California Small Business Rent Relief Act.

Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as GO-Biz, to advocate for causes of small business and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace. Existing law authorizes counties, cities, and other local agencies to impose various taxes and fees in connection with activity or property within those jurisdictions. This bill would enact the California Small Business Rent Relief Act, which would authorize a county to establish a local small business rent forgiveness and tax relief program, as provided, for the purpose of providing credits to qualified taxpayers, as defined, to be used against any tax or fee owed to the county by the qualified taxpayer, and for which the county has authority to collect a credit in lieu of cash. The bill would authorize CalOSBA to establish the California Small Business Rent Forgiveness and Tax Relief Program, as provided, for the purpose of allocating credit authority to qualified counties, as defined, to implement a small business rent forgiveness and tax relief program. The bill would create the Small Business Rent Forgiveness and Tax Relief Account within the California Economic Development Fund, for the purpose of receiving moneys transferred to the account, and would require all moneys in the account to be available for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of implementing the California Small Business Rent Forgiveness and Tax Relief Program. The bill would require CalOSBA to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on program activities, as provided.