January 1, 1989 - Chapter 1256, Statutes of 1980, requires the Legislative Analyst to report each year on any previously unfunded state mandates for which the Legislature appropriated funds in a claims bill during the prior fiscal year. This report reviews those mandates initially funded by Chapter 1485, Statutes of 1988.
December 30, 2003 - In 2002 and 2003, the Commission on State Mandates determined that 23 sets of state laws impose state-reimbursable mandates on local governments. The commission estimated the state's cost to reimburse local agencies for these mandates is about $400 million. This report reviews the newly identified mandates, and offers recommendations as to whether each mandate should be repealed, funded, suspended, or modified.
June 24, 2009 - Pusuant to Chapter 1124, Statutes of 2002 (AB 3000, Committee on Budget)
March 17, 2016 - Through a complex, often convoluted, process that has engendered much discussion and disagreement over the years, the state must reimburse local governments for their activities to implement certain state mandates. State law requires the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) to determine whether new state laws, executive orders, or regulations affecting local governments create state-reimbursable mandates. Generally, local governments may submit claims for state mandate payment based on one of two methods: (1) claiming of actual costs or (2) a reasonable reimbursement methodology (RRM). A budget trailer bill proposal from the administration would change the requirements for developing an RRM. We recommend the Legislature reject this proposal and perhaps consider targeted alternatives.
May 31, 2013 - Pursuant to Chapter 1124, Statutes of 2002 (AB 3000, Committee on Budget)
February 27, 2023 - In this post, we discuss the Sexual Assault Evidence Kits Testing mandate, which is a newly identified state mandate funded in the Governor's 2023-24 budget proposal.
February 17, 2022 - This publication provides an overview of the Governor’s package of public safety proposals, our assessment of these proposals, as well as recommendations and options for legislative consideration.
February 26, 2014 - Traditionally, the state has reimbursed local educational agencies (LEAs) for performing mandated activities by requiring them to submit detailed documentation of their costs. In recent years, the state has tried to simplify this process by creating two alternative reimbursement structures. The reasonable reimbursement methodology (RRM) provides reimbursement for a particular mandate using a formula developed in a quasi-judicial forum. The education mandates block grants (one for schools and one for community colleges) provide reimbursement for all active education mandates using a per-student rate established in the budget. Whereas the rarely used RRM process has been very adversarial (once involving litigation) and resulted in long reimbursement delays, nearly all LEAs have chosen to participate in the block grants. Given their overlapping purposes and the comparative advantages of the block grants, we recommend the Legislature repeal the RRM for education mandates.
January 31, 2007 - In an effort to put the current discussion of crime in California in perspective, we have prepared this report to answer several key questions, including:
March 18, 2015 - As part of the Governor’s budget for 2015-16, the administration proposes to reorganize the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (VCGCB). In this report, we (1) review existing victim programs, (2) identify challenges regarding the current structure and delivery of these programs, and (3) recommend steps to help address these challenges.
February 23, 2023 - This brief provides our analysis of the Governor’s 2023-24 budget proposals for the Department of Justice related to the Bureau of Forensic Services, firearms workload, and legal workload.
May 13, 2022 - This post provides our comments and recommendation to approve the Governor's proposal to fund the prepaid postage mandate for vote by mail ballots.
February 1, 1988 - All of the recommendations included in this report are discussed in greater detail within the Analysis and the P&I. This report merely (1) summarizes our analysis of the issues at stake, (2) outlines the contents of the changes in existing law that we recommend, and (3) presents our estimate of the fiscal effect from the proposed legislation.