State government: emergency services: nonprofit service providers.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes the Governor to declare a state of emergency during conditions of disaster or extreme peril to persons or property. Existing law authorizes the Governor, during a state of emergency, to suspend any regulatory statute, or statute prescribing the procedure for conduct of state business, or the orders, rules, or regulations of any state agency, including provisions relating to eligibility to receive unemployment compensation benefits, if the Governor determines and declares that strict compliance with any statute, order, rule, or regulation would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the emergency. Existing law requires each department, division, bureau, board, commission, officer, and employee of this state to render all possible assistance to the Governor and to the Director of Emergency Services in carrying out the act. This bill would authorize a nonprofit entity that provides services pursuant to a contract with the state, during a state of war emergency or a state of emergency, to adjust the method in which it provides those services so long as the purpose of the contract is served. The bill would require the nonprofit entity to notify all departments from which it receives funding of a closure or of an impacted program, including whether a closure is location specific or due to executive order, and why the service level may be impacted. The bill would require a nonprofit entity to identify and thoroughly document all expenditures associated with the closed program, and to retain documentation to justify expenses and to support claiming continued state funding, as specified. The bill would require state departments that receive notice from a nonprofit entity that provides services, as described above, to ensure that funding is available to pay for canceled services, closed programs, or reduced service levels, as specified. This bill would apply these provisions only until the contracting agency determines what substitute performance in furtherance of the purpose of the contract is permissible. The bill would not apply to any contract that is void or voidable on the basis of force majeure or frustration of purpose.