California Radical Transparency Financial Review

California Environmental Protection Agencyscore 82.9

Selection: agency anchor reference.

The Environmental Protection rollup combines environmental regulation, water-quality finance, recycling / payment systems, air-quality and climate incentives, toxic substances cleanup, pesticide regulation, and health-risk assessment. In loaded FY23-FY25 FI$Cal rows, the largest branches are State Water Resources Control, Resources Recycling and Recovery, State Air Resources Board, and Department of Toxic Substances Control. The largest fund mechanics include beverage container recycling payments, water pollution and drinking-water revolving funds, Federal Trust Fund water grants, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund climate / air incentives, Underground Storage Tank Cleanup, hazardous waste and toxic-substances accounts, and pesticide-regulation fees.

Interpretation: Split Environmental Protection by department and fund before interpreting totals. Separate regulatory operations, local assistance, loan / revolving-fund programs, incentive grants, cleanup / remediation, bond / capital programs, and confidential recycling-payment branches.

Caveat: Environmental Protection totals mix state operations, local assistance, special fees, federal grants, loans, repayments, bond proceeds, and incentive programs. A large fund or department total is not automatically ordinary agency payroll or discretionary General Fund spending.

Primary source: California 2025-26 Enacted Governor's Budget, Environmental Protection

State Water Resources Control Boardscore 65.6

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The State Water Resources Control Board is the largest loaded Environmental Protection department. Its FI$Cal rows are dominated by water-quality and drinking-water finance rather than only agency operations: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund, Federal Trust Fund water grants, General Fund, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund state match, Underground Storage Tank Cleanup, water-quality infrastructure bond funds, Safe and Affordable Drinking Water, Waste Discharge Permit Fund, Water Rights Fund, and related cleanup or drought funds.

Interpretation: Treat State Water as a water-finance and regulation gateway. Drill into revolving funds, federal grants, bond funds, cleanup accounts, permit funds, program labels, budget reference, and account descriptions before interpreting a row as operating cost or final aid.

Caveat: State Water totals can combine grant / local-assistance payments, loan / revolving-fund activity, bond-funded infrastructure, federal funds, cleanup reimbursements, and state operations. Net amount and dollar volume may diverge where repayments or transfers are present.

Primary source: California 2025-26 Enacted Governor's Budget, Environmental Protection

Information Technology Account Familyscore 65.4

Selection: unresolved label queue signal.

Information Technology is a statewide accounting category, not a single technology project or public program. In loaded FY23-FY25 rows, this category totals about `$3.31B` net and `$9.74B` of gross movement across about `1.69M` rows. The nine loaded account-description branches are software maintenance, other IT services including security / archival, interagency IT services, hardware maintenance, IT equipment leases, data lines, internet service, IT supplies, and e-waste / recycling fees. The largest full-year agencies are Government Operations, Labor and Workforce Development, Health and Human Services, Legislative / Judicial / Executive, Natural Resources, Transportation, and General Government.

Interpretation: Use Information Technology as an account-family routing clue. Drill first to account description, then agency, department, fund, program, vendor / payee, and whether the row is a central-service or internal-service chargeback before interpreting the spending.

Caveat: This category mixes direct agency IT purchases, software and hardware maintenance, data / network services, security / archival services, supplies, interagency agreements, Department of Technology service billing, and corrections or allocations. Rows paid from Technology Services Revolving Fund or other internal-service funds can represent cost recovery and should not automatically be added to customer-agency IT spending without net / gross review.

Primary source: California Department of Finance Account Codes

Department of Toxic Substances Controlscore 65.3

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control regulates hazardous waste and oversees hazardous-substance site cleanup, restoration, enforcement, and emergency response. In loaded FI$Cal rows, major branches include the Toxic Substances Control Account, Hazardous Waste Control Account, General Fund, Site Remediation Account, Cleanup Loans and Environmental Assistance to Neighborhoods Account, and site-mitigation programs.

Interpretation: Split DTSC into site mitigation / restoration, hazardous waste management, cleanup loans / assistance, enforcement, and administrative / distributed-administration rows. Track cleanup-cost recovery and fund transfers separately from direct remediation spending.

Caveat: DTSC totals can include cleanup appropriations, cost recovery, loans, transfers between hazardous-waste / toxic-substances funds, and distributed administration offsets. Use fund and program context before interpreting net spending.

Primary source: California 2025-26 Enacted Governor's Budget, Environmental Protection

State Operations Support (Budget Act 001)score 65.2

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The FY 2023-24 Final Change Book contains 690 change-book entries covering 293 item numbers for reference number 001. These entries span 91 departments and operating character(s): STATE OPERATIONS. Example issue titles: 2019 California Mass Timber Building Competition Reappropriation; 2020 Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR); 2022-23 Support Capacity Net-Zero Technical Adjustment; 2023 Winter Storm Damage: Statewide Repairs and Sustainability; 2023-24 California LifeLine Enrollment Caseload and Population; 2023-24 Fire Protection Augmentation; 7A Positions, Salaries, and Wages Realignment; 9800 Technical.... Fund codes seen in the change-book entries include: 0001, 0007, 0012, 0014, 0017, 0026, 0029, 0032, 0042, 0044, 0046, 0064, 0080, 0102, 0106, 0108, 0115, 0133, 0140, 0142, 0178, 0185, 0191, 0193, 0198, 0200, 020....

Interpretation: This card summarizes official FY23 Budget Act change-book evidence by reference number. Use full item numbers and pages for precise authority.

Primary source: California Department of Finance 2023-24 Final Change Book

California Air Resources Boardscore 64.9

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The State Air Resources Board protects air quality and administers major climate, mobile-source, stationary-source, subvention, and community air protection programs. In loaded FI$Cal rows, major branches include Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund climate and zero-emission incentive programs, Air Pollution Control Fund, General Fund local assistance, Motor Vehicle Account, Cost of Implementation Account, Air Quality Improvement Fund, and vehicle or certification compliance funds.

Interpretation: Split Air Resources Board rows into mobile source, stationary source, climate change, local air district subventions, community air protection, GGRF incentives, and regulatory operating funds.

Caveat: Air Resources totals can swing with one-time General Fund or GGRF incentive appropriations. Those local-assistance incentive flows should be separated from ongoing regulatory operations.

Primary source: California 2025-26 Enacted Governor's Budget, Environmental Protection

Department of Resources Recycling and Recoveryscore 64.6

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is the second-largest loaded Environmental Protection department. Its rows are dominated by recycling and circular-economy fund mechanics, especially the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund and related processing-fee accounts, plus electronic waste, tire, used-oil, integrated waste, and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund branches. Open FI$Cal also documents that certain CalRecycle Beverage Container, E-Waste, and Used Oil vendor names are masked as Confidential under specific Public Resources Code sections.

Interpretation: Split CalRecycle into beverage-container, PET / glass processing, e-waste, tire, used-oil, integrated-waste, organics / recycling, GGRF, and confidential-payment branches. Use the confidentiality explanation layer when vendor rows are masked.

Caveat: Large CalRecycle totals often represent recycling payment, deposit / redemption, fee, grant, or confidential-payment mechanisms rather than ordinary agency operating budgets.

Primary source: California 2025-26 Enacted Governor's Budget, Environmental Protection

Salaries and Wagesscore 64.5

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The Salaries and Wages account category groups payroll earnings charged to state programs and funds. In promoted FY23-FY25 data through FY25 period 8, it totals about $42.22B net and $44.16B of absolute movement across 20,426,426 source rows. The largest salary account remains 5100000, Earnings - Permanent Civil Service Employees, followed by overtime, temporary civil service earnings, exempt / statutory employee earnings, Flex Elect contributions, and other employee-payment accounts. These rows are payroll / accounting charges, not vendor payments or claimant benefit payments.

Interpretation: Use this as a payroll-cost category. Drill into account description, department, program, fund, and budget reference; compare with SCO compensation files only when person / position-level payroll data is loaded.

Caveat: FI$Cal Salaries and Wages rows show accounting charges by fund / program / account. They do not by themselves identify individual employees, positions, headcount, vacancies, or total compensation. Staff benefits are recorded separately.

Primary source: California Department of Finance Uniform Codes Manual, Account Codes

Staff Benefitsscore 64.3

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The Staff Benefits account category groups employer benefit costs recorded separately from salary earnings. In promoted FY23-FY25 data through FY25 period 8, it totals about $19.97B net and $20.68B of absolute movement across 55,785,163 source rows. Major staff-benefit accounts include Retirement - General, Health Insurance, OASDI, Workers' Compensation, OPEB Employer Contribution, Medicare Taxation, dental, vision, unemployment insurance, disability leave, and other benefit charges.

Interpretation: Use this as the benefit-cost companion to Salaries and Wages. Analyze salary earnings and staff benefits together for personnel-cost questions, but keep the categories distinct.

Caveat: Staff Benefits is not direct take-home pay and not a vendor category. It records employer-side benefit and payroll-related costs, some of which may be allocated, recovered, or adjusted through contra accounts.

Primary source: California Department of Finance Uniform Codes Manual, Account Codes

Other Items of Expensescore 62.4

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

This broad account category is not one spending purpose. In promoted FY23-FY25 data through FY25 period 8, it totals about $80.20B net and $269.25B of absolute movement across 19,682,914 source rows. It is still dominated by account 5390950, SCO Inbound Interface Department Expenditures, which Open FI$Cal describes as transactions first processed by the State Controller's Office outside FI$Cal and later entered into FI$Cal. The remaining rows mix residual goods, services, miscellaneous expense, interest, vehicle-operation, supplies, and client-service accounts.

Interpretation: Use this category as a drilldown gateway. First split SCO inbound interface rows from residual goods / services / miscellaneous rows, then drill into account description, fund, program, budget reference, vendor, document, and positive / negative movement before making public claims.

Caveat: The broad category can show very large gross movement because interface and offset entries create paired positives and negatives. It should not be interpreted as a single public service, program outcome, or vendor class.

Primary source: Open FI$Cal Key Terms and Concepts; DOF Chart of Accounts crosswalk

Other Special Items of Expensescore 61.9

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

This account category groups several high-dollar special-payment and accounting-transfer classes rather than one policy program. Open FI$Cal places Medical & Health Care Payments account 5442000 under this public category, while the DOF legacy object crosswalk maps that same account to Local Costs / Grants and Subventions object 661705. In loaded FY23-FY25 spending, the category is dominated by Medical and Health Care Payments, Expense Transfers and Other Disbursements, and a residual Other Special Items of Expense account.

Interpretation: Use this category only as a starting point. For forensic review, immediately drill into account description, agency, department, fund, program, and budget reference because the category mixes benefit payments, local assistance, offsets, and residual special items. Preserve the distinction between public Open FI$Cal hierarchy and legacy object-category mappings.

Caveat: Because this category combines large positive benefit-payment accounts and large negative transfer / offset accounts, net totals can hide materially different accounting behaviors. It is an account hierarchy category, not a final program or policy outcome.

Primary source: Open FI$Cal Key Terms and Concepts; California Department of Finance Chart of Accounts crosswalk

Grants and Subventionsscore 61.5

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

In this repository, Grants and Subventions identifies payment activity where the state provides funds to governments, local agencies, institutions, or non-government recipients for authorized public programs rather than purchasing goods or services for direct state use.

Interpretation: This is an accounting category, not a policy outcome. Drill into agency, department, fund, program, budget reference, and recipient / vendor fields.

Primary source: Open FI$Cal spending files and DOF Chart of Accounts context

Internal Cost Recoveryscore 61.3

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

Internal Cost Recovery is a FI$Cal / Hyperion category / code family for cost recoveries and allocated internal charges. DOF's Hyperion AC code list places AC_5700000 under category 57 Internal Cost Recovery, and the DOF Chart of Accounts crosswalk maps PeopleSoft account 5700000 to Internal Cost Recovery. In loaded FY23-FY25 rows, 5700000 nets to about -$5.12B but has about $11.94B of gross positive and negative movement. A related account, 5710000 Estimated Distributed Indirect and Recovery Cost, has about $27.51B of gross movement but nets to roughly zero across the loaded periods. This behavior indicates allocation, recovery, PFA, chargeback, and reversal / offset mechanics rather than one external public service or vendor category.

Interpretation: Treat this as an internal accounting mechanics category. Show positive charges, negative recoveries, and net separately. Drill into account code 5700000 versus 5710000, department, fund, program, budget reference, and fiscal period before interpreting the dollars.

Caveat: Do not add gross positive and negative internal cost recovery flows to public-facing program spending without context. Some rows recover central-service or departmental overhead costs already recorded elsewhere, and some are allocation / PFA mechanics, so gross totals can double count state operating activity.

Primary source: California Department of Finance AC Codes Available in Hyperion; DOF Chart of Accounts crosswalk

Budget Act Local Assistance 101score 60.7

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

Budget reference 101 is a broad Budget Act Local Assistance reference. DOF budget guidance says Budget Act item codes combine organization, reference, and fund; DOF reference guidance places 101-294 in the Budget Act Local Assistance block. In DSS Other Assistance Payments, public sources show 5180-101 rows spanning multiple funds and multiple welfare program contexts, including Other Assistance Payments and CalWORKs / Payments for Children examples. The reference identifies broad local-assistance appropriation authority, not a specific component such as Foster Care, AAP, Kin-GAP, CalFresh, CFAP, TCVAP, refugee assistance, or food programs.

Interpretation: Use 101 as broad Budget Act Local Assistance authority. Pair it with department, program code, fund, account, legal provision, issue title, project / PCA, claim schedule, and transaction text before assigning a policy component.

Caveat: Do not treat 101 as a component-level label. In DSS, program 4270019 / legacy 16.65 is a better public key for Other Assistance Payments than budget reference 101.

Primary source: California Department of Finance, Reading the Budget Act

Departmental Servicesscore 60.5

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

Departmental Services is an internal / service-account category that includes EDP services, office services, technical services, indirect distributed cost, and other departmental service labels. In loaded FY23-FY25 rows, the category is dominated by account 5342500 Indirect Distributed Cost, which nets to about $3.96B but has about $11.64B of gross positive / negative movement. These rows often allocate internal or shared costs across programs and funds rather than identifying a final public-facing service.

Interpretation: Use Departmental Services as an internal-service / accounting category. Drill into account description and department before interpreting the work performed. In simple public spending charts, consider showing it as operating overhead / internal services rather than a final program outcome.

Caveat: Departmental Services is broader than consulting or vendor services. It can include state IT / EDP services, office services, technical services, and distributed indirect costs, many of which may be internal chargebacks or allocations.

Primary source: California Department of Finance Chart of Accounts and Uniform Codes Manual

Department of Pesticide Regulationscore 60.4

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The Department of Pesticide Regulation regulates pesticide sales and use, registration, evaluation, enforcement, monitoring, and related risk-reduction programs. In loaded FI$Cal rows, most spending is tied to the Department of Pesticide Regulation Fund, with additional program rows for pesticide registration, enforcement, monitoring, and local assistance or county-level pesticide work.

Interpretation: Treat DPR as a fee-supported pesticide regulatory department. Drill into registration, compliance / enforcement, monitoring, local assistance, and fund-source rows before comparing to broader environmental programs.

Caveat: DPR totals are smaller than State Water, CalRecycle, Air Resources, and DTSC, but they are specialized regulatory activity and should not be merged into generic environmental operating costs.

Primary source: California 2025-26 Enacted Governor's Budget, Environmental Protection

Consulting and Professional Servicesscore 60.3

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

This account category groups service payments for consulting, professional, technical, and related service activity. It is useful for vendor-concentration review because these payments can be spread across many agencies and departments.

Interpretation: Do not assume every row is a management consultant. Drill into account description, vendor, department, procurement source, and transaction detail.

Primary source: Open FI$Cal spending files and DOF Chart of Accounts context

Unscheduled Items of Appropriationscore 59.9

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

California eBudget displays use program code 9990 for Unscheduled Items of Appropriation across multiple departments. In loaded FI$Cal rows, this label is not a single policy program; it is a budget / program control bucket that collects authority-specific rows such as State School Fund apportionment mechanics, Welfare Advance Fund local assistance, pension benefit items, lottery activity, trial-court transfer rows, and other non-Budget Act or special authority branches.

Interpretation: Do not interpret this label by itself. Drill into agency, department, fund, budget reference, year of enactment, account, and positive / negative pairings to identify the actual authority or funding mechanism.

Caveat: Public sources show 9990 as a recurring budget display / program bucket, but do not provide one universal substantive definition. The meaning must be resolved from the surrounding fund, statute, item, and accounting behavior.

Primary source: California 2025-26 Enacted Governor's Budget, Education

Non-Budget Act Local Assistance 601score 59.7

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

In the loaded education rows, budget reference 601 is prominent in Education Protection Account school-apportionment activity. CDE states that EPA provides LEAs with general purpose state aid under Article XIII, Section 36, and that EPA is a component of an LEA's LCFF entitlement as calculated in the Principal Apportionment. CDE Principal Apportionment calculation guidance says LCFF state aid is determined by subtracting local property taxes and the EPA entitlement from LCFF entitlement.

Interpretation: Interpret 601 rows beside Education Protection Account, LCFF, General Fund 610, and 698 offset context. Forensic review should compare positive EPA 601 rows to negative EPA 698 rows, matching General Fund 610 rows, and CDE EPA schedules.

Caveat: The repository has official EPA / LCFF offset context and observed FI$Cal pairings, but no public source reviewed defines exact budget reference 601 as the EPA code.

Primary source: California Department of Education Education Protection Account

Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessmentscore 58.6

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment conducts scientific health-risk assessments for chemicals and environmental exposures, develops health-based goals and guidance, supports regulatory agencies, and evaluates community pollution burden and vulnerability. Loaded FI$Cal totals are much smaller than the major environmental finance departments and mostly reflect state operations.

Interpretation: Use OEHHA as scientific risk-assessment context. It is primarily analytical and advisory state operations, not a large grant, loan, or cleanup-finance branch.

Caveat: OEHHA spending should be interpreted as risk-assessment and scientific support capacity, not as the direct cost of cleanup, regulation, or local assistance performed by other departments.

Primary source: California 2025-26 Enacted Governor's Budget, Environmental Protection

Non-Budget Act Local Assistance 602score 58.1

Selection: top visible agency rollup label.

In the loaded education rows, budget reference 602 repeatedly appears as a large positive Department of Education / State School Fund local-assistance / apportionment counterpart to negative budget reference 698 rows, mostly with year of enactment 1973. DOF Manual of State Funds Fund 0342 says State School Fund appropriations are pass-through local assistance, are apportioned under Article IX and Education Code authority, and were divided by Chapter 940, Statutes of 1973 into Part A for elementary / high school and Part B for community colleges.

Interpretation: Treat 602 as a positive State School Fund K-12 apportionment branch under the 1973 authority context, while preserving that the exact FI$Cal suffix meaning is inferred from block rules and row behavior.

Caveat: Public sources anchor the fund authority and 1973 split, but do not directly say that Budget Reference 602 means K-12 State School Fund apportionment. Pair with fund, department, year of enactment, account, and 698 offset rows.

Primary source: California Department of Finance Manual of State Funds, Fund 0342