California Sea Otter Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund.

Existing law, until January 1, 2021, establishes the California Sea Otter Fund and allows individuals to designate on their personal income tax returns that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the fund. Existing law requires money in that fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the Department of Fish and Wildlife for the purposes of establishing a sea otter fund to be used for sea otter conservation, and to the State Coastal Conservancy for competitive grants and contracts for research, projects, and programs related to the Federal Sea Otter Recovery Plan or improving the nearshore ocean ecosystem. Existing law requires any new or extended voluntary tax contribution to include the words "voluntary tax contribution" in the name of the fund, to require the administrative agency to include specified information about the fund on its internet website, and to continuously appropriate voluntary tax contributions made to the fund to the administrative agency. Existing law requires the minimum contribution amount to a new or extended voluntary tax contribution fund for the second calendar year after the first appearance of the fund on the tax refund form, and each calendar year thereafter, to be $250,000. This bill would extend the operation of the above-described provisions relating to the California Sea Otter Fund to January 1, 2028, or until an earlier date if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will not equal or exceed $250,000. The bill would conform with those aforementioned requirements on new or extended voluntary tax contributions by making the money in the fund continuously appropriated, by renaming the fund the California Sea Otter Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, and by requiring the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the State Coastal Conservancy to report on their internet websites information regarding the process for awarding money, the amount spent on administration, and an itemization of how program funds were awarded.