California Assembly Bill AB826 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 826INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Atkins FEBRUARY 17, 2011 An act to amend Section 50802 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to emergency housing. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 826, as introduced, Atkins. Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund. Existing law establishes the Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the Department of Housing and Community Development, to carry out the purposes of the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program. The department is required to ensure that not less than 20% of the moneys in the fund be allocated to nonurban counties and provides for the allocation of funds in the event funds allocated to nonurban counties are not awarded, as prescribed. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions of law. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. 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   make certain  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   subsequent  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   next  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) 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. (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.