BILL NUMBER: AB 1109 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 2, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 21, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Atkins and Brown )
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Section 50802 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to housing, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1109, as amended, Bonilla. Emergency housing and assistance.
Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development to administer the Emergency Housing and Assistance
Program. Under the program, moneys from the continuously appropriated
Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund are available for the purposes
of providing shelter, as specified, to homeless persons at as low a
cost and as quickly as possible, without compromising the health and
safety of shelter occupants, to encourage the move of homeless
persons from shelters to a self-supporting environment as soon as
possible, to encourage provision of services for as many persons at
risk of homelessness as possible, to encourage compatible and
effective funding of homeless services, and to encourage coordination
among public agencies that fund or provide services to homeless
individuals, as well as agencies that discharge people from their
institutions.
Existing law requires the department to distribute funds
appropriated for activities providing for capital development
programs, including acquisition, leasing, construction, and
rehabilitation of sites for emergency shelter and transitional
housing for homeless persons, as grants in the form of forgivable
deferred loans, as prescribed. Existing law requires the department
to terminate the grant and require the repayment of the deferred loan
in full, if a transfer or conveyance of the project property that
results in the property no longer being used as an emergency shelter
or transitional housing occurs before the term of the loan expires.
This bill would provide that when property is transitioned from an
emergency shelter or transitional housing to permanent affordable
housing, as specified, and serves people who are homeless or at risk
of homelessness, an existing loan may be deferred and forgiven, as if
the property had remained an emergency shelter or transitional
housing. By authorizing the use of continuously appropriated funds
for a new purpose, this bill would make an appropriation.
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 50802 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
50802. (a) The department shall ensure that not less than 20
percent of the moneys in the Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund
shall be allocated to nonurban counties during any given fiscal year.
If the funds designated for facilities operation that are allocated
to nonurban counties are not awarded by the end of that fiscal year,
then those unencumbered funds shall be allocated in the next fiscal
year to urban counties. Funds for capital development that are not
awarded by the end of the second fiscal year shall be awarded in the
subsequent fiscal year to urban counties.
(b) The amount of funds that the department allocates from the
Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund to each region, excluding funds
allocated pursuant to subdivision (a), shall be based upon a formula
that accords at least 20 percent weight to each of the following
factors:
(1) The relative number of persons in the region below the poverty
line according to the most recent federal census, updated, if
possible, with an estimate by the Department of Finance, compared to
the total of the urban counties.
(2) The relative number of persons unemployed within each region,
based on the most recent one-year period for which data is available,
compared to the total of the urban counties.
(c) Grant funds shall be disbursed as expeditiously as possible by
the department.
(d) The department shall use not more than 5 percent of the amount
available for funds pursuant to this chapter to defray the
department's administrative costs pursuant to this chapter.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
department shall distribute funds appropriated for purposes of the
activities specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section
50803 as grants in the form of forgivable deferred loans, subject to
all of the following:
(1) (A) Funding shall be made available to each project as a loan
with a term of five years for rehabilitation, seven years for
substantial rehabilitation, or 10 years for acquisition and
rehabilitation or new construction. Each deferred loan shall be
secured by a deed of trust and promissory note. Repayment of the loan
shall be deferred as long as the project is used as an emergency
shelter or transitional housing. At the completion of the specified
year term, the loan shall be forgiven. If a transfer or conveyance of
the project property, however, occurs prior to that time that
results in the property no longer being used as an emergency shelter
or transitional housing, the department shall terminate the grant and
require the repayment of the deferred loan in full.
(B) If the property is transitioned from an emergency shelter or
transitional housing to permanent affordable housing, including, but
not limited to, permanent supportive housing and rapid
rehousing , and serves people who are homeless or at risk
of homelessness, the loan may also be deferred and forgiven according
to subparagraph (A), as if it had remained an emergency shelter or
transitional housing.
(i) For purposes of this subparagraph, "permanent supportive
housing" has the same meaning as the term "supportive housing," as
defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 50675.14.
(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, "rapid rehousing" means
housing that focuses on moving homeless individuals and families into
appropriate housing as quickly as possible.
(iii)
(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, "people who are
homeless" includes individuals described in Section 11302 of Title
42 of the United States Code, and paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of
Section 11139.3 of the Government Code.
(2) Applications for funding shall be made pursuant to
department-issued statewide "Notices of Funding Availability" without
the need for additional regulations.
(3) The department shall set forth the criteria for evaluating
applications in the "Notices of Funding Availability" and shall make
deferred loans based on those applications that best meet the
criteria.
(4) The department shall specify in the "Notice of Funding
Availability" both maximum and minimum grant amounts that may be
varied for urban and nonurban counties.
(5) Contracts for projects that have not begun construction within
the initial 12-month period shall be terminated and funds
reallocated. The department, however, may extend this period by a
period not to exceed 12 months.