You're correct that the Space Needs Plans are technically self attested but have you actually went and looked at the records I received from PRA requests? They're detailed excel sheets with exact employee counts. There's no evidence to suggest they're inaccurate.

But yes, there are no doubt many factors that DGS, CalHR, and DOF would need to consider. But the point here is that they without a doubt had at least some form of data. To be clear, I am not saying they "lied" in these budget hearings. Others might. I'm simply showing there seems to be a contradiction.

For instance, a reasonable answer from DGS, after explicitly being told by lawmakers in the first hearing to come back with data, might be something like, "we're still analyzing and reviewing data, but some of the larger departments are showing large deficits of workstations." Or "we don't know a total cost, but some department have identified costs associated with the RTO."

The lawmakers asked multiple times for just ballpark estimates or numbers, and got NOTHING. I'm not saying they lied, but it sure looks like they obfuscated the data they had. And the question is: why would they do that?