Amended in Senate September 3, 2015

Amended in Senate June 30, 2015

Amended in Assembly May 28, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 24, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1230

Introduced by Assembly Member Gomez

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(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Waldron)

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(Principal coauthors: Senators Mendoza and Vidak)

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brough, Chau, Chiu, Dodd, Eggman, Gray, Lackey, Nazarian, Olsen, and Steinorth)

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(Coauthors: Senators Allen, Anderson, Bates, Galgiani, Hall, Hertzberg, Hill, Nielsen, Pavley, and Roth)

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February 27, 2015

An act to add Section 44559.13 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to small business, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1230, as amended, Gomez. California Americans With Disabilities Small Business Capital Access Loan Program.

Existing law provides various programs to expand access to persons with disabilities and promote compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Existing law establishes the Capital Access Loan Program, which is administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (authority) to assist small businesses to finance the costs of complying with environmental mandates and the remediation of contamination on their properties.

This bill would establish the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program within the Capital Access Loan Program, to create a self-sustaining program to provide loans to assist small businesses begin delete finance end delete begin insert in financing end insert the costs of projects that alter or retrofit existing small business facilities, meeting specified criteria, to comply with the federal American with Disabilities Act.

This bill would authorize the authority to administer the program, including adopting regulations, and controlling funds appropriated for the program, as specified.

This bill would establish the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business begin delete Compliance Financing Authority end delete begin insert Capital Access Loan Program end insert Fund, as a continuously appropriated fund, and require the authority to use the fund for all its purposes. This bill would also transfer begin delete $50,000,000 end delete begin insert $10,000,000 end insert from the General Fund to the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business begin delete Compliance Financing Authority end delete begin insert Capital Access Loan Program end insert Fund.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 44559.13 is added to the Health and
Safety Code, to read:

44559.13.  

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in this act to
create and fund the California Americans with Disabilities Small
Business Capital Access Loan Program to assist small businesses
in complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is not
the intent of the Legislature to assist the physical expansion of
small businesses that includes modifications that comply with the
Americans with Disabilities Act. The program shall be
administered by the California Pollution Control Financing
Authority and follow the terms and conditions for the Capital
Access Loan Program for Small Businesses in this article with the
additional program requirements specified under this section.

(b) For purposes of this section, unless the context requires
otherwise, the following words and terms shall have the following
meanings:

(1) “Americans with Disabilities Act” means the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.)
and amendments thereto.

(2) “California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business
Capital Access Loan Program Fund” or “fund” means a fund
established and administered by the authority pursuant to Sections
44548 and 44549 to be used for purposes of this program.

(3) “Eligible cost” means and includes all or any part of the
price of construction, purchase price of real or personal property,
the price of demolishing or removing any buildings or structures,
the price of all machinery and equipment, the amount of financing
charges and interest prior to, during, and for a period not to exceed
the later of one year or one year following completion of
construction, as determined by the authority, the price of insurance
during construction, the amount of funding or financing noncapital
expenses, the amount of reserves for principal and interest and for
extensions, enlargements, additions, replacements, begin delete renovations end delete
begin insert renovations, end insert and improvements, the price of engineering, begin delete financial end delete
begin insert financial, end insert and legal services and other service contracts, the price
of plans, specifications, studies, surveys, estimates, administrative
expenses, and any other expenses of funding or financing, that are
necessary and allocable to the eligible project, and shall not include
costs not directly related to physical alterations necessary for
compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(4) “Eligible project” means the physical alterations or retrofits
to an existing small business facility of less than 10,000 square
feet necessary to ensure that facility is in compliance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act, and the financing necessary to
pay eligible costs of the project.

(5) “Qualified loan” means a loan or portion of begin insert a end insert loan as defined
in subdivision (j) of Section 44559.1, where the proceeds of the
loan or portion of begin insert the end insert loan are limited to the eligible costs for an
eligible project under this program, and where the loan or portion
of begin insert the end insert loan does not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

(6) “Small business” or “qualified business” means a business
referred to in subdivisions (i) and (m) of Section 44559.1, that
meets the following additional criteria:

(A)  begin delete Fewer than 15 end delete begin insert Fifteen or fewer end insert full-time equivalent
employees.

(B) Less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) in total gross
annual income from all sources.

(C) Does not provide overnight accommodations.

(c) (1) The California Americans with Disabilities Act Small
Business Capital Access Loan Program Fund is established in the
State Treasury for, and shall be administered by the authority
pursuant to Sections 44548 and 44549 for, this program.
Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all
money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the authority
for carrying out the purposes of this section. The authority may
divide the fund into separate accounts. All moneys accruing to the
authority pursuant to this section from any source shall be deposited
into the fund.

(2)  begin delete Subject to contributions paid by the authority in support of
qualified loans and subject further to any reasonable costs that
may be incurred by the authority in administering this section, all end delete
begin insert All end insert moneys in the fund derived from any source shall be held in
trust for the life of this begin delete program. end delete begin insert program, subject to the program
expenditures and costs of administering this section, as follows: end insert

begin insert

(A) Program expenditures shall include both of the following:

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(i) Contributions paid by the authority in support of qualified
loans.

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(ii) Reasonable costs to educate the small business community
and participating lenders about the program, including travel
within the state.

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(B) Administrative expenditures shall be limited to 5 percent of
the initial appropriation plus 5 percent of all moneys recaptured,
and shall include all of the following:

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(i) Personnel costs.

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(ii) Service and vending contracts necessary to carry out the
program.

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(iii) Other reasonable direct and indirect administrative costs.

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(3) The authority may direct the Treasurer to invest moneys in
the fund that are not required for its current needs in the eligible
securities specified in Section 16430 of the Government Code as
the authority shall designate. The authority may direct the Treasurer
to deposit moneys in interest-bearing accounts in state or national
banks or other financial institutions having principal offices located
in the state. The authority may alternatively require the transfer of
moneys in the fund to the Surplus Money Investment Fund for
investment pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 16470)
of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Government Code. All
interest or other increment resulting from an investment or deposit
shall be deposited into the fund, notwithstanding Section 16305.7
of the Government Code. Moneys in the fund shall not be subject
to transfer to any other fund pursuant to any provision of Part 2
(commencing with Section 16300) of Division 4 of the Government
Code, excepting the Surplus Money Investment Fund.

(d) The authority shall adopt regulations pursuant to subdivision
(c) of Section 44520 to implement the program, including
provisions specific to this program as described in this section and
further including provisions to:

(1) Establish a new loss reserve account for each participating
lender enrolling loans in this program.

(2) Obtain a certification from each participating lender and
small business upon enrollment of a qualified loan that the proceeds
of the loan will be used for the eligible costs of an eligible project.

(3) Contribute an additional incentive from the fund for each
loan enrolled for a qualified business located in a severely affected
community.

(4) Restrict the enrollment of a qualified loan in any other
Capital Access Loan Program for small business offered by the
authority as long as funds are available for this program.

(5) Limit the term of loss coverage for each qualified loan to
no more than five years.

(6) Recapture from the loss reserve account the authority’s
contribution for each enrolled loan upon the maturation of such
loan or after five years from the date of enrollment, begin delete which ever end delete
begin insert whichever end insert happens first, to be deposited in the fund and applied
to future begin delete expenditures for contributions and administrative costs. end delete
begin insert program and administrative expenditures. end insert

SEC. 2.  

The sum of begin delete fifty end delete begin insert ten end insert million dollars begin delete ($50,000,000) end delete
begin insert ($10,000,000) end insert is hereby transferred from the General Fund to the
California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital
Access Loan Program Fund for the purposes of funding loss reserve
accounts and administering the program pursuant to the California
Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access
Loan Program.