we do not view these recommendations as overly cautious —to arrive at these estimates, we have used standard tools from actuaries in pensions and insurance markets. Rather, we view these figures as an honest reflection of the volatility in the state ’s tax system.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5028

The 2025-26 Budget: Child Care and State Preschool

Mar 28, 2025 - In our view, there is no compelling policy reason for prioritizing funding for providers that already receive rates that are relatively high compared to the private market in their county. As a result, we recommend the Legislature repeal the required COLA for the SRR.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5024

Overview of Diversity Efforts in the Film Tax Credit Program

May 1, 2025 - However, there are some cases where metrics may want to be viewed more broadly. A good example of this is the Black population in California. Based on the figures presented above, the Black population is somewhat overrepresented in California ’s motion picture industry (6.6  percent) compared to their share of the total population (5.5  percent).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5036

The 2025-26 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

Nov 20, 2024 - In our view, this year ’s budget does not have capacity for new commitments, particularly ones that are ongoing. Introduction Every year, our office publishes the Fiscal Outlook in anticipation of the upcoming budget season.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4939

Five Guidelines for Using Revenue Forecasts [EconTax Blog]

Feb 20, 2025 - When DOF ’s forecast for the budget window is within $10 billion of ours at May Revision (or $15 billion at the January budget release), decision makers should tend to view it as reasonable. Only when our forecasts differ by more than this would we suggest decision makers consider raising questions about the reasonableness of the administration ’s forecast.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/822

Five Guidelines for Using Revenue Forecasts [EconTax Blog]

Feb 20, 2025 - When DOF ’s forecast for the budget window is within $10 billion of ours at May Revision (or $15 billion at the January budget release), decision makers should tend to view it as reasonable. Only when our forecasts differ by more than this would we suggest decision makers consider raising questions about the reasonableness of the administration ’s forecast.
https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/article/Detail/822

The 2025-26 Budget: Oversight of Encampment Resolution Funding

Mar 5, 2025 - Since the count is only a snapshot of people experiencing homelessness on one given night in a year (typically in late January) and those conducting the count may miss individuals who are hidden from view at the time (such as people sleeping in a secluded area), the homelessness data collected is an undercount.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5007

The 2025-26 Budget: School Nutrition

Mar 4, 2025 - However, in our view, it is unlikely that the number of meals served will remain flat in 2025 ‑26 as the administration assumes. Based on our analysis of recent meal growth trends, we estimate the state will serve 967  million meals, or 46  million (5  percent) above the administration ’s estimate in the budget year.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5001