Legislative Analyst's Office
May 18, 2010
Legislative Analyst’s Office: May Budget Revision
Large Budget Problem Little Changed Since January. In the May Revision, the administration estimates that California must address a $17.9 billion gap between current-law resources and expenditures in the 2010‑11 General Fund budget. In our view, the administration’s estimate is reasonable. While our tax revenue estimates are slightly higher than the Governor’s: $400 million in 2009‑10 and $1 billion in 2010‑11—overall, our view of the budget problem is similar...Read the entire Overview of the May Budget Revision below.
May 18, 2010
Legislative Analyst’s Office: May Budget Revision Report
In the May Revision, the administration estimates that California must address a $17.9 billion gap between current-law resources and expenditures in the 2010‑11 General Fund budget. In our view, the administration’s estimate is reasonable...
March 13, 2008
Legislative analyst leaving at end of year
Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill announced Thursday that she will retire from her "dream job" at the end of the year.
"It's time for a new chapter in my life," said Hill, 58, who has served as the Legislature's nonpartisan budget analyst for 22 years.
Hill, who recently released her own alternative to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed state budget, said she was under no pressure to resign.
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee)
February 21, 2008
LAO Recommends Against Governor’s Early Release and Summary Parole Programs
Prison and Parole Population Reduction Proposals Not Best Options. We recommend alternatives to the administration's early release and summary parole proposals which we believe offer a better trade off between public safety and budget savings by: (1) changing crimes currently classified as "wobblers" to misdemeanors and (2) substituting an "earned discharge" program for the Governor's summary parole proposal…
LINK - LAO.CA.gov
February 13, 2008
Legislative Analyst’s Office Says Boosting Classes Saves Money
If California wants to save money, it would enroll a lot more prisoners in inmate education programs than it currently does, the Legislative Analyst's Office said in a report Tuesday. Only 54,000 of the prison system's 170,000 inmates attend academic, vocational, industries or independent study programs, the LAO said, even though 75 percent of its population reads at the high school level…
LINK - SacBee.com
February 12, 2008
Officials Tight-Lipped About No Pay Raise for Prison Guards
Lynelle Jolley, DPA spokeswoman, said the state needs to get an officers' contract signed. "We've tried bargaining, we've tried mediation - we'd try therapy if we thought the LAO would think it would help," Jolley said. Beyond that, Jolley said the DPA had no comment other than that "We stand by our offer (of a 5-percent raise)…"
LINK - FolsomTelegraph.com
February 7, 2008
LAO: Don’t Give Prison Guards a Raise
The Legislative Analyst's Office has recommended that the Legislature reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to give the prison officers' union a 5 percent pay raise this year at a cost of $260 million. In a report released today, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill said that the 30,000 employees represented by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association already make enough money, with a base pay for the top-step officer reaching to approximately $73,000 a year…
LINK - SacBee.com
January 25, 2008
Prison Population Drops
Brown said the LAO is recommending against Schwarzenegger's budget cut for the current year because the lower-than-expected prison population will result in the added savings. As of Jan. 16, the prison population stood at 170,811, or more than 2,300 fewer than the state housed on Nov. 21. Corrections spokesman Oscar Hidalgo attributed the decline mostly to the creation of new community drug programs for parolees who otherwise would have been returned to prison on parole violations…
LINK - SacBee.com
