BILL NUMBER: AB 1564 CHAPTERED 10/10/99 CHAPTER 596 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 10, 1999 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 5, 1999 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 26, 1999 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 12, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 1999 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Strom-Martin and Machado (Coauthors: Assembly Members Dickerson, Keeley, and Longville) (Coauthors: Senators Chesbro and Costa) FEBRUARY 26, 1999 An act to add and repeal Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 15399.45) of Part 6.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of, and to repeal Chapter 1.9 (commencing with Section 65055) of Division 1 of Title 7 of, the Government Code, and to amend Sections 50832 and 50834 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to economic development, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1564, Strom-Martin. Economic development: rural assistance: community development block grants. (1) Existing law provides for various programs for the development of economic opportunities in rural areas of the state. This bill would establish the California Rural Policy Task Force within the Office of Planning and Research in the Governor's office, to be composed of specified state officers, or their representatives. It would require the task force to oversee the mobilization and effective delivery of the state's resources to rural California, and to establish committees and hold hearings for these purposes. It would further require the task force to report annually to the Governor and the Legislature on its efforts in implementing these provisions, and to report to the Legislature by July 1, 2000, on the delivery of community development block grant funds. The bill would require each state agency and department represented on the task force to develop by July 1, 2000, a plan that identifies programs and resources that can be targeted for rural areas in respect to the activities of that agency or department. The bill would establish the Rural California Technical Assistance Program in the Trade and Commerce Agency. It would require the program, through 2 regional contracts for $50,000 each with public or private nonprofit organizations, to provide technical assistance to local governments and tribal governments in accessing resources from a broad range of funding sources, and in the preparation of applications and other documents, as may be required, and would set forth the duties of the contractors under the program. The bill would appropriate $125,000 from the General Fund to the agency for this purpose. The bill would repeal the above provisions on January 1, 2003, unless a later enacted statute extends that date. (2) Under existing law, the Department of Housing and Community Development allocates federal community development block grant funds to cities and counties, as prescribed. This bill would authorize jurisdictions to submit multiyear proposals. (3) Existing law required the Director of Planning and Research to adopt by December 31, 1994, a rural economic growth strategy, as specified. This bill would repeal these provisions. Appropriation: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The July 1998 report by the Assembly Committee on Rural Economic Development, entitled "Growing the Economy: Solutions for Rural California," found that the state must improve technical assistance to help local governments access existing resources to address rural issues. (b) The report also found that the state must develop a highly visible, easily accessible clearinghouse to disseminate critically needed program information. (c) A subcommittee of the state's Community Development Block Grant Program Working Group identified the need for technical assistance and additional resources to coordinate the myriad of state, local, and federal programs directed to rural California, and the need to investigate alternative service delivery systems for existing state funding programs and services. SEC. 2. Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 15399.45) is added to Part 6.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read: CHAPTER 11. RURAL ASSISTANCE Article 1. California Rural Policy Task Force 15399.45. (a) The California Rural Policy Task Force is hereby established within the Office of Planning and Research in the Governor's office, to be composed of the following state officers, or their representatives: (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Services. (2) The Secretary of Resources. (3) The Secretary of Trade and Commerce. (4) The Director of Housing and Community Development. (5) The Director of Transportation. (6) The Director of Food and Agriculture. (7) The Lieutenant Governor. (b) The agencies and departments represented on the task force shall provide, from existing resources, staff for the work of the task force as necessary. (c) The task force shall oversee the mobilization and effective delivery of the state's resources to rural California. The task force shall establish both ad hoc and standing advisory committees, which shall include representatives of cities and counties representing a range of rural populations from various geographic regions of the state, and shall hold public hearings in rural areas in various geographic regions for these purposes. (d) The task force shall work with the Department of Housing and Community Development to study the process for disbursing community development block grant funds. The task force shall include among the issues to be studied the efficiency and effectiveness of the technical assistance programs funded pursuant to Section 50833, including any recommendations on how best to use any surplus technical assistance funds that remain unallocated, and the best mechanism to address any existing unmet needs for technical assistance. The task force and the department shall request input from cities and counties representing a range of rural populations in various geographic regions of the state, and shall provide them with an opportunity to comment on any proposed changes to the method of disbursement of community development block grant funds. Notwithstanding Section 7550.5, by July 1, 2000, the task force shall report to the Legislature on the effective delivery of community development block grant funds, and, as necessary, propose recommendations to ensure the fair and equitable disbursal of those funds to all eligible jurisdictions. (e) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5, the task force shall report annually to the Governor and the Legislature on its efforts in implementing this section. 15399.46. (a) Each agency or department represented on the task force shall develop by July 1, 2000, a plan that identifies programs and resources that can be targeted for rural areas in respect to the activities of that agency or department. (b) Each plan shall do all of the following: (1) Identify the economic and community development problems and opportunities facing communities in the area serviced by the agency or department. (2) Set forth the goals and objectives for taking advantage of the opportunities for solving the economic, social, and community development problems of the area serviced by the agency or department. (3) Identify all agencies and departments with significant program or funding responsibility for rural economic or community development. (4) Develop a plan of action, including identifying local agencies that may assist the agency or department in effectively serving rural areas, to consolidate and coordinate the activities of the programs identified in paragraph (3). (c) The task force shall disseminate preliminary plans for public comment and, to the fullest extent possible, hold public hearings in rural communities and solicit comments from all affected cities and counties, and organizations whose purpose is economic and community development, to assist the agencies and departments in finalizing their plans. Article 2. Rural California Technical Assistance Program 15399.47. (a) The Rural California Technical Assistance Program is hereby established in the Trade and Commerce Agency. The program shall serve two regions, including the North Coast and the northern San Joaquin Valley, as determined by the agency. (b) The program shall contract with public or private nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance to local governments and tribal governments in accessing resources from a broad range of funding sources, including state, federal, and local sources, and including grant and loan funds, and in the preparation of applications and other documents, as may be required. Each contractor shall be selected by the Trade and Commerce Agency following a competitive application process and shall serve a defined region and occupy office space with a local agency, as determined by the contract provisions, and shall be responsible for serving their region, including outlying communities within the region. (c) To the extent feasible, the program shall utilize the expertise available in, and contract with, locally based technical assistance experts from nonprofit or local organizations to build long-term capacity throughout rural California. (d) Each of the two regional contracts under this section shall be for fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). (e) The agency shall establish baseline criteria for evaluating the program, and shall conduct an evaluation of program effectiveness in each of the two project areas and an evaluation of how the program would work in the remaining rural regions of the state. The evaluation shall be completed on January 1, 2002. Article 3. Duration 15399.48. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2003, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2003, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 3. Chapter 1.9 (commencing with Section 65055) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code is repealed. SEC. 4. Section 50832 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 50832. (a) In order to ensure that a city or county may apply for both economic development and general program grants pursuant to this chapter in the same year, each applicant shall have a maximum grant request limitation of eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000) per year, excluding general allocation planning and technical assistance grants and economic development allocation planning and technical assistance grants made available under Section 50833, of which a maximum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per year may be used for either housing or economic development applications. These limitations may be waived for the economic development allocation based upon available economic development funds after September 1 of each year. The department shall aggressively inform eligible cities and counties of the eligibility criteria and requirements under this section and in Section 50833. (b) Except for applications specified in Section 50832.1, applications for all activities or set-asides under this section and Section 50833 shall be evaluated on a first-in, first-served basis. (c) For all economic development applications under this section or Section 50833, including economic development assistance grants, the department shall develop project standards and rating factors which meet the minimum requirements of federal statutes, including a jobs-for-dollars test of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) per job created or retained. In addition to the low- and moderate-income persons or families criteria established in subdivision (b) of Section 50826 and Sections 50827 and 50828, the department shall also utilize as criteria for the economic development allocation the federal standards of "blight" and "urgent need" under this section, Section 50832.1, and Section 50833. (d) A jurisdiction may submit multiyear proposals for a period not exceeding three years in duration. SEC. 5. Section 50834 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 50834. (a) The department shall prepare a separate and discrete training manual and request for proposal for the economic development set-aside. The department shall ensure that it can respond to requests for grants as rapidly as possible. Once an economic development project award is approved by the director, a contract shall be executed and funds made available as soon as possible. (b) Any program income received by a city or county grantee, or any loan repayments made by a beneficiary to a grantee, may be utilized by the city or county grantee for any activity currently eligible under federal law and regulations, provided that the department determines that the beneficiary or grantee has complied reasonably with the terms and conditions described in the contract between the grantee and the department. (c) Any economic development set aside of funds not encumbered for funding of a project by the end of the federal contract period shall revert to the general program and be set aside for use if approved projects for which no funds are available are pending. (d) The department shall conditionally commit economic development allocations to projects that meet the requirements of this chapter up front, contingent upon the applicant receiving those other funding commitments necessary to complete the project. (e) Reports on Community Development Block Grants activity shall be submitted annually by the department to the chairs of the appropriate legislative committees and to the Trade and Commerce Agency. SEC. 6. The sum of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Trade and Commerce Agency for the purposes of Section 15399.47 of the Government Code.