Bill Text: CA AB1807 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1807 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: California Small Business Development Technical Assistance Expansion Act of 2018.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Failed) 2020-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1807 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1807-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 29, 2019

Amended IN Assembly April 10, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1807

Introduced by Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy (Assembly Members Cervantes (Chair), Cunningham (Vice Chair), Chau, Chen, Ramos, Luz Rivas, and Smith)

February 28, 2019

An act to amend Sections 12100.62, 12100.63, and 12100.67 of, and to add Section 12100.68 to, the Government Code, relating to economic development.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1807, as amended, Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy. California Small Business Development Technical Assistance Expansion Act of 2018.

Existing law, the Economic Revitalization Act, establishes the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as GO-Biz, under the control of a director. Existing law, the California Small Business Development Technical Assistance Expansion Act of 2018, until January 1, 2024, creates the California Small Business Development Technical Assistance Expansion Program within GO-Biz, under the director, for the purpose of assisting small businesses through free or low-cost one-on-one consulting and low-cost training by entering into grant agreements with one or more federal small business technical assistance centers, as defined.

Existing law requires GO-Biz to issue a request for proposals for grants under the program, and authorizes the office to include specified information in that request for proposals, including funding instruments and operational capacity.

This bill would instead require GO-Biz to include specified information when issuing a request for proposals, and would require the office to include a description of the types of funding instruments and operational capacity requirements. The bill would require GO-Biz, at least 30 days prior to the close of the application period, to post the process that would be used to reduce individual awards if the total amount of qualified awards exceeds the total amount of funds available, unless this information is already available in the request for proposals.

The bill would require GO-Biz to post a list of grant awards under the program on its internet website providing specified information, and to add each award to that list within 5 days of making the award.

Existing law requires GO-Biz, upon approval of an award to a federal small business technical assistance center, to issue a notice of an award that includes prescribed information.

This bill would additionally require that the notice of an award include the number of businesses and hours of counseling and training related to exporting.

Existing law requires GO-Biz to prioritize funding for applications that best meet certain factors and give preference to applications that propose new or enhanced services to underserved business groups, including women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses, and businesses in low-wealth, rural, and disaster-impacted communities included in a state or federal emergency declaration or proclamation.

This bill would instead require GO-Biz to award funding for applications that best meet the certain factors and give priority to applications that propose new or enhanced services to those underserved business groups. The bill would authorize applications that propose and are awarded funds to serve priority underserved business groups to receive prescribed reimbursement for mileage as part of the grant award.

This bill would make other nonsubstantive changes to the program.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 12100.62 of the Government Code is amended to read:

12100.62.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern the construction of this article:

(a) “California Small Business Development Center Program” is comprised of the five regional networks of small business development centers operating in the state pursuant to a cooperative agreement between the fiscal agent and the federal Small Business Administration.

(b) “Committed nonstate local cash match” means funding awarded by a nonstate local source to a federal small business technical assistance center through a letter of intent, notice of award, or cash deposit.

(d) “Federal small business technical assistance center” means an organization that contracts with a federal funding partner to operate a small business development center, a women’s business center, a veterans business outreach center, a manufacturing extension partnership center, a minority business development center, a procurement technical assistance center, or a similar center or program within this state to support small businesses.

(e) “Federal funding partner” means the federal Small Business Administration, federal Department of Commerce, federal Department of Defense, or any other federal agency with the authority to administer a small business technical assistance program in this state.

(f) “Fiscal agent” means the entity with which a federal funding partner contracts to administer small business technical assistance programs within a state or district. The fiscal agent shall be directly accountable to the federal funding partner for all aspects of the specified small business technical assistance program, including staffing, programming, outreach, securing any required matching funds to draw down federal funds, and reporting performance outcomes to operate the program in the fiscal agent’s area of responsibility.

(g) “GO-Biz” or “office” means the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.

(h) “Local cash match” means nonfederal funds that are spent on eligible program costs.

(i) “Manufacturing extension partnership center” means a California contractor recognized by the federal National Institute of Standards and Technology pursuant to the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-418), at which small manufacturers can obtain information and assistance on new technology acceleration, supply chain management, lean processing, export development, sustainable manufacturing practices, and other issues related to innovation.

(j) “Minority business development center” means an entity or physical location, recognized by the federal Department of Commerce, from which a minority-owned small business may receive consulting and technical services to expand to new markets, both foreign and domestic.

(k) “Minority business export center” means an entity or physical location, recognized by the federal Department of Commerce, from which a minority-owned small business may receive consulting and technical services to increase access to capital, contracts, and foreign markets.

(l) “Procurement act” means Chapter 142 (commencing with Section 2411) of Part IV of Subtitle A of Title 10 of the United States Code, which governs the Procurement Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement program, administered by the federal Department of Defense.

(m) “Procurement technical assistance center” means an entity or physical location, recognized by the federal Department of Defense, from which a small business owner may receive free training on a variety of topics, including starting, operating, and expanding a small business.

(n) “Program” means the California Small Business Development Technical Assistance Expansion Program created pursuant to Section 12100.63 and administered in accordance with this article.

(o) “Small business act” means the Small Business Development Center Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-302), and any amendments to that act, which authorizes the Small Business Development Center Program, administered by the federal Small Business Administration.

(p) “Small business development center” means to an entity or physical location, recognized by the federal Small Business Administration, from which a small business owner or an aspiring entrepreneur may receive free one-on-one consulting and lodiv>

SEC. 2.

Section 12100.63 of the Government Code is amended to read:

12100.63.

(a) The California Small Business Technical Assistance Expansion Program is hereby created within the office.

(b) The program shall be under the direct authority of the director.

(c) The purpose of the program is to assist small businesses through free or low-cost one-on-one consulting and low-cost training by entering into grant agreements with one or more federal small business technical assistance centers.

(d) In implementing the program, the office shall consult with local, regional, federal, and other state public and private entities that share a similar mission to support the needs of small businesses in California.

(e) An applicant pursuant to this article shall be a federal small business technical assistance center operating as a group, including a regional or statewide network, or as an individual center.

(1) A federal small business technical assistance center operating as a group consisting of centers organized under a coordinating administrative or fiscal entity shall apply by submitting a single consolidated application to the office.

(2) A federal small business technical assistance center operating as an individual center shall apply by submitting a single application for that center to the office.

(f) The office shall administer the program to provide grants to expand the capacity of small business development technical assistance programs in California, administered by and primarily funded by federal agencies, that provide one-on-one confidential consulting and training to small businesses and entrepreneurs in this state. An applicant shall be eligible to participate in the program if the office determines that the applicant meets all of the following criteria:

(1) At the time of applying for funds, the applicant has an active contract with a federal funding partner to administer a program in this state, or has received a letter of intent from a federal funding partner to administer a federal small business technical assistance center program in this state within the next fiscal year.

(2) (A) The applicant provided a plan of action and commitment to fully draw down all of the federal funds available using local cash match and state funds not described in Section 12100.65 during the duration of the award period. GO-Biz may request that the applicant provide details relating to the source and amount of these nonstate local match funds.

(B) If the applicant is a new federal small business technical assistance center, the applicant has demonstrated the ability to fully draw down substantially all federal funds available to it.

(3) The requested funding amount does not exceed the total federal award specified in the contract with the federal funding partner contract, but in any event is no less than twenty five thousand dollars ($25,000).

(4) The applicant seeks funding for one or more years, but no more than five years in duration.

(5) The grant agreements authorized by this article are not subject to the model contract provisions developed pursuant to Chapter 14.27 (commencing with Section 67325) of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code.

(6) The applicant has a fiscal agent that is able to receive nonfederal funds.

(g) The office shall issue a request for proposal for grants under the program, which shall, at a minimum, contain the following information:

(1) The eligibility requirements described in subdivision (e).

(2) The available funding range.

(3) Description of the types of funding instruments available.

(4) The local cash match requirement described in subdivision (f).

(5) Operational capacity requirements.

(6) The duration of the program.

(7) The start date of the program.

(8) Narrative requirements.

(9) Reporting requirements.

(10) Required attachments.

(11) Submission requirements.

(12) Application evaluation criteria.

(13) An announcement of an awards timeline.

(14) The process that will be used to reduce individual awards if the total amount of qualified awards exceeds the total amount of funds available, unless this information is otherwise provided pursuant to subdivision (i).

(h) (1) The office shall evaluate applications received based on the following factors:

(A) The proposed use of the requested funding, including the specificity, measurability, and ability of the applicant to document and achieve the goals and objectives identified in its application.

(B) The proposed management strategy of the applicant to achieve its goals and objectives identified in its application.

(C) The applicant’s ability to complement and leverage the work of other local, state, federal, nonprofit, or private business technical assistance resource providers.

(D) The applicant’s historical performance with federal funding partner contracts and the strength of its fiscal controls.

(2) The office shall award funding for applications that best meet the factors listed in paragraph (1) and give priority to applications that propose new or enhanced services to underserved business groups, including women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses, and businesses in low-wealth, rural, and disaster-impacted communities included in a state or federal emergency declaration or proclamation.

(i) At least 30 days before the close of the application period, the office shall post on its internet website the process that will be used to reduce individual awards if the total amount of qualified awards exceeds the total amount of funds available. The office may, in lieu of posting this information on its internet website, include this information in the request for proposal pursuant to subdivision (g).

(j) (1) The office shall post a list of grant awards on its internet website that includes, at a minimum, the following information:
(A) The name of the organization receiving the award.
(B) The service area covered by the award.
(C) The amount of the award.
(2) A grant award shall be added to the list within five business days of making the award.
~~(j)~~

(k) State funds provided pursuant to the program shall be used to expand consulting and training services through existing and new centers, including satellite offices. State funds provided pursuant to the program shall not supplant nonstate local cash match dollars included in a federal small business technical assistance center’s plan described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f).

SEC. 3.

Section 12100.67 of the Government Code is amended to read:

12100.67.

(a) Upon approval of an award to a federal small business technical assistance center pursuant to this article, the office shall issue to a notice of an award that includes all of the following:

(1) The amount of the award.

(2) A requirement that the federal small business technical assistance center periodically provide a performance report that includes all of the following information:

(A) The number of businesses consulted and trained.

(B) The amount of funds awarded.

(C) The size of businesses assisted based on the number of employees at the time those businesses were assisted, as reported by those assisted businesses, categorized based on the size of the assisted businesses, as determined by the office.

(D) The city and county in which any assisted businesses are located.

(E) Industry sectors of the businesses assisted, as reported by those businesses.

(F) The number of businesses and hours of counseling and training related to ~~exporting.~~ exporting, if applicable.

(G) A narrative description of how the funds awarded were used to expand services to underserved business groups, including women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses, and to help businesses and entrepreneurs to start, expand, facilitate investment, and create jobs in California, including in rural communities, low-wealth communities, and disaster-impacted areas included in a state or federal emergency declaration or proclamation.

(3) A requirement that the federal small business technical assistance center periodically provide a financial report that includes all of the following information:

(A) The name of any business consultant employed.

(B) The hourly rates of any business consultant employed.

(D) Costs for client trainings.

(E) Costs for administration.

(F) Costs for marketing.

(G) The duration of the assistance provided by the federal small business technical assistance center.

(H) The start date of the assistance provided by the federal small business technical assistance center.

(b) Each federal small business technical assistance center shall accept the reporting requirement in this section as a condition of receiving the grant.

(c) No more than 60 days following the completion of an agreement term pursuant to this article, a federal small business technical assistance center shall provide a final written performance and financial report to the office consistent with the requirements of this section.

(d) The director shall include the outcome of the program’s activities within the annual report of the Office of the Small Business Advocate required by Section 12098.4.

SEC. 4.

Section 12100.68 is added to the Government Code, to read:

12100.68.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the program funds enhance the small business financial and technical assistance network in California.

(b) Applications that propose and are awarded funds to serve priority underserved business groups may receive, as part of the grant award, reimbursement for mileage, at the standard state mileage reimbursement rate, for counseling hours held with a priority business at a location greater than 20 miles from the center.

(c) As used in this section, “priority underserved business groups” has the same meaning as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 12100.63.