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February 23, 2006 - Requirements under the federal Real ID Act, which will become effective in mid-2008, underscore the necessity for the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to success-fully update its aging computer and database infrastructure, as well as hire staff to handle additional workload. We recommend that DMV report at budget hearings on anticipated workload requirements to implement the act, how the department plans to meet these requirements, and the potential costs related to the act’s implementation.
February 23, 2006 - The California Highway Patrol (CHP) proposes to begin in 2006-07 a five-year, $491 million project to modernize its radio system. We concur that CHP’s radio system needs improving; however, it is not clear to what extent the proposed solution supports the state’s goal of interoperability among public safety agencies. We recommend that the Director of the Office of Emergency Services, in his role as chair of the Public Safety Radio Strategic Planning Committee, report to the Legislature at budget hearings on how CHP’s proposal supports the state’s goals.
February 23, 2006 - In recent years, transportation funding has been both constrained and uncertain due to various factors including the use of transportation funds to help the General Fund. The 2006-07 Governor’s Budget proposes to reverse this trend. Specifically, it proposes to fully fund Proposition 42 and partially repay a previous loan of transportation funds to the General Fund. In addition, as part of his Strategic Growth Plan, the Governor proposes to provide $12 billion in general obligation bond funding and $14 billion in revenue bond funding for state transportation over the next ten years. Furthermore, he proposes to permanently firewall Proposition 42 funds after 2006-07 by prohibiting suspension of the transfer from the General Fund. We highlight a number of policy issues that the Legislature should consider as it reviews the Governor's proposals.
February 23, 2006 - The Governor proposes to freeze future state participation in county administrative costs for health and social services programs at the 2005-06 level, adjusted for caseload, but not inflation. We recommend rejecting the Governor’s proposal because it would restrict legislative flexibility to adjust funding and services levels.
February 23, 2006 - As of January 2006, California is failing all seven outcome federal required child welfare outcome measures. Unless California improves its performance by the fall of 2006, the state faces $59 million in federal penalties. We review the Governor's child welfare proposals and recommend redirecting $15 million into flexible grants for counties to implement their existing improvement plans.
February 23, 2006 - The federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 significantly raises the required work participation rates for California’s low-income families in the CalWORKs program. Failure to meet these higher participation rates would result in annual federal penalties which begin in 2008-09 at $173 million We present a range of strategies for meeting this challenge including: increasing participation among existing recipients, bringing former recipients who are employed back into the participation calculation, and establishing separate programs for those who may face substantial barriers to work.
February 23, 2006 - The Governor’s Budget includes $242 million under the Commission on State Mandates’ budget item to: pay noneducation mandate claims in 2006-07, begin to retire the backlog of unpaid mandate claims, and provide a $50 million “set aside” to transform two mental health mandates into a categorical program. We find that the administration’s proposal does not provide sufficient resources to carry out its plan for 2006-07 and that the state likely will face a current-year mandate deficiency of about $140 million. We also review the way mandate information was provided in the administration's 2006-07 budget documents and make recommendations for improvement.
February 23, 2006 - The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s telemedicine program allows the department to deliver health care services to inmates without transporting them to outside medical facilities. Our review finds that opportunities exist for the department to significantly expand its use of telemedicine, thereby improving public safety and reducing the cost of providing inmate health care. We recommend legislation be enacted that requires the department to take steps to expand the use of telemedicine in prisons, which would potentially reduce transportation and medical guarding costs by several million dollars.
February 23, 2006 - Some county jails utilize non-peace officer personnel (“custody assistants”) for custody-related tasks that do not require direct control of inmates. Instead of using such “custody assistants,” state prisons rely on correctional officers for all custody-related work. The creation and use of a custody assistant classification in state prisons would reduce state costs and improve efficiency, while reducing staff vacancies in state prisons.
February 23, 2006 - The Governor’s budget includes funds to develop and expand a number of prison inmate and parole programs designed to reduce recidivism. While some aspects of this proposal have merit, many aspects lack important staffing and implementation details, and it is questionable that the department will be able to successfully implement so many programs at one time. We identify steps that the state should take to improve programming in state prisons, and recommend a reduction of approximately $28 million pending receipt and review of additional information.
February 23, 2006 - The Governor’s budget proposes to expand the use of formula-based budgeting to the entire Judicial Branch. However, the proposal lacks a clear policy rationale and would likely lead to over budgeting of the courts. We recommend rejection of this proposal.
February 23, 2006 - The budget plan includes a package of proposals to encourage the enrollment of uninsured children in state health coverage. Some of the proposals are reasonable, but we recommend others be rejected or modified because they are overbudgeted or are likely to be ineffective.
February 23, 2006 - The administration is proposing changes to the way the state conducts licensing and certification of providers of certain health and social services. We concur in some proposals, recommend others be reduced to correct overbudgeted staffing and funding, and propose further changes to improve the way these functions are carried out.
February 23, 2006 - Proposition 36 provided annual appropriations from the General Fund through 2005-06 to implement a voter-approved initiative requiring drug treatment instead of incarceration in prison or jail for certain nonviolent drug possession offenders. The guaranteed appropriations for Proposition 36 are expiring, giving the Legislature discretion now to determine the level of funding for this measure. We comment on how the funding level should be set and proposals for making policy changes in the Proposition 36 law.