Bill Text: CA AB2829 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Certified Access Specialist Inspection Grant Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-19 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2829 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB2829-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 20, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 06, 2022 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2829
| Introduced by Assembly Member Low |
February 18, 2022 |
An act to add and repeal Section 4459.9 of the Government Code, relating to disability access, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2829, as amended, Low.
Certified Access Specialist Inspection Grant Program.
Existing law prohibits discrimination on the basis of various specified personal characteristics, including disability. Existing law establishes standards for making new construction and existing facilities accessible to persons with disabilities and provides for construction-related accessibility claims for violations of those standards.
Existing law requires the State Architect to establish and publicize a program for the voluntary certification by the state of any person who meets specified criteria as a certified access specialist (CASp) to inspect, among other things, businesses for compliance with accessibility building standards. Existing law requires the State Architect to publish and regularly update a list CASps and a list of businesses that have been inspected by a CASp. Existing law requires the State Architect to develop a process
by which a business may notify the State Architect that a structure or area has had a CASp inspection and to develop a form for businesses to notify the public that the business has obtained a CASp inspection.
This bill, until January 1, 2028, would establish the Certified Access Specialist Inspection Grant Program to assist small businesses in obtaining CASp inspections, and would require the State Architect to administer the program. The bill would authorize small businesses, defined to mean a business with fewer than 500 50 employees, as specified, with a physical property in the state, to apply for a grant for a CASp inspection of the small business’s property, in an
amount equal to the actual cost of the inspection, not to exceed $3,000 per inspection. The bill would require the State Architect to develop an application and to develop criteria to evaluate and award the grants, as specified, and would require the State Architect to annually submit a report to the Legislature on the results of the program. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount from the General Fund to the Certified Access Specialist Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for purposes of the program.
This bill would also make findings and declarations related to a gift of public funds.
Digest Key
Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 4459.9 is added to the Government Code, to read:4459.9.
(a) (1) The Certified Access Specialist Inspection Grant Program is hereby established to assist small businesses obtain CASp inspections.(2) The State Architect shall administer the program in accordance with this section.
(b) Small businesses with a physical property in the state may apply, in a form and manner prescribed by the State Architect, for a grant for a CASp inspection of the small business’s property, in an amount equal to the actual cost of the inspection, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) per inspection.
(c) (1) The State Architect shall develop criteria to evaluate and award the grants that includes, among other things, financial need of the small business.
(2) Beginning January 1, 2023, the State Architect shall award grants upon receipt of a completed application to small businesses in accordance with the criteria and shall prioritize applicants with demonstrated financial need.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the Controller shall, on January 1, 2023, transfer from the General Fund to the Certified Access Specialist Fund the sum of ____ dollars ($____) for purposes of the Certified Access Specialist Inspection Grant Program established in this section.
(2) The State Architect may use up to 5 percent of the moneys transferred in paragraph (1) for its reasonable costs to administer the program.
(e) On or before January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the State Architect shall submit a report to the Legislature, in accordance with Section 9795, on the results of the program, and shall post a copy of the report on its internet website.
(f) For purposes of this section, “small business” means a business with fewer than 500 employees. that has employed 50 or fewer employees on average over the past three years, or for the years it has been in existence if less than three years, as evidenced by
wage report forms filed with the Employment Development Department.
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
