California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord Endowment Fund.

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 Endowment Fund to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Veterans Affairs 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 requires moneys in the Endowment Fund to be invested to generate ongoing earnings to cover the estimated annual oversight and maintenance costs associated with the veterans cemetery, as provided. This bill would instead require any moneys to be allocated to the department for the nonreimbursable costs of design and construction and the annual operations and maintenance costs of the veterans cemetery for the next 10 years. This bill would allow, but not require, moneys in the fund to be invested to generate ongoing earnings to offset the estimated annual operations and maintenance costs associated with the veterans cemetery. Existing law requires the department 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 upon the Controller's determination that the Endowment Fund has adequate principal to yield sufficient investment earnings in each year for the next 10 years, from the date of the determination, to fully fund the respective year's administrative and oversight costs, and to fund the estimated costs of developing and submitting the application, as specified. This bill would instead require the department to develop and submit an application upon the Controller's determination that the Endowment Fund has adequate amounts, in addition to funding the estimated costs of developing and submitting the application, to fully fund the nonreimbursable costs of design and construction and the operations and maintenance costs for the next 10 years. This bill would require the Controller to consider the estimated revenues from specified fees expected to be deposited into the Endowment Fund in making this determination. This bill would allow any moneys, if awarded, received from the State Veterans Cemetery Grant Program to be used to reimburse the Endowment Fund for specified allowable costs as established by that program. Existing law authorizes the Director of Finance to transfer up to $1,500,000 as a loan from the General Fund to the Endowment Fund, and requires the loan to be repaid with interest, as provided. This bill would repeal that authorization, and instead make an appropriation of $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the Endowment Fund for the construction of the California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord. This bill would require any amounts transferred by the Director of Finance as a loan from the General Fund to the Endowment Fund to be returned to the General Fund. This bill would make technical, conforming changes to change the references to "administrative and oversight" to "operations and maintenance." This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.