BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1646
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Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1646 (Campos) - As Amended: May 2, 2012
Policy Committee: JEDE Vote:4-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the California Demonstration of Emerging
Market Opportunities Program (CalDEMO) for the purpose of
supporting the testing of innovative products, services and
processes that have been developed by private for-profit and
non-profit entities. Specifically, this bill:
1)Designates the Governor's Office of Business and Economic
Development (GO-Biz) as the administrator of the CalDEMO
Program. Projects are to be selected, after being reviewed by
an investment advisory committee, from applications submitted
by businesses and nonprofit organizations for the use of state
resources, including lands, data and state facilities.
Successful applications are required to be approved by both
GO-Biz and all participating state agencies.
2)Authorizes GO-Biz to charge a fee to process the application that
covers applicable costs.
3)Requires the director of GO-Biz to designate a partnership
coordinator to provide guidance to state agencies on CalDEMO,
track and report on approved demonstration agreements, and
develop guidelines for implementing the program.
4)Provides the CalDEMO Program is inoperative on January 1, 2019.
FISCAL EFFECT
Initial costs for developing the program of approximately
$250,000. Subsequent state costs will depend on the number of
businesses that apply. Given California has 3.5 million
businesses, it is reasonable that hundreds could apply, driving
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administrative costs into the low millions of dollars. Specific
costs for successful applicants could be completely defrayed by
the fee that can be charged applicants.
COMMENTS
1)Author's Purpose : According to the author, "Small business
assistance should be a core function of every state agency's
mission, given that state agencies are required to have small
business liaisons. However, serving small technology
businesses requires a different set of tools that this bill
will make available. The CalDEMO Act will directly aid small
businesses in emerging technology fields by allowing the state
to become a partner in the public demonstration of their
innovations."
2)Case Study. In June 2008, the City of San Jose adopted a
framework for engaging in and evaluating public/private
technology partnerships for the purpose of testing and
demonstrating innovative products, services and processes.
San Jose has selected and implemented five projects.
3)Previous legislation . AB 29 (John A. P�rez) Chapter 475,
Statutes of 2011 establishes GO-Biz within the Governor's
Office for the purpose of serving as the lead entity for
economic strategy and marketing of California on issues
relating to business development, private sector investment
and economic growth.
4)Reorganization. The governor submitted a reorganization plan
to the Little Hoover Commission, which includes transferring
economic development programs from the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency to GO-Biz. The Little
Hoover Commission is in the process of reviewing the plan
before it submits its recommendation to the Legislature.
5)There is no registered opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
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