Energy: Proposition 39 implementation.

(1) Existing law, the Energy Conservation Assistance Act of 1979, establishes the State Energy Conservation Assistance Account, a continuously appropriated account, for the purposes of funding loans to schools, hospitals, public care institutions, and units of local government to maximize energy savings. Existing law requires each eligible institution to which an allocation has been made under the act to repay the principal amount of the allocation, plus interest, in not more than 30 equal semiannual payments, as determined by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, or the Energy Commission. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, except as specified, to periodically set interest rates on the loans based on surveys of existing financial markets and at rates not less than 1 % per annum. This bill would permit not more than 40 equal semiannual payments and authorization of no-interest loans. (2) The California Clean Energy Jobs Act, an initiative approved by the voters as Proposition 39 at the November 6, 2012, statewide general election, made changes to corporate income taxes and, except as specified, provides for the transfer of $550,000,000 annually from the General Fund to the Clean Energy Job Creation Fund, or the Job Creation Fund, for 5 fiscal years beginning with the 2013–14 fiscal year. Moneys in the Job Creation Fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of funding eligible projects that create jobs in California improving energy efficiency and expanding clean energy generation. Existing law provides for the allocation of available funds to public school facilities, university and college facilities, and other public buildings and facilities, as well as job training and workforce development and public-private partnerships for eligible projects, as specified. Existing law establishes prescribed criteria that apply to all expenditures from the Job Creation Fund. This bill would appropriate $3,000,000 from the Job Creation Fund to the California Workforce Investment Board to develop and implement a competitive grant program, in consultation with the Energy Commission and the Public Utilities Commission, for eligible community-based and other training workforce organizations preparing disadvantaged youth or veterans for employment, as specified. This bill would, for the 2013–14 fiscal year, transfer $28,000,000 from the Job Creation Fund to the Education Subaccount, which this bill would create in the State Energy Conservation Assistance Account. This bill would appropriate moneys in the Education Subaccount to the Energy Commission for the purpose of low-interest and no-interest revolving loans and loan loss reserves for eligible projects and technical assistance, as prescribed. This bill would require funds remaining in the Education Subaccount after the 2017–18 fiscal year to continue to be available in future years for loans to local education agencies, as defined, and community college districts, as specified. This bill would require the funds deposited annually in the Job Creation Fund and remaining in the fund, as prescribed, to be allocated, to the extent consistent with the act, to local education agencies by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as specified, and to community college districts by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges at his or her discretion. This bill would require the Energy Commission to maintain information on the local education agencies and community college districts that receive grants, loans, or other financial assistance pursuant to these provisions. This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and the Public Utilities Commission, to establish specified guidelines. This bill would require the Energy Commission to adopt these guidelines at a publicly noticed meeting and provide an opportunity for public comment, as prescribed. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to require that funds be paid back if they are not used in accordance with prescribed provisions. (3) The California Clean Energy Jobs Act creates the Citizens Oversight Board with specified responsibilities relative to the review of expenditures from the Job Creation Fund, including the submission of an evaluation to the Legislature. This bill would require an entity, as a condition of receiving funds from the Job Creation Fund, not sooner than one year but no later than 15 months after the entity completes its first eligible project with a grant, loan, or other assistance from the Job Creation Fund, to submit a report of its project expenditures to the Citizens Oversight Board, as specified. This bill would require the California Workforce Investment Board, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to utilize reports filed with the Citizens Oversight Board to quantify total employment affiliated with funded projects, as well as to estimate new trainee, apprentice, or full-time jobs resulting from Job Creation Fund activity, and would require the California Workforce Investment Board to prepare a report with this information annually and to submit it to the Citizens Oversight Board. This bill would require the Citizens Oversight Board to report specified information it receives to the Legislature annually as part of its responsibility to submit an evaluation to the Legislature and to post this report on a publicly accessible Internet Web site. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.