State finance: financing authorities.

(1) Existing law, the California Industrial Development Financing Act, authorizes cities, counties, cities and counties, and redevelopment agencies to establish industrial development authorities that are authorized to issue industrial development bonds, the proceeds of which may be used to fund capital projects of private enterprise under terms and conditions specified in the act. The act authorizes an authority to issue tax-exempt bonds, and defines "tax-exempt" for these purposes to mean that the interest on the bonds is excluded from gross income of the holders thereof for federal income tax purposes. The act establishes the California Industrial Development Financing Advisory Commission, and requires the commission to approve the issuance of industrial development bonds pursuant to these provisions. The act also authorizes the commission to carry out other specified powers related to the issuance of industrial development bonds, including authorizing the commission to act as a bond pooling agent and requires fees to be charged to cover the costs of the commission in carrying out these provisions. Existing law requires these fees to be deposited in the Industrial Development Fund, which is available, upon appropriation, to the commission for expenses. This bill would abolish the California Industrial Development Financing Advisory Commission, and would make conforming changes to that effect. The bill would also provide that "tax-exempt" for purposes of the act includes that the interest on the bonds is otherwise entitled to any federal tax advantage. The bill would transfer any moneys, including interest earned, in the Industrial Development Fund to the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee Fund, established in existing law, and appropriate those moneys to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority to reimburse this authority for its administrative costs related to the abolishment of the California Industrial Development Financing Advisory Commission, as specified, and also to the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee. (2) Existing law establishes the Capital Access Loan Program to assist small businesses in financing the costs of complying with environmental mandates and the remediation of contamination on their properties. Existing law establishes the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program (ADA program) , within the Capital Access Loan Program, to assist small businesses in financing the eligible costs of projects that alter or retrofit existing small business facilities to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Existing law defines a small business for purposes of the ADA program to mean a business that meets certain criteria, including that it be a small business concern, as defined under specified federal law, and additionally that it has 15 or fewer full-time employees, has less than $5,000,000 in total gross annual income from all sources, and does not provide overnight accommodations. Existing law establishes the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program Fund as a continuously appropriated fund, and requires the authority to use the fund for specified purposes related to the ADA program. This bill would modify the definition of a small business for purposes of the ADA program to instead mean a business that is independently owned and operated and not dominant in its field, and that has 30 or fewer full-time employees or that has less than $5,000,000 in total gross annual income from all sources. The bill would thereby expand the types of businesses that qualify for funding under the ADA program. By expanding the authorized uses of moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (3) Existing law establishes within the Capital Access Loan Program the California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program to assist qualified residential property owners and qualified small business owners in seismically retrofitting qualified buildings by covering losses on qualified loans for those purposes. Existing law defines the term "qualified building" for these purposes to mean a building that is certified by the appropriate local building code enforcement authority as hazardous and in danger of collapse during an earthquake. Existing law requires a "qualified small business" and "qualified residential property owner" to own and occupy the qualified building, and prohibits a qualified loan under the program from being used to finance passive real estate ownership. Existing law requires the California Pollution Control Financing Authority to administer the program, including regulations and funds received for the program, as specified. Existing law establishes the California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the authority to carry out the purposes of the California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program. This bill would modify the term "qualified building" to mean a residential or commercial building identified by the local building code official as a building in need of seismic retrofitting and is either a building of a type that is potentially vulnerable in the event of a catastrophic earthquake or a building constructed before 1981. This bill would no longer require a "qualified small business" or a "qualified residential property owner" to occupy a qualified building in order to be eligible under the program, and would authorize a qualified loan under the program to be used to finance passive real estate ownership. By expanding the purposes of a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (4) The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act authorizes, until January 1, 2021, the authority to provide financial assistance in the form of a sales and use tax exclusion for projects, including those that promote California-based manufacturing, California-based jobs, the reduction of greenhouse gases, or the reduction in air and water pollution or energy consumption. The act prohibits the sales and use tax exclusions from exceeding $100,000,000 for each calendar year. The act authorizes the authority, until July 1, 2021, to grant financial assistance in the form of a sales and use tax exclusion for projects that promote the use of advanced manufacturing. This bill would expand the sales and use tax exemption to include the lease or transfer of tangible personal property, constituting any project, to any contractor for use in the performance of a construction contract that will use the property as an integral part of the approved project. (5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.