BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1230| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1230 Author: Gomez (D) Amended: 6/30/15 in Senate Vote: 27 SENATE BUS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 7/6/15 AYES: Hill, Bates, Berryhill, Block, Galgiani, Hernandez, Jackson, Mendoza, Wieckowski SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/27/15 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-1, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: California Americans With Disabilities Small Business Capital Access Loan Program SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill establishes the California Americans With Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program within the California Capital Access Loan Program in order to create a self-sustaining program to provide loans to assist small businesses in financing the costs of projects that alter or retrofit existing small business facilities according to certain criteria, to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. ANALYSIS: Existing law: AB 1230 Page 2 1)Provides, pursuant to federal law, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), that no individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases, or leases to, or operates a place of public accommodation. (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12182.) 2)Provides, under the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Unruh Act), that all persons, regardless of sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability or medical condition, are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever. (Civil Code (Civ) § 51 et seq.) 3)Establishes the California Commission on Disability Access (Commission), an independent state agency composed of 19 members, with general responsibility for monitoring disability access compliance in California, and with authority to make recommendations to the Legislature for necessary changes in order to facilitate implementation of state and federal laws on disability access. Makes it a priority for the Commission to provide educational resources to promote and facilitate disability access compliance. (Government Code § 8299 et seq.) 4)Establishes the California Pollution Control Financing Authority Act (CPCFA Act) with the purpose of providing industry within the state, irrespective of company size, with an alternative method of financing in providing, acquiring, enlarging, or installing facilities for establishing pollution control, providing supplies of clean water, and producing energy from alternative or renewable sources, that are needed to accomplish the purposes of this division; to assist economically distressed counties and cities to develop and implement growth policies and programs that reduce pollution hazards and the degradation of the environment or promote infill development and; to assist with the financing of the costs of assessment, remedial planning and reporting, technical assistance, and the cleanup, remediation, or development of brownfield sites, or other similar or related costs. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) § 44502) AB 1230 Page 3 5)Establishes the Capital Access Loan Program for Small Businesses (CalCAP) which encourages banks and other financial institutions to make loans to small businesses that have difficulty obtaining financing. (HSC §§ 44559 - 44559.12) This bill: 1)States legislative intent to create and fund the California Americans With Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program (Small Business ADA Program) to assist small businesses in complying with the ADA. Specifies that it is not the intent of the Legislature to assist the physical expansion of small businesses that includes modifications that comply with the ADA. Requires the Small Business ADA Program to be administered by the CPCFA and follow the terms and conditions for the CalCAP. 2)Establishes the Small Business ADA Program Fund (Fund) in the State Treasury to be administered by CPCFA and provides a continuous appropriation for carrying out the purposes of this section. 3)Transfers $50 million from the General Fund (GF) to the Small Business ADA Program Fund for the purposes of funding loss reserve accounts and administering Small Business ADA Program. Background CPCFA administers the CalCAP which insures loans made by participating financial institutions to small businesses. CalCAP is a form of loan portfolio insurance which may provide up to 100 percent coverage on certain loan defaults. Each lender is entirely liable for its loan losses; however, those losses can be reimbursed from each lender's loan loss reserve account. The loss reserve accounts are built through contributions made by the borrower, lender, and CPCFA. Historically, CalCAP was funded from small business assistance fees collected from its bond issuance, but the Legislature appropriated $6 million from the GF to the program in 2010. In recent years, CalCAP has grown significantly due to federal funding: CPCFA received $27.8 million in 2011, the same amount again in 2013, and expects a third transfer of the same amount AB 1230 Page 4 in 2015. In 2014, CalCAP recruited 10 new lenders to participate in the various programs, and 43 lenders enrolled loans. CalCAP lenders enrolled 3,491 loans totaling $247 million in 2014, an increase of about eight percent in the number of loans and 20 percent in the amount of money loaned compared with 2013. Multiple legislative efforts have been pursued over the years aimed at encouraging compliance with ADA but also curbing frivolous ADA lawsuits. The author states that more than 40 percent of the nation's ADA cases are filed in California and often, these lawsuits are filed by a handful of attorneys, usually in limited jurisdiction, seeking only statutory penalty damages, as opposed to injunctive or remedial relief centered on securing substantial public value for the disability community. According to the author, this type of predatory litigation arguably weakens the rights of the disabled community by compelling small businesses to spend more money on legal fees and costs than on improving their establishments to improve accessibility. The author states that this bill is not intended to provide loans for small businesses to pay for legal fees or settlements to ADA complaints but rather the goal is to assist the small business with paying for changes to existing facilities in order to be compliant with ADA. The author notes that the $50 million from the GF is designed to serve as seed money for the Small Business ADA Program, which is meant to be self-sustaining. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill will result in a one-time GF appropriation of $50 million and administrative costs to CPCFA of $376,000 from special funds. SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15) State Treasurer John Chiang California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse AB 1230 Page 5 California Small Business Association City of Thousand Oaks Civil Justice Association of California Consumer Attorneys of California Disability Rights California National Federation of Independent Business Orange County Business Council State Farm OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters note that by helping small businesses afford the costs for changes to buildings to comply with the ADA that they may otherwise not be able to, this bill helps reduce the inevitable litigation that can cripple small businesses. Supporters believe that this bill provides a critical source of funding to assist small businesses stay in operation and also provide access to the goods and services they offer to senior and disabled patrons. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-1, 6/2/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NOES: Hadley NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Melendez Prepared by:Sarah Mason / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104 8/30/15 19:27:43 AB 1230 Page 6 **** END ****