Posts Tagged: lao

Experts Expound

Experts Expound: The impact of the budget shortfall

Image by zimmytws

It is shaping up to be a very tough budget year in Sacramento, with the Legislative Analyst’s Office predicting the Golden State could be facing a $68 billion budget shortfall. With that in mind, we posed the following question to our panel of experts and let them expound.

Opinion

Safety in California hinges on continuing to close prisons, fund crime prevention

San Quentin, photo by Julie Vader via Shutterstock

OPINION – As both a survivor of violent crime and someone who has had loved ones who are incarcerated, I commend Gov. Gavin Newsom for his bold new vision for California’s most infamous prison, San Quentin. In words and action, his administration is elevating the urgency to make corrective rehabilitation real in California, and creating

Opinion

The then and now of California broadband

Photo by Sinart Creative via Shutterstock

The Legislature and Governor should utilize the budget process to reconsider whether the current state plan can reasonably achieve 100% broadband availability, in light of the worsening condition of the state budget.

News

LAO: State faces $25 billion budget hole in 2023-24, and more woe later

The California State Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Always Wanderlust, via Shutterstock)

Under our outlook, the Legislature would face a budget problem of $25 billion in 2023‑24. (A budget problem—also called a deficit—occurs when resources for the upcoming fiscal year are insufficient to cover the costs of currently authorized services.) The budget problem is mainly attributable to lower revenue estimates, which are lower than budget act projections from 2021‑22 through 2023‑24 by $41 billion.

News

LAO: Coastal areas should begin preparing for sea level rise

A seaside condominium complex in Monterey, facing a rising sea level. (Photo: Steve Smith, Shutterstock)

California’s coast could experience sea level rise (SLR) ranging from about half of 1 foot by 2030 up to about 7 feet by 2100. Periodic events like storms and high tides will produce even higher water levels and increase the risk of flooding. Rising seas will also erode coastal cliffs, dunes, and beaches which will affect shorefront structures and recreation.

Opinion

PG&E bankruptcy will test California’s climate goals

A view of Los Angeles and its smog. (Photo: IM_Photo, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: It is important that state leaders stay firm on their resolve that PG&E is restructured in a way that both hardens our electrical grid and keeps our commitments to California’s climate and clean energy goals. Right now is no time to walk back on our climate change commitments.

News

Facing possible loss of House seat, California awaits census

Los Angeles, California's largest city and part of its most populous county, at dusk. (Photo: ESB Professional, via Shutterstock)

As California’s population growth flattens out, the state could lose a congressional seat for the first time in its history. The state’s most recent demographic report shows that California added only 186,807 residents last year, showing a growth rate of .47 percent, the slowest ever.

News

Gabriel Petek is Legislature’s new nonpartisan fiscal guru

Gabriel Petek, the new head of the Office of the Legislative Analyst, or LAO. (Photo: Courtesy of Gabriel Petek)

A Wall Street public finance expert who says analyzing California’s fiscal condition was the “defining passion” of his career is the state’s new legislative analyst. He is Gabriel Petek, 47, who until recently was Standard and Poor’s chief credit analyst covering California from an office in San Francisco.

News

Affordable housing crisis grips California

A view towards Palo Alto, Stanford and the cities of south San Francisco Bay, where housing is at a premium.(Photo: Sundry Photography)

California lawmakers are in midst of trying to solve a housing crisis that has spread throughout the state. The state’s Department of Housing and Community Development — an agency that works to expand access to affordable housing — says California has built an average of 80,000 homes a year for the past decade, which is less than half of the 180,000 new homes needed to keep up with the predicted population growth through 2025.

Analysis

PolitiFact: Gov. Brown and Prop. 53

Gov. Brown speaking against Proposition 53. (Screen shot via Youtube

ANALYSIS: An independent look at the measure by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, and an examination by the state’s treasurer, describe some scenarios that agree with Brown’s point. But the governor ignores the LAO’s argument that there could conceivably be some costs savings, particularly if Prop 53 forces the state to make better use of existing infrastructure.

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