California Regional Initiative for Social Enterprises Program.

Existing law establishes the Government Operations Agency, which consists of various entities, including the Department of General Services and the Department of Human Resources. Existing law requires, as part of the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the California Workforce Development Board to, among other things, identify opportunities for "earn and learn" job training opportunities that meet the industry's workforce demands and that are in high road, high-demand jobs. Under existing law, "earn and learn" programs include subsidized employment with an employer of record, which may include, but not be limited to, an employment social enterprise, as defined, or a worker cooperative, as defined, particularly for individuals with barriers to employment. This bill would require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Government Operations Agency to establish the California Regional Initiative for Social Enterprises Program to provide grants that expand the capacity of small business technical assistance centers, as defined, to provide consulting and training to employment social enterprises, as defined, and to expand the capacity of employment social enterprises in the state, through competitive subgrants administered by small business technical assistance centers. Successful subapplicant employment social enterprises would be eligible for grants of up to $250,000 annually, and technical assistance during the duration of the grant period. The bill would describe the eligibility criteria and application requirements for the small business technical assistance centers. The bill would require the agency to issue a notice to the small business technical assistance centers upon approval of an award, as provided, and would require the small business technical assistance centers to provide a final written performance and financial report to the agency consistent with specified requirements.