California's CALSAWS budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year has been set at $376 million, focusing on the maintenance and operation of the state's welfare system. This budget includes $342 million dedicated to general maintenance, covering essential services such as hardware, software, cloud services, and personnel costs. An additional $34 million is allocated for system changes, which encompass updates to interfaces and enhancements to user experience.

The recent meeting of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services highlighted the completion of the migration of all 58 counties into a single system as a significant milestone. With this migration now complete, the focus shifts to optimizing system performance and ensuring reliability while managing ongoing policy changes. The budget will be reviewed annually to adapt to evolving needs and requirements.

Concerns were raised during the meeting regarding the increasing budget despite the system being operational. Some committee members questioned why maintenance costs would rise when the program is no longer in development. The Legislative Analyst's Office acknowledged this concern and committed to further analysis to determine if this trend is consistent across similar IT projects.

As CALSAWS continues to evolve, the emphasis will be on enhancing automation capabilities and improving collaboration with counties and state partners. The goal is to ensure that policy changes are implemented efficiently while maintaining the integrity of the system. The discussions from this meeting underscore the importance of strategic funding allocation to support the ongoing needs of California's welfare system.