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February 21, 2007 - In order to increase work participation to avoid federal penalties, the Governor proposes new time limits and sanctions on children whose parents cannot or will not comply with CalWORKs work participation requirements. However, under the budget’s own assumptions, California will meet federal participation requirements by FFY 2008. Thus, these policy changes are not needed to avoid federal penalties, and we recommend their rejection. We offer an alternative to the Governor’s full-family sanction proposal.
February 21, 2007 - California has made significant changes in the CalWORKs program in order to increase work participation among recipients. Estimates by the administration of the participation increases associated with recent policy changes, in conjunction with the caseload reduction credit, suggest that California would likely be in compliance with federal work participation requirements in federal fiscal year 2008.
February 21, 2007 - There is a substantial difference between the amount of taxes that are statutorily owed to the state versus the taxes that are actually remitted by taxpayers. This difference, known as the "tax gap," is currently estimated at $6.5 billion annually and is due to the underreporting of income and various other factors. The budget proposes to spend $19.6 million in 2007-08 to continue certain pilot programs and undertake several new initiatives aimed at narrowing the tax gap. We recommend that the Legislature redirect some of the proposed budget-year spending on tax gap enforcement activities in order to increase their payoff in terms of General Fund revenues."
February 21, 2007 - It is virtually impossible for California—or any other state—to implement the Real ID Act by the federal deadline of May 2008. Federal regulations for implementing the act are expected to be delayed until July or August of 2007 and there is no federal plan to fund the costly mandate. Nonetheless, the administration has indicated that it may request funding to implement Real ID as part of the spring revision process. Given the current lack of information regarding federal requirements and funding, as well as growing opposition to the act in other states, we recommend the state go slowly for now, and limit spending to planning activities.
February 21, 2007 - On numerous occasions, the Legislature has stressed the fundamental role that management of data—including permitting, enforcement, and water quality—plays in assisting the State Water Resources Control Board carry out its mission. Legislative oversight of the board’s information technology (IT) projects is critical, as we find that the board has been developing information technology systems outside of the budget process and that the board lacks an up-to-date strategic plan to guide its IT activity. We make a number of recommendations to provide the necessary oversight.
February 21, 2007 - The budget proposes $473.6 million across eight state agencies for the CALFED Bay-Delta Program in 2007-08. We recommend tying the use of performance measures (currently under development) to the budget process, and raise concerns about a number of CALFED’s budget proposals. Specifically, we find that the funding proposal for the South Delta Improvements program is premature, matching funds are lacking to allow the surface storage feasibility study work to practically proceed, and that the budget inappropriately proposes bond funds to replace water user funding contributions that have run out to support a conservation planning effort that benefits the water users.
February 21, 2007 - Despite a growing backlog in deferred maintenance at state parks (currently over $900 million) the budget provides no funding to address the problem. There is also a significant funding shortfall related to ongoing maintenance at state parks. To address these problems, we recommend using $160 million of Proposition 84 bond funds allocated to state park restoration and rehabilitation for deferred maintenance, and augmenting the department’s ongoing maintenance budget by $15 million, funded from fees.
February 21, 2007 - The fire protection budget of the state’s forestry department (mostly funded from the state General Fund) continues to rise significantly. This reflects changing forest conditions fueling fire risk, increasing housing development at the wildland-urban boundary, and increasing labor costs. We make a number of recommendations to control the rising costs, including clarifying state and local roles for providing emergency services, modifying the criteria by which land is designated a state responsibility for fire protection, and enacting a fee on private landowners to partially cover the state‘s costs in providing fire protection services that benefit them.
February 21, 2007 - The budget proposes $36 million across several state agencies to implement 2006 legislation (AB 32, Nuñez) that sets objectives and provides a roadmap for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state. The Governor’s climate change budget proposals circumvent legislative direction, by moving prematurely to implement a market-based regulatory mechanism and assigning a role to the Cal-EPA Secretary that goes beyond coordination. There also is no long-term plan for funding these proposals, a concern since most of the proposed funding sources will run out in the next budget year.
February 21, 2007 - We recommend that funding for the State Water Project (SWP), the state’s main water conveyance system connecting Northern and Southern California, be brought "on budget." This is because SWP’s current off-budget status makes it difficult for the Legislature to comprehensively address the state’s water policy issues, particularly in light of SWP’s increasing fiscal and programmatic ties to other state on-budget programs, such as the CALFED Bay-Delta Program.
February 21, 2007 - The budget reflects a major infusion of funding, mostly from bond funds, for flood management. We make a number of recommendations to ensure that a systematic approach is used to complete improvements and repairs to the state’s Central Valley flood control system, including requiring the Department of Water Resources to provide a plan for independent review and oversight of its flood-related capital outlay projects.
February 21, 2007 - The budget proposes over $2.3 billion in bond funding for various resources programs, most of which comes from two resources bonds approved by voters in November 2006. The state would spend substantially higher bond amounts than in the current year, particularly for flood management. To ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the new bonds, we recommend that the Legislature set funding priorities to guide new programs created by the bonds; establish appropriate cost-sharing arrangements; ensure related programs are coordinated; and exercise oversight by holding hearings, establishing reporting requirements, and controlling administrative costs. review infrastructure
February 21, 2007 - The Governor's budget includes two proposals related to the management of sex offenders under parole supervision. We recommend approval of the proposal implementing recommendations of the High Risk Sex Offender Task Force, but find that the proposal to implement new state laws lacks important implementation details and is overbudgeted. We further recommend the creation of a in-prison sex offender treatment pilot program, funded from savings generated by our recommended technical adjustments to the Governor's proposal.
February 21, 2007 - The state faces a growing and costly backlog of special repair work due in part to the way the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has managed and organized the responsibilities for keeping prisons in good repair. We recommend adjustments to an administration proposal to increase spending for these purposes by $46 million, as well as further actions by the Legislature to protect the state's major investment in correctional infrastructure.
February 21, 2007 - Estimates are that a majority of state parolees are not regularly employed, a factor which research has shown to be linked to offending. We identify several steps the Legislature should take to increase rates of parolee employment, including targeting funding to cost-effective programs, continuing federal funding, looking outside of California for successful approaches, requiring the department to track parolee employment rates, improving the contracts for parole referral programs, and improving case management.