High Risk:
The California State Auditor's Updated Assessment of High‑Risk Issues the State and Select State Agencies Face
HIGHLIGHTS
Legislation effective in January 2005 authorizes the State Auditor's Office to develop a risk assessment process. We issued two previous assessments of high-risk issues facing the State. In our current review, we identified an additional issue as being at high risk:
- Funding of the Defined Benefit Program of the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS)—laws governing the contribution rates have not changed in decades and the program is currently underfunded.
- We found that most of the issues we identified in 2009 as posing a high risk to the State continue to be a high risk:
- The State's budget condition—ongoing budget deficits remain. The State has not yet implemented effective strategies for achieving a balanced budget.
- Paying for and accounting for retiree health benefits through the pay-as-you-go method is unchanged. The State's estimated liability increased $12 billion over the previous two years.
- Administration of the billions of federal funds the State received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—some departments may have to soon forfeit unspent funds.
- Managing the State's prison population and prison institutions.
- Production and delivery of electricity—possible unmet targets to increase the use of renewable electricity sources and the need to replace certain power plants.
- Maintaining and improving infrastructure.
- Managing the State's workforce.
- State's level of emergency preparedness.
- Information technology oversight.
- The following three state agencies meet our criteria for high risk:
- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
- Department of Health Care Services
- Department of Public Health
