BILL NUMBER: SB 446 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 14, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 4, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Senators Yee and Runner
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Carter)
(Coauthor: Senator Ridley-Thomas)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Mendoza and Sharon Runner)
FEBRUARY 21, 2007
An act to repeal Part 4 (commencing with Section 18000)
of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code, and to add
Chapter 2.7 (commencing with Section 13996.8) to Part 4.7 of Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to economic
development, and making an appropriation therefor.
amend Sections 10200, 10202, 10203, 10204, 10205, and 10214.5 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to the employment training
panel, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 446, as amended, Yee. Microenterprise
Employment Training Panel: entrepreneurs and microenterprise
development.
Existing law makes specified legislative findings and declarations
relating to the development of the skills of frontline workers, as
defined, and to the establishment of a strategically designed
employment training program to promote a healthy labor market.
This bill would modify those legislative findings and declarations
relating to the development of the skills of frontline workers to
include microenterprises and to give funding priority, among other
projects, to projects that would promote small business and
microenterprise creation and development, as specified.
Existing law provides for the establishment of an employment
training program and the Employment Training Panel (ETP) in the
Employment Development Department. Existing law requires the
executive director of the panel to assign one person, with experience
in meeting the needs of small businesses, to each of the regional
offices of the panel for specified purposes. Existing law also
specifies that at least one assistant director must have experience
in serving the needs of small businesses and manage the panel's
efforts to ensure that employment training services are available to
small businesses.
This bill would additionally require the person assigned to each
regional office to also have experience in meeting the needs of
microenterprises, as specified, and would require the assistant
director, who oversees the employment training services for small
businesses, to also ensure that employment training services are
available to entrepreneurs, as defined.
Under existing law, the Employment Training Panel has specified
duties, including the duty to make contracts for training in
job-related vocational skills, as specified. Existing law permits the
panel, subject to certain requirements, to delegate its authority to
approve contracts for new hire training to any entity, as specified,
for purposes of serving the needs of small businesses.
This bill would specify that the panel may also delegate its
authority, as provided, to approve those types of contracts for
purposes of servicing the needs of microenterprises.
Existing law requires the panel, among other things, to establish
a 3-year plan, as specified, to maintain a system for purposes of
monitoring economic and other data as required by the 3-year plan,
and to solicit proposals and write contracts, on the basis of those
proposals, with various organizations.
This bill would additionally require the panel to include in its
3-year plan the goals, operational objectives, and strategies to meet
the needs of entrepreneurs and microenterprise businesses, as
defined. This bill would also allow the panel to contract, for
purposes of providing employment training, with a nonprofit or public
agency, among other organizations, that provides small business or
microenterprise entrepreneurs with small business or self-employment
training, technical assistance, and access to small business or
microloans to specified individuals.
Existing law requires the panel to allocate a specified percentage
of annual training funds for the purpose of funding special
employment training projects to improve the skills of frontline
workers, as defined.
This bill would also authorize the panel to allocate those funds
to special employment training projects to improve the skills and
employment security of entrepreneurs, as specified. By authorizing
the panel to allocate those training funds for a new purpose, this
bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law sets forth the duties of the Business, Transportation
and Housing Agency in promoting economic development in the state
generally.
Existing law encourages various local agencies to access or
promote partnerships that invest in microenterprise development, as
defined, or include microenterprise development as part of their
economic development strategy.
This bill would require the Business, Transportation and Housing
Agency to administer a program providing grants on a competitive
basis to a qualifying microenterprise development provider or
providers, as defined, for capacity building projects, as defined,
and to the extent funds are appropriated for that purpose by the
Legislature. It would require the agency, subject to the availability
of funds for that purpose, to contract with a nonprofit intermediary
for the administration of the grant program and the provision of
certain services relating to the grant program. It would also make a
technical, conforming change.
This bill would appropriate $500,000 from the General Fund to the
agency for these purposes, to be allocated according to a specified
schedule and available for these purposes until December 31, 2010.
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 10200 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:
10200. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) California's economy is being challenged by competition from
other states and overseas. In order to meet this challenge,
California's employers, workers, labor organizations, and government
need to invest in a skilled and productive workforce, and in
developing the skills of frontline workers and entrepreneurs
. For purposes of this section, "frontline worker" means a
worker who directly produces or delivers goods or services , and
"entrepreneur" means an individual or a microenterprise, defined in
Section 18000 of the Business and Professions Code, organized as a
sole proprietorship, that produces goods or provides
services .
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a strategically
designed employment training program to promote a healthy ,
diverse labor market in a growing, competitive economy that
shall fund only projects that meet the following criteria:
(1) Foster creation of high-wage, high-skilled jobs, or foster
retention of high-wage, high-skilled jobs in manufacturing and other
industries that are threatened by out-of-state and global
competition, including, but not limited to, those industries in which
targeted training resources for California's small and medium-sized
business suppliers will increase the state's competitiveness to
secure federal, private sector, and other nonstate funds. In
addition, provide for retraining contracts in companies that make a
monetary or in-kind contribution to the funded training enhancements.
(2) Encourage industry-based investment in human resources
development that promotes the competitiveness of California industry
through productivity and product quality enhancements.
(3) Result in secure jobs or stable business income for
those who successfully complete training. All training shall be
customized to the specific requirements of one or more employers or a
discrete industry and shall include general skills that trainees can
use in the future as employees or small business owners .
(4) Supplement, rather than displace, funds available through
existing programs conducted by employers and government-funded
training programs, such as the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29
U.S.C. Sec. 2801 et seq.), the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education
Act (P.L. 98-524), CalWORKs (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code),
the Enterprise Zone Act (Chapter 12.8 (commencing with Section 7070)
of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code), and the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et
seq.), the California Community Colleges Economic Development
Program, or apportionment funds allocated to the community colleges,
regional occupational centers and programs, or other local
educational agencies. In addition, it is further the intention of the
Legislature that programs developed pursuant to this chapter shall
not replace, parallel, supplant, compete with, or duplicate in any
way already existing approved apprenticeship programs.
(b) The Employment Training Panel, in funding projects that meet
the requirements of subdivision (a), shall give funding priority to
those projects that best meet the following goals:
(1) Result in the growth of the California economy by stimulating
exports from the state and the production of goods and services that
would otherwise be imported from outside the state.
(2) Train new employees of firms locating or expanding in the
state that provide high-skilled, high-wage jobs and are committed to
an ongoing investment in the training of frontline workers.
(3) Develop workers with skills that prepare them for the
challenges of a high performance workplace of the future.
(4) Train workers who have been displaced, have received
notification of impending layoff, or are subject to displacement,
because of a plant closure, workforce reduction, changes in
technology, or significantly increasing levels of international and
out-of-state competition.
(5) Are jointly developed by business management and worker
representatives.
(6) Develop career ladders for workers , including
independent business owners .
(7) Promote the retention and expansion of the state's
manufacturing workforce.
(8) Promote small business and microenterprise creation and
development to help individuals and families earn the income needed
to be economically self-sufficient.
(c) The program established through this chapter is to be
coordinated with all existing employment training programs and
economic development programs, including, but not limited to,
programs such as the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Sec.
2801 et seq.), the California Community Colleges, the regional
occupational programs, vocational education programs, joint
labor-management training programs, and related programs under the
Employment Development Department and the Business, Transportation
and Housing Agency.
SEC. 2. Section 10202 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:
10202. (a) The Employment Training Panel is established in the
Employment Development Department.
(b) The executive director shall be appointed by the Governor, and
shall be well qualified for the position with experience in
government. The executive director may perform all duties, exercise
all powers, discharge all responsibilities, and administer and
enforce all laws, rules, and regulations under the jurisdiction of
the panel, with the approval of the panel. The executive director
shall administer this chapter, with the approval of the panel, in the
manner he or she deems necessary to conduct the work of the panel
properly. With the approval of the panel, the executive director may
create divisions and subdivisions as necessary, and change and
abolish these divisions and subdivisions from time to time.
(c) The panel may employ personnel necessary to carry out the
purposes of this chapter. All personnel shall be appointed pursuant
to the State Civil Service Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section
18000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code), except for
an executive director, and two assistant directors, who shall be
exempt from state civil service.
(d) All personnel of the panel shall be appointed, directed, and
controlled only by the panel or its authorized deputies or agents to
whom it may delegate its powers.
(e) The Governor shall appoint two assistant directors, to serve
at the pleasure of the Governor. The assistant directors shall have
the duties as assigned by the executive director, and shall be
responsible to the executive director for the performance of their
duties.
(f) One assistant director shall have experience in serving the
needs of small businesses, and shall, under the supervision of the
executive director, manage the panel's efforts to ensure that
employment training services are available to small businesses
and entrepreneurs .
SEC. 3. Section 10203 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:
10203. The panel may meet as necessary at locations throughout
the state. The panel shall maintain a minimum of three regional
offices. The central office shall be located in Sacramento. Two
regional offices shall be located in the southern part of the state,
and one regional office shall be located in the northern part of the
state.
The executive director will assign one person, with experience in
meeting the needs of small businesses and microenterprises, as
defined in Section 18000 of the Business and Professions Code ,
to each of the regional offices for the purpose of developing
training projects for small businesses and microenterprises
and expediting the processing of training proposals from small
businesses and microenterprise development organizations .
SEC. 4. Section 10204 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:
10204. (a) The panel shall coordinate its programs with local and
state partners of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998. This
coordination shall include, but not be limited to, the adoption of a
plan, including regular sharing of data, for the coordination of
training authorized pursuant to this chapter with programs
administered under Division 8 (commencing with Section 15000).
(b) For purposes of serving the needs of small businesses and
microenterprises, as defined in Section 18000 of the Business and
Professions Code , the panel may delegate its authority to
approve contracts for new hire training to any entity defined in
paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 10205, provided
the following conditions are met:
(1) The panel determines that an entity to which it is delegating
this authority meets the same standards as required of training
agencies in Section 10210.
(2) The panel delegates its authority pursuant to this section by
a contract with the entity which limits the total amount of
Employment Training Fund funds which are available to the entity,
specifies a time limit within which those funds shall either be
allocated or returned to the panel, specifies the reasonable
administrative costs to be allowed in administering the contract, and
provides that no subcontract approved by the entity shall exceed
fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per project without prior approval
by the panel.
(3) The subcontracts with employers and training agencies approved
by the private industry council entity shall be for new hire
training only and shall meet all the requirements of this chapter and
the policies established by the panel.
SEC. 5. Section 10205 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:
10205. The panel shall do all of the following:
(a) Establish a three-year plan that shall be updated annually,
based on the demand of employers for trained workers, changes in the
state's economy and labor markets, and continuous reviews of the
effectiveness of panel training contracts. The initial three-year
plan shall be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature not later
than January 1, 1994. The initial update of the plan shall be
submitted not later than July 1, 1994, and annual updates of the plan
thereafter shall be submitted not later than July 1 of each year. In
carrying out this section, the panel shall review information in the
following areas:
(1) Labor market information, including the state-local labor
market information program in the Employment Development Department,
and economic forecasts.
(2) Evaluations of the effectiveness of training as measured by
increased security of employment for workers and benefits to the
California economy.
(3) The demand for training by industry, type of training, and
size of employer.
(4) Changes in skills necessary to perform jobs, including changes
in basic literacy skills.
(5) Changes in the demographics of the labor force and the
population entering the labor market.
(6) Proposed expenditures by other agencies of federal Workforce
Investment Act funds and other state and federal training and
vocational education funds on eligible participants.
(b) Maintain a system to continuously monitor economic and other
data required under this plan. If this data changes significantly
during the life of the plan, the plan shall be amended by the panel.
Each plan shall include all of the following:
(1) The panel's objectives with respect to the criteria and
priorities specified in Section 10200 and the distribution of funds
between new-hire training and retraining.
(2) The identification of specific industries, production and
quality control techniques, and regions of the state where employment
training funds would most benefit the state's economy and plans to
encourage training in these areas, including specific standards and a
system for expedited review of proposals that meet the standards.
(3) A system for expedited review of proposals that are
substantially similar with respect to employer needs, training
curriculum, duration of training, and costs of training, in order to
encourage the development of proposals that meet the needs identified
in paragraph (2).
(4) The panel's goals, operational objectives, and strategies to
meet the needs of small businesses, including, but not limited to,
those small businesses with 100 or fewer employees. These strategies
proposed by the panel may include, but not be limited to, pilot
demonstration projects designed to identify potential barriers that
small businesses may experience in accessing panel programs and
workforce training resources, including barriers that may exist
within small businesses , such as, for example, management
training and access to capital .
(5) The panel's goals, operational objectives, and strategies to
meet the needs of entrepreneurs and microenterprises, as defined in
Section 18000 of the Business and Professions Code.
(5)
(6) The research objectives of the panel that
contribute to the effectiveness of this chapter in benefiting the
economy of the state as a whole.
(6)
(7) A priority list of skills that are in such short
supply that employers are choosing to not locate or expand their
businesses in the state or are importing labor in response to these
skills shortages.
(c) Solicit proposals and write contracts on the basis of
proposals made directly to it. Contracts for the purpose of providing
employment training may be written with any of the following:
(1) An employer or group of employers.
(2) A training agency.
(3) A local workforce investment board with the approval of the
appropriate local elected officials in the local workforce investment
area.
(4) A grant recipient or administrative entity selected pursuant
to the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, with the approval of
the local workforce investment board and the appropriate local
elected officials.
(5) A nonprofit or public agency that provides small business or
microenterprise entrepreneurs with small business or self-employment
training, technical assistance, and access to small business or
microloans to individuals seeking to become self-employed or to
expand their existing small business.
These contracts shall be in the form of fixed-fee performance
contracts. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
contracts entered into pursuant to this chapter shall not be subject
to competitive bidding procedures. Contracts for training may be
written for a period not to exceed 24 months for the purpose of
administration by the panel and the contracting employer or any group
of employers acting jointly or any training agency for the purpose
of providing employment training.
(d) Fund training projects that best meet the priorities
identified annually. In doing so, the panel shall seek to facilitate
the employment of the maximum number of eligible participants.
(e) Establish minimum standards for the consideration of
proposals, which shall include, but not be limited to, the
identification of employers who have been contacted by the contractor
and who have provided reasonable assurance that they will employ
successful trainees, the number of jobs available, the skill
requirements for the identified jobs, the projected cost per person
trained, hired, and retained in employment, the wages paid successful
trainees upon placement, and the curriculum for the training. No
proposal shall be considered or approved that proposes training for
employment covered by a collective bargaining agreement unless the
signatory labor organization agrees in writing.
(f) Develop a process by which local workforce investment boards
may apply for marketing resources for the purpose of identifying
local employers that have training needs that reflect the priorities
of the panel. The panel may delegate its authority to approve
contracts for training to local workforce investment boards, provided
that no contract approved exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)
per project without prior approval of the panel and all contracts
meet the provisions of this chapter and are consistent with the
annual priorities identified by the panel.
(g) Ensure the provision of adequate fiscal and accounting
controls for, monitoring and auditing of, and other appropriate
technical and administrative assistance to, projects funded by this
chapter.
(h) Provide for evaluation of projects funded by this chapter. The
evaluations shall assess the effectiveness of training previously
funded by the panel to improve job security and stability for
workers, and benefit participating employers and the state's economy,
and shall compare the wages of trainees in the 12-month period prior
to training as well as the 12-month period subsequent to completion
of training, as reflected in the department's unemployment insurance
tax records. Individual project evaluations shall contain a summary
description of the project, the number of persons entering training,
the number of persons completing training, the number of persons
employed at the end of the project, the number of persons still
employed three months after the end of the project, the wages paid,
the total costs of the project, and the total reimbursement received
from the Employment Training Fund.
(i) Report annually to the Legislature, by November 30, on
projects operating during the previous state fiscal year. These
annual reports shall provide separate summaries of all of the
following:
(1) Projects completed during the year, including their individual
and aggregate performance and cost.
(2) Projects not completed during the year, briefly describing
each project and identifying approved contract amounts by contract
and for this category as a whole, and identifying any projects in
which funds are expected to be disencumbered.
(3) Projects terminated prior to completion and the reasons for
the termination.
(4) A description of the amount, type, and effectiveness of
literacy training funded by the panel.
(5) Results of complete project evaluations.
(6) A description of pilot projects, and the strategies that were
identified through these projects, to increase access by small
businesses to panel training contracts.
(7) A listing of training projects that were funded in high
unemployment areas and a detailed description of the policies and
procedures that were used to designate geographic regions and
municipalities as high unemployment areas.
In addition, based upon its experience in administering job
training projects, the panel shall include in these reports policy
recommendations concerning the impact of job training and the panel's
program on economic development, labor-management relations,
employment security, and other related issues.
(j) Conduct ongoing reviews of panel policies with the goal of
developing an improved process for developing, funding, and
implementing panel contracts as described in this chapter.
(k) Expedite the processing of contracts for firms considering
locating or expanding businesses in the state, in accordance with the
priorities for employment training programs set forth in subdivision
(b) of Section 10200.
(l) Coordinate and consult regularly with business groups and
labor organizations, the California Workforce Investment Board, the
State Department of Education, the office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges, and the Employment Development
Department.
(m) Adopt by regulation procedures for the conduct of panel
business, including the scheduling and conduct of meetings, the
review of proposals, the disclosure of contacts between panel members
and parties at interest concerning particular proposals, contracts
or cases before the panel or its staff, the awarding of contracts,
the administration of contracts, and the payment of amounts due to
contractors. All decisions by the panel shall be made by resolution
of the panel and any adverse decision shall include a statement of
the reason for the decision.
(n) Adopt regulations and procedures providing reasonable
confidentiality for the proprietary information of employers seeking
training funds from the panel if the public disclosure of that
information would result in an unfair competitive disadvantage to the
employer supplying the information. The panel may not withhold
information from the public regarding its operations, procedures, and
decisions that would otherwise be subject to disclosure under the
California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(o) Review and comment on the budget and performance of any
program, project, or activity funded by the panel utilizing funds
collected pursuant to Section 976.6.
SEC. 6. Section 10214.5 of the
Unemployment Insurance Code is amended to read:
10214.5. (a) The panel may allocate up to 10 percent of the
annually available training funds for the purpose of funding special
employment training projects that improve the skills and employment
security of frontline workers and entrepreneurs , as
defined in subdivision (a) of Section 10200. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this chapter, participants in these projects are
not required to meet the eligibility criteria set forth in paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 10200 or subdivision (c) of Section
10201.
(b) The panel shall, on an annual basis, identify industries and
occupations that shall be priorities for funding under this section.
Training shall be targeted to frontline workers and
entrepreneurs who earn at least the state average weekly wage.
(c) The panel may waive the minimum wage provisions pursuant to
subdivision (f) of Section 10201 for projects in regions of the state
where the unemployment rate is significantly higher than the state
average, and may waive the employment retentions provisions specified
in subdivision (f) of Section 10209 and instead require that the
trainee has been retained in employment for a minimum of 90 days out
of 120 consecutive days after the end of training with no more than
three employers.
(d) (1) The panel may allocate funds pursuant to subdivision (a)
to increase the productivity and extended employment retention of
workers in the state's major seasonal industries.
(2) In funding special employment training projects for this
purpose, the panel may do all of the following:
(A) When the amount of the postretention wages of each trainee who
has completed training exceeds the amount of wages that the trainee
earned before and during training, waive the minimum wage
requirements set forth in subdivision (f) of Section 10201.
(B) Waive the employment retention requirements set forth in
subdivision (f) of Section 10209 and instead require that the trainee
be retained in employment for not less than 500 hours within the
12-month period following the completion of the training.
(C) When the panel finds that the training is necessary to achieve
the objectives of vocational training, waive the limitation on
job-related basic and literacy skills training set forth in
subdivision (a) of Section 10209.
(3) For purposes of this section, "major seasonal industries"
means eligible employers who satisfy all of the following
requirements:
(A) Have a workforce comprised of at least 50 percent of workers
whose employment period is necessarily cyclical, including, but not
limited to, businesses directly involved in the harvesting, packing,
or processing of goods or products.
(B) Have retained at least 50 percent of the same seasonal
employees for at least one season of not less than 500 hours for the
preceding 12-month period.
(C) Pay wages and provide benefits that exceed industry averages.
(e) The panel shall adopt minimum standards for consideration of
proposals to be funded pursuant to this section.
(f) The panel may select contracts funded under this section based
on competitive bidding.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature in providing the authority
for these projects that the panel allocate these funds in a manner
consistent with the objectives of this chapter as provided in Section
10200.
SECTION 1. Part 4 (commencing with Section
18000) of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 2. Chapter 2.7 (commencing with Section
13996.8) is added to Part 4.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code, to read:
CHAPTER 2.7. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
13996.8. For the purposes of this chapter, the following
definitions shall apply:
(a) "Capacity building" means the ability of an organization to
fulfill its mission through a blend of sound management, strong
governance, and a persistent rededication to achieving results.
Examples of capacity building projects for microenterprise
development programs include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Acquisition of computer hardware, software, and technology
skills to better assess and track microentrepreneurial activities,
and evaluate and report microenterprise progress and program
outcomes.
(2) Computer upgrades and software to ensure effective microloan
tracking.
(3) Professional development of trainers and business consultants.
(4) Development of outreach materials to communicate with special
populations.
(5) Development of Web sites to facilitate microentrepreneurial
access to regional business services.
(6) Expansion of staff for program delivery or evaluation, or
both, information management, and fund development.
(b) "Low income" refers to an income at or below 80 percent of the
low- and moderate-income (LMI) category used by the federal
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(c) (1) "Microenterprise" means a sole proprietorship,
partnership, or corporation that meets all of the following
requirements:
(A) Has fewer than five employees, including the owner.
(B) Is part time or full time.
(C) Generally lacks access to conventional loans, equity, or other
banking services.
(2) Microenterprises are distinct from small businesses or
microbusinesses and include, but are not limited to, businesses that
provide child development services, businesses that provide
landscaping services, businesses that provide building maintenance,
businesses that provide personal and business services, businesses
that provide specialty food products, and home-based businesses.
(d) "Microenterprise development provider" means a nonprofit or
public agency that provides self-employment training, technical
assistance, and access to microloans to individuals seeking to become
self-employed or to expand their current business.
13996.85. (a) Every city, county, and city and county is
encouraged to access microenterprise development in order to create
new jobs and income opportunities for individuals of low and moderate
income.
(b) Every city, county, and city and county is encouraged to
include microenterprise development as a part of its economic
development strategy.
(c) California communities and the public agencies that serve
them, such as workforce investment boards, community colleges, and
local economic development agencies, are encouraged to promote local
partnerships that invest in microenterprise development.
13996.9. (a) The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
shall administer, or pursuant to subdivision (d), contract for the
administration of, a program providing one-time grants on a
competitive basis to a microenterprise development provider or
providers qualifying under subdivision (c), for capacity building
projects, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 13996.8.
(b) (1) Each grant provided pursuant to this section shall cover a
two-year period, in an amount totaling a minimum of fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000) for each year, but not to exceed a total of one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for each year.
(2) No less than 40 percent of the funds available for purposes of
this section shall be granted to a qualifying microenterprise
development provider or providers serving rural communities.
(c) In order to qualify for a grant pursuant to this section, a
microenterprise development provider shall meet all of the following
criteria:
(1) It shall be a nonprofit corporation qualifying for tax exempt
status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(2) It shall deliver, or propose to deliver, microenterprise
development services to low- and moderate-income individuals starting
or operating microenterprises in the state. At least 50 percent of
the provider's clients shall be low income.
(3) It shall deliver microenterprise development services such as
entrepreneurial training, technical assistance toward the preparation
of a business plan for operation of a business or supporting the
successful repayment of a business loan, loan packaging,
entrepreneurial support services such as business networks and
mentoring, or microlending.
(4) Its program shall have been in operation for at least two
years and serving a minimum of 100 microentrepreneurs or prospective
microentrepreneurs per year.
(5) It shall demonstrate that its proposal will increase its
organizational capacity to serve at least 20 percent more individuals
per year over the next five years.
(d) (1) Subject to the availability of funds for that purpose, the
agency shall award a competitive contract to a nonprofit
intermediary to administer the grant program and to conduct
microenterprise practitioner training and provide technical
assistance to support the capacity building projects of the grantees
under this section. Training shall include training in the best
practices of microenterprise development, such as entrepreneurial
training and microlending.
(2) The nonprofit intermediary shall collect and analyze data from
grantees and report to the Business, Transportation and Housing
Agency and the Legislature on the results of the program by no later
than January 1, 2010.
(e) Grants shall be provided pursuant to this section to the
extent that funding is appropriated for that purpose by the
Legislature.
SEC. 3. (a) The sum of five hundred thousand
dollars ($500,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to
the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency for the
implementation of Section 13996.9 of the Government Code, as added by
Section 2 of this act, to be allocated as follows:
(1) Four hundred fifty thousand dollars ($450,000) for grants
provided under that section.
(2) Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for a two-year contract with
a nonprofit intermediary pursuant to subdivision (d) of that section.
(b) These funds shall be available for the purposes of this
section until January 1, 2011. Any unencumbered funds remaining as of
January 1, 2011, shall revert to the General Fund on that date.