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February 21, 2007 - The Governor requests a total of $9.6 billion for a 14-part package of proposals designed primarily to address overcrowding in state prisons and county jails. While the package offered by the administration has merit, we identify a number of concerns, in particular that the package would result in a large surplus of state prison capacity and provide the wrong mix of beds. We recommend that the Legislature consider an alternative package that would also address overcrowding but result in a more limited surplus of prison beds, provide a better mix of beds, and reduce state costs.
February 21, 2007 - The Governor's budget proposes to shift some juvenile offenders from the state to the local level and enact a new state grant program to build county juvenile facilities. We find the juvenile institutional population shift proposed by the administration to be fundamentally sound policy, in part because the juvenile system is a generally a local responsibility. Accordingly, we recommend its approval by the Legislature with some technical modifications. However, our analysis indicates that the administration's proposal to provide $400 million in lease-revenue bond funding to build 5,000 new local juvenile beds is not justified given the current surplus of 4,000 such beds statewide.
February 21, 2007 - The federal court appointment last year of a Receiver to take over the state's prison medical care system is already resulting in a number of actions intended to improve inmate care as well as significant uncertainties regarding the state costs and savings likely to result from his actions . Our analysis indicates that the Legislature faces uncertainties over the extent of costs and savings resulting from the actions of the Receiver. We also find that there are opportunities for legislative oversight of these major changes in the prison medical system, such as legislative hearings to better understand the fiscal and operational implications of the remedial plan that the Receiver is to submit to the federal court along with metrics to measure progress in improving inmate medical services.
February 21, 2007 - Although the Department of Justice has taken steps to reduce a backlog of samples in the Proposition 69 DNA Program, it faces difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff and an expected increase in samples in 2009 that will likely increase the backlog.
February 21, 2007 - The Governor proposes to place a $2 billion bond issue on the ballot for courthouse construction and to establish public-private partnerships to leverage additional resources for this purpose. We withhold recommendation on the bond issue pending further review, but recommend rejection of the legislation for the partnerships.
February 21, 2007 - Seven years into the Traffic Congestion Relief Program (TCRP), only 26 of the 141 projects have been completed. In addition, many project sponsors have yet to identify full funding for their TCRP projects. While development work continues on many projects, delayed state funds and cost increases continue to threaten project delivery. Nevertheless, we recommend actions that the Legislature can take to ensure that funds are used to deliver projects in a timely manner and to ensure that the California Transportation Commission has adequate flexibility in implementing the program.
February 21, 2007 - Proposition 1B authorizes about $20 billion in bond funds for transportation. The measure allocates specific amounts of bond funding for particular transportation uses, and requires that the funding be subject to legislative appropriation. The budget requests three-year appropriations of these funds and proposes budget bill language that would allow the administration to transfer appropriated funds among Proposition 1B programs. These proposals run counter to the bond measure’s intent that the Legislature appropriate specific amounts for particular transportation programs. Accordingly, we recommend that the Governor’s proposals be rejected.
February 21, 2007 - The passage of Proposition 42 rendered the "spillover" mechanism unnecessary. In order to simplify the state’s transportation funding structure, we recommend the enactment of legislation to eliminate the spillover mechanism for generating revenue into the Public Transportation Account (PTA) beginning in 2008-09. This would also reduce the volatility of revenues into the PTA. While eliminating the spillover would result in less funding for transit operations through the State Transit Assistance program in some years, it would increase the predictability and stability of annual funding. Moreover, additional funds could become available for broader transportation uses.
February 21, 2007 - The Governor’s budget would increase state employee compensation costs by an estimated $1.2 billion in 2007-08. Item 9800 includes $972 million ($468 million General Fund) of this amount. The remainder is included in departmental budgets--principally the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The vast majority of the funds address costs related to current labor agreements, court orders, and arbitration decisions.
February 21, 2007 - We recommend that the Legislature reject the administration’s proposed trailer bill language to (1) guarantee teachers’ purchasing power benefits through California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and (2) reduce General Fund costs by $75 million in 2007-08. There are risks in assuming that the change proposed in the budget package will generate near-term and ongoing budget savings, and we are concerned about the idea of the state guaranteeing another benefit through CalSTRS, which serves employees of local districts. We do suggest, however, that such a proposal in the context of a future comprehensive reform would warrant consideration by the Legislature.
February 21, 2007 - The administration proposes $10.7 million in spending in 2007-08 for the continued implementation of federal election reform. We recommend that the Secretary of State provide an update on source code review since no funds have been spent this year. In addition, we recommend a reduction in the administrative budget to reflect the reduced activities in the budget year.
February 21, 2007 - In 2005 the Department of Finance (DOF) began an information technology (IT) project to replace the state’s budget system. After interviewing departments’ financial staff, DOF has concluded the project needs to be expanded because most state department automated financial systems are old and do not support modern financial reporting requirements. The Governor’s budget proposes a $1.3 billion IT project over the next decade to develop a statewide financial system that would be used by all departments. Our analysis discusses the primary components of this project proposal, key issues the Legislature should consider in evaluating the project, and recommends additional oversight tools if the Legislature decides the project should go forward.
February 21, 2007 - The administration proposes a number of changes to the state’s information technology (IT) governance structure. Our analysis finds that (1) the planning and policy development roles are appropriately placed with the Chief Information Officer (CIO), (2) moving IT project oversight to CIO would eliminate objectivity, and (3) a separate security office may create an unnecessary layer of review. We recommend the Legislature adopt an alternative structure that addresses these concerns.
February 21, 2007 - Index of Information Technology Issues in the Analysis of the 2007-08 Budget Bill