This week, the California Department of Finance (DOF) issued the Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) second quarter report, detailing state and local expenditures incurred responding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The second quarter report covers expenditures between March 1 and September 30. Recall, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by Congress…
Read More »This week, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) published its annual report providing an independent assessment of the California state budget condition for the upcoming fiscal year and over the longer term. The LAO’s latest report finds the state’s budget situation has improved considerably relative to the 2020-21 Budget Act, with an estimated $26 billion…
Read More »On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state’s intent to immediately allocate $62 million in one-time funds from the state’s Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account (DREOA) to counties providing housing to current Project Roomkey participants. According to the Administration, funds are being made available to Roomkey sites to ensure clients living in motel or hotel rooms…
Read More »On Tuesday, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 6 on Budget Process, Oversight, and Program Evaluation and the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization convened a joint informational hearing to receive an update on California’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing featured an overview of the state’s operational efforts to contain the pandemic, investments in…
Read More »Late last week, the California Department of Finance (DOF) issued a November fiscal update detailing expenditures associated with the state’s COVID-19 direct response activities. DOF estimates the combined total costs across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years to be approximately $9.8 billion, with an estimated net General Fund impact of approximately $1.3 billion. In the…
Read More »This week, the California Department of Finance (DOF) notified the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) of a 120-day extension on the use of funds from the state’s Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account (DREOA) to support response activities to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In its letter, DOF indicated that, despite progress made under the state’s Blueprint for…
Read More »The Newsom Administration and legislative leaders this week reached an agreement to allocate an additional $400 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) to support Homekey, as well as other social supports including childcare, food banks, and diaper banks. Recall, late last month, the Newsom Administration requested from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) an additional…
Read More »Thursday marked the deadline for the federal government to approve flexible financial assistance to state and local governments amid the economic downturn ushered in by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With Congressional leaders and the White House still not in agreement on a COVID-19 relief measure, budget cuts included in the 2020-21 state budget are here…
Read More »This week, the Assembly convened two oversight hearings of interest to local health departments. Below, we summarize the hearings: Public Health Guidance and CalREDIE On Tuesday morning, the Assembly Subcommittee No. 6 on Budget Process Oversigth and Program Evaluation hosted state officials from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Department of…
Read More »The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed H.R. 8406, a revised version of the HEROES Act, on a 214-207 vote. The sweeping $2.2 trillion measure, narrowed from its original $3 trillion price tag, would provide $436 billion in assistance for state, local, territorial, and tribal governments. The measure would also extend the deadline to…
Read More »