California Memorial Scholarship Program.

Existing law also establishes the Antiterrorism Fund for purposes that include funding antiterrorism activities. Existing law establishes the California Memorial Scholarship Program, administered by the Scholarshare Investment Board and funded by the California Memorial Scholarship Fund. Existing law states that the purpose of the program is to provide scholarships for surviving dependents of California residents killed as a result of injuries sustained during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Existing law further provides that these scholarships shall be used to defray the costs incurred by participants in the program at institutions of higher education. Existing law requires the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board to identify all persons who are eligible for scholarships under the program and to notify them of their eligibility no later than July 1, 2003. Existing law requires eligible persons to inform the Scholarshare Investment Board in a timely manner of their decision on whether to participate in the program and requires eligible persons who are to become participants in the program to execute agreements no later than July 1, 2005. Existing law requires an agreement to specify that any moneys remaining in an account after the 30th birthday of the participant, or not later than July 1, 2015, whichever occurs last, shall revert to the Antiterrorism Fund. This bill would instead require the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board to identify, and confirm by documentation, all persons who are eligible for scholarships under the program by use of various methods, including, among others, media outreach and communication with the Special Master of the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, and, after creating a new list of eligible persons, to notify those persons of their eligibility by no later than July 1, 2015. The bill would require the Scholarshare Investment Board to service these scholarships only for individuals determined to be eligible by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. The bill would require eligible persons who are to become participants in the program to execute participation agreements no later than July 1, 2016, and would require those agreements to revert the moneys remaining in a participant's account to the Antiterrorism Fund after the 30th birthday of the participant, or not later than July 1, 2026, whichever occurs last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.