California Research Bureau Reports

At the request of the Office of State Senator Steven Bradford, this policy brief explores how state and local jurisdictions in California have moved to decriminalize cannabis and release people incarcerated for nonviolent cannabis-related crimes. Given equal rates of cannabis use, Blacks and Latinos experience inequities that persist despite changes in state policy that have moved away from criminalizing cannabis. Estimated costs of enforcing California marijuana law prior to 2010 vary from $204 million to $1.87 billion a year. Data from the Legislative Analyst’s Office suggests that California has currently budgeted in the range of $50 million for cannabis enforcement activities, though this estimate is likely conservative. Countering expenditures is the approximately $2 billion in cannabis excise and sales taxes the State collected from 2018-20. California has moved forward with recent law that bolsters access to running legal cannabis businesses for communities and people most impacted by the criminalization of cannabis.

The California Unlawful Detainer Pilot Program authorizes city attorneys in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Sacramento to initiate nuisance eviction cases against tenants arrested for controlled substances and illegal firearms. Most arrested tenants voluntary vacate their residences before unlawful detainers are filed at court; most tenants charged are also nonwhite. Several incidents in 2020 were interrupted by COVID-19. Use of the state program has steadily declined since the mid-2000s, possibly coinciding with the proliferation of municipal nuisance eviction ordinances. However, according to city attorneys, the program continues to be a useful nuisance abatement tool.

COVID-19 has forced the world to rely more on internet services to work, attend school and socialize. Broadband services are available in most areas of California, however, the quality of the service varies greatly between urban and rural areas. The Federal Communications Commission set the standard for internet download speeds at 25 megabits per second. In California, 76.7% of rural households do not have access to broadband that meets this standard. This overview of broadband infrastructure, affordability and devices in California, and the status of municipal broadband was done at the request of the California Assembly Committee on Communications and Conveyance.

In 2019, the federal government spent at least $54 billion and directly employed approximately 333,000 residents in California. This resulted in $181 billion in economic impact and supported more 818,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the state. The report includes supplements providing estimates by county and congressional district. This report was prepared under contract with the California Research Bureau at the request of the Office of Planning and Research and the Governor's Military Council with financial support from the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Economic Adjustment. The content included in this report does not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or the Office of Economic Adjustment.

California Research Bureau's preliminary results, updating the demographics of the California Legislature for 2021-22. Data is current as of 11:00 am on 11/4/2020. The report will be updated if any results change.

Which California households and communities are most financially vulnerable to the economic shutdown induced by the coronavirus? Is it possible to estimate COVID-19 unemployment prevalence by state legislative district? What health and financial impact is COVID-19 having in urban and rural California counties? These are some of the public policy questions 18 Cal-in-Sacramento summer interns researched under the virtual direction of the California Research Bureau in a unique partnership during the summer of 2020 with the Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service at the University of California, Berkeley.

Updated to reflect Special Elections through May, 2020: California's legislature now has 38 female members, setting an all-time high.

2019 Update: The federal government invests at least $49 billion dollars and directly employs approximately 330,000 residents in the state. This results in $167 billion in economic impact and supports more than 795,000 full time equivalent jobs in California. Economic activity occurs in every region of the state, from major coastal areas like San Diego and Los Angeles to small, inland communities, like Bridgeport, El Centro and Ridgecrest.

Lead is a popular choice for fishing sinkers and other tackle. But concerns persist about the impact of lead tackle that falls into rivers and streams, where it may harm fish, birds and other wildlife. At the request of the Office of State Assemblymember Bill Quirk, this paper provides a review of the literature concerning the impact of lead fishing tackle on fish and other wildlife, including a survey of lead tackle toxicity cases in wildlife rehabilitation centers along the West Coast.

The California Board of Registered Nursing is tasked with protecting the health and safety of Californians by licensing and regulating the practice of nursing in the state. One way it does this is by using voluntarily provided reports of alleged violations of the Nursing Practice Act. This report, as required by Senate Bill 799 (Hill, 2017), reviews the different forms of reporting systems used in California and other states, the barriers to reporting alleged violations that can occur, and provides policy options for the state to consider. In addition to voluntary reports, 32 other states require mandatory reporting in certain situations, such as when an employer fires or suspends a registered nurse. Information from other states and literature on the topic are mixed, however, and demonstrate challenges with both the voluntary and mandatory reporting systems.