Bill Text: CA AB1109 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Emergency housing and assistance.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 495, Statutes of 2013. [AB1109 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB1109-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1109	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 2, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 21, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonilla
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins and Brown)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to amend Section 50802 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to housing, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1109, as amended, Bonilla. Emergency housing and assistance.
   Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development to administer the Emergency Housing and Assistance
Program. Under the program, moneys from the continuously appropriated
Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund are available for the purposes
of providing shelter, as specified, to homeless persons at as low a
cost and as quickly as possible, without compromising the health and
safety of shelter occupants, to encourage the move of homeless
persons from shelters to a self-supporting environment as soon as
possible, to encourage provision of services for as many persons at
risk of homelessness as possible, to encourage compatible and
effective funding of homeless services, and to encourage coordination
among public agencies that fund or provide services to homeless
individuals, as well as agencies that discharge people from their
institutions.
   Existing law requires the department to distribute funds
appropriated for activities providing for capital development
programs, including acquisition, leasing, construction, and
rehabilitation of sites for emergency shelter and transitional
housing for homeless persons, as grants in the form of forgivable
deferred loans, as prescribed. Existing law requires the department
to terminate the grant and require the repayment of the deferred loan
in full, if a transfer or conveyance of the project property that
results in the property no longer being used as an emergency shelter
or transitional housing occurs before the term of the loan expires.
   This bill would provide that when property is transitioned from an
emergency shelter or transitional housing to permanent 
affordable housing, as specified,   supportive housing
 and serves people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness,
an existing loan may be deferred and forgiven, as if the property had
remained an emergency shelter or transitional housing.  Prior to
a transition, the bill would require a project to obtain department
approval to transition and would require the department to consider
specified factors in determining whether to approve a transition. The
bill would require a project transitioned to permanent supportive
housing to have a loan term of 20 years. The bill would require the
department to terminate the loan and would require repayment of the
deferred loan in full if the project property is no longer used as
permanent supportive housing for people who are homeless or at risk
of homelessness.  By authorizing the use of continuously
appropriated funds for a new purpose, this bill would make an
appropriation.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
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 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 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 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) (A) 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.
   (B) If the property is transitioned from an emergency shelter or
transitional housing to  permanent affordable housing,
including, but not limited to, permanent supportive housing,
and serves people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, the
loan may also be deferred and forgiven according to subparagraph (A),
as if it had remained an emergency shelter or transitional housing.
 Prior to a transition, a project shall obtain department
approval to transition to permanent supportive housing to ensure that
the pro   posed transition is consistent with this
subdivision. In considering whether to approve a transition, the
department shall evaluate the following factors: the compatibility of
the permanent supportive housing with the surrounding land uses, the
suitability of the building for use as permanent supportive housing,
and project financial feasibility. A project transitioned to
permanent supportive housing pursuant to this subdivision shall have
a loan term of 20 years from the beginning of its approved use as
permanent supportive housing for people who are homeless or at risk
of homelessness. If a transitioned project property is no longer
being   used as permanent supportive housing for people who
are homeless or at risk of homelessness, the department shall
terminate the loan and require repayment of the deferred loan in
full. 
   (i) For purposes of this subparagraph, "permanent supportive
housing" has the same meaning as the term "supportive housing," as
defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 50675.14.
   (ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, "people who are homeless"
 includes   means  individuals described in
Section 11302 of Title 42 of the United States Code, and paragraph
(2) of subdivision (e) of Section 11139.3 of the Government Code.
   (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.