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Handout

Key Issues Facing the State Board of Education

February 2, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Rules Committee on February 2, 2005.

Report

California Highway Patrol: Enhancing Road Patrol Service Through Efficiencies

January 31, 2005 - We suggest a number of measures to address workload growth in CHP's road patrol program. Most of these changes give the Legislature the opportunity to increase in-view patrols with existing levels of funding for CHP. Specifically, by making various changes to CHP's current policies, processes, and procedures—as well as to the way it allocates and uses uniformed and nonuniformed staff—the department can free up substantial resources, potentially in the hundreds of uniformed officers, for proactive patrols, thereby enhancing CHP's road patrol service throughout the state.

Report

Hard Decisions Before the Legislature: Toll Bridge Seismic Retrofit

January 24, 2005 - The administration recently estimated that the toll bridge seismic retrofit program will require an additional $3.2 billion to complete and has recommended changing the Bay Bridge's design to save money. The Legislature faces two key decisions: (1) whether to approve a redesign of the Bay Bridge east span and (2) how to fund the program's completion. Redesigning the Bay Bridge could save money, but also raises the risk of cost and schedule increases that could more than offset the savings. Funding should come from both state and local sources, and the Legislature has several options regarding the sources used and the amount to provide from each.

Report

Revenue Volatility In California

January 20, 2005 - Following the boom-bust revenue cycle in recent years, concerns have developed about volatility in California's General Fund revenues. This brief quantifies the amount of revenue volatility experienced in California during the past quarter century, identifies the main causes of the volatility, and discusses the outlook for volatility in the future. We also highlight some options for reducing future impacts of volatility—both those involving changes to the tax system and budgetary changes—and discuss the trade-offs inherent in each of the alternatives.

Report

Improving Coastal Access And Development Mitigation

January 19, 2005 - The Legislature has made protection of and access to California's 1,100 miles of coastline a statewide priority. While the California Coastal Commission has made progress toward protecting California's coastline, certain of the commission's permitting practices have temporarily reduced, and may permanently reduce, the public's access to the coast. The Coastal Commission's mitigation strategies include owners offering to dedicate (OTD) portions of their property to public use as a condition of receiving a coastal development permit. We make a number of recommendations focused on encouraging more upfront mitigation of coastal development, finding a more appropriate funding source for mitigation, and shortening the timeframes for acceptance and opening of OTDs.

Report

Overview of the 2005-06 Governor's Budget

January 12, 2005 - The Governor's proposal contains significant program savings—particularly in K-12 education, social services, and transportation—and borrowing to address the state's 2005-06 budget shortfall. While the 2005-06 proposal has several positive attributes, it falls well short of fully addressing the state's ongoing projected fiscal imbalances. Moreover, its budget reform proposals would put more future state spending on "cruise control" and hamper the ability of future policy makers to establish budget priorities.

Report

Tax Agency Consolidation: Remittance and Return Processing

January 10, 2005 - The physical consolidation of remittance and return processing activities of the Franchise Tax Board, the Board of Equalization, and the Employment Development Department would likely result in some savings in the medium and long term. It would also require a significant investment of funds in the near term in order to make such a consolidation feasible. Expanding the opportunities for electronic processing at all three agencies provides an alternative means of achieving savings in the long term while improving tax agency performance at the same time.

Report

Cal Facts: California's Economy and Budget in Perspective-2004

December 6, 2004 - Various "snapshot" pieces of information, providing a broad overview of public finance and program trends in the state. It consists of a series of charts and tables which address questions frequently asked of our office.

Report

LAO Recommended Legislation

December 6, 2004 - The role of the Legislative Analyst's Office is to review state programs and make recommendations to the Legislature as to how the state can operate more effectively and efficiently. While most of our recommendations can be addressed in the annual budget bill, some involve recommended changes in law that require separate legislation. This report summarizes various changes to law that we have recommended in recent years.

Other

Legislative Analyst's Office Staff Guide, 2004

December 3, 2004 - Staff and their assignments within the Legislative Analyst's Office as of November 2004. (This document is 5 MB in size.)

Report

California's Fiscal Outlook: LAO Projections, 2004-05 Through 2009-10

November 17, 2004 - According to our projections, the state is facing a year-end shortfall of $6.7 billion in 2005-06. Over the longer term, absent corrective actions, the state faces persistent annual current-law operating deficits that peak at nearly $10 billion in 2006-07, before narrowing somewhat in subsequent years.

Report

California Spending Plan 2004-05: The Budget Act and Related Legislation

September 22, 2004 - The state spending plan for 2004-05 includes total expenditures from all funds of $105.4 billion. This total includes budgetary spending of $102.4 billion, reflecting $78.7 billion from the General Fund and $23.7 billion from special funds. In addition, spending from selected bond funds totals $3 billion. The 2004-05 budget includes significant ongoing savings and it makes some progress toward resolving the state's ongoing structural budget shortfall. Nevertheless, like the two prior budgets, the current spending plan (1) contains a significant number of one-time or limited-term solutions and (2) obligates additional spending in future years. The combination of these factors suggests that state will continue to face out-year budget shortfalls, absent corrective action.

Handout

Health and Human Services Agency Pharmacy Assistance Proposal

September 21, 2004 - In this letter and hearing handout we comment on the Health and Human Services Agency's pharmacy assistance proposal. We also comment on alternative pharmacy assistance models.

Report

An Assessment of Differential Funding

September 21, 2004 - This report examines various options for funding higher education enrollment at different rates depending on type of instruction, class level, and other factors.

Report

An Initial Assessment of the California Performance Review

August 27, 2004 - On August 3, 2004, the California Performance Review (CPR) released its report on reforming California's state government, with the aim of making it more efficient and more responsive to its citizens. This report provides our initial comments on the CPR report. Specifically, we: (1) provide an overview of its reorganization framework and other individual recommendations, (2) discuss the savings it assumes from its major proposals, and (3) raise key issues and considerations relating to CPR's various proposals.