California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery: Endowment Fund.

Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs, in voluntary cooperation with specified local entities, to design, develop, and construct a state-owned and state-operated veterans cemetery located on the site of the former Fort Ord. Existing law creates the California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord Endowment Fund (Endowment Fund) in the State Treasury, and requires moneys in the fund to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for the annual administrative and oversight costs of the veterans cemetery, as specified, and to generate funding through interest for the veterans cemetery. Existing law provides that the Endowment Fund may consist of, among other things, donations from public and private entities and fees. This bill would authorize the department to enter into any financial agreement to receive cash advances in the Endowment Fund, provided that no obligations of repayment are made to the state and the agreement is reviewed and performed in consultation with the Department of Finance. Existing law requires the department, upon the determination of specified parties that the Endowment Fund has adequate principal to annually yield sufficient investment earnings, from the date of the determination, to cover the annual administrative and oversight costs over the next 10 years and to fund the estimated costs of developing and submitting the federal State Veterans Cemetery Grant Program application, to develop and submit a State Veterans Cemetery Grant Program application to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for the establishment of a veterans cemetery. Under existing law, if awarded, the moneys received from the federal grant program are required to be used to reimburse the Endowment Fund for specified costs, as well as the state's share of any other costs for the design, construction, and equipping of the veterans cemetery. This bill would authorize the department to use any moneys received from the State Veterans Cemetery Grant Program that are transferred to the Endowment Fund for the reimbursement of those specified costs to reimburse any cash advances made to the Endowment Fund used for those costs to the extent allowed by grant requirements, once it is determined by the California Department of Veterans Affairs and certified by the Controller's office that sufficient funds remain in the Endowment Fund to cover ongoing maintenance and operating costs.