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

February 27, 2015

An act to add begin delete Part 7.1 (commencing with Section 15427) to Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to state government, end delete begin insert Section 44559.13 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to small business, end insert and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1230, as amended, Gomez. begin delete California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Compliance Financing Act. end delete begin insert California Americans With Disabilities Small Business Capital Access Loan Program. end insert

Existing law provides various programs to expand access to persons with disabilities and promote compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. begin delete Existing law authorizes a specified authority to make loans, funded by bonds issuances, to health facilities to assist those participating health facilities lower the costs of financing certain kinds of projects in order to pass along those savings to the public paying for healthcare at those facilities. end delete

begin insert

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.

end insert

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

This bill would begin delete establish in state government the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Compliance Financing Authority, composed of seven specified members. This bill would require the Treasurer, as chair of the authority, to appoint an executive director who serves at the pleasure of the authority. This bill would require the authority to comply with existing open meeting and public record disclosure laws, end delete begin insert authorize the authority to administer the program, including adopting regulations, and controlling funds appropriated for the program, end insert as specified.

This bill would establish the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Compliance Financing Authority Fund, as a continuously appropriated fund, and require the authority to use the fund for all its purposes. This bill would also transfer $50,000,000 from the General Fund to the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Compliance Financing Authority 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:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

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

begin insert

begin insert 44559.13. end insert   

(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, renovations
and improvements, the price of engineering, financial 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 loan as defined
in subdivision (j) of Section 44559.1, where the proceeds of the
loan or portion of loan are limited to the eligible costs for an
eligible project under this program, and where the loan or portion
of 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) Fewer than 15 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) 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
moneys in the fund derived from any source shall be held in trust
for the life of this program.

(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, which ever
happens first, to be deposited in the fund and applied to future
expenditures for contributions and administrative costs.

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begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert The sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) 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. end insert

All matter omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as introduced|amended in the Assembly, May 28, 2015. (JR11)