15008.
(a) The department shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, establish an educational loan repayment program for first responders serving in disadvantaged communities.(b) The department shall develop guidelines and materials for the implementation of this program. All guidelines and materials shall be posted to the department’s internet website.
(c) The department shall award each applicant who qualifies for educational loan forgiveness an amount that does not exceed reasonable educational loan amounts, as determined by the department, not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(d) Applicants shall be active first responders within the state who have served for a minimum of five years within a disadvantaged community. An applicant shall provide proof of full-time employment when submitting an application to the department for loan forgiveness. In addition, the applicant’s supervisor, manager, or business owner shall attest, under penalty of perjury, that the applicant is in good standing with the respective agency for which they serve.
(e) There is hereby created the Disadvantaged Communities Account for First Responders Fund. The department may accept donations for the purposes of the program established pursuant to this section, and deposit those donations in the fund. Moneys in the fund shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature for the purposes of this section.
(f) The department shall monitor the program for fraud. If the
department determines that an applicant is applying for the program utilizing fraudulent materials, the department may deny the applicant and pursue legal recourse. If the department has awarded loan repayment in error or due to fraudulent materials, the department may pursue legal action to recover the funds and deposit them in the Disadvantaged Communities Account for First Responders Fund.
(g) (1) The department shall report to the Legislature annually, on or before January 1 of each year, the number of awardees who qualified for the funding, the amount of funds in the Disadvantaged Communities Account for First Responders Fund, and estimates on the amount needed to sustain the program, as well as promote its growth. Additionally, the department may provide recommendations for the improvement of the program so long as it furthers the intent of the program.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.
(h) The department shall use no more than 5 percent of funds appropriated for the purposes of this section for the administration of the program.
(i) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Disadvantaged communities” means communities identified as disadvantaged communities pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) “First responder” means a state or local peace officer, paramedic, emergency medical technician, rescue service personnel, emergency manager, or firefighter.