BILL NUMBER: AB 232 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Price
JANUARY 30, 2007
An act to add and repeal Chapter 12.9 (commencing with
Section 7090) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code,
relating to housing and community development.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 232, as amended, Price. Housing and community development:
Economic Opportunity Initiative. Initiative
Program.
Existing law provides for various programs to promote economic
development opportunities in the state.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to
establish a statewide action plan to revitalize the low-income
neighborhoods of Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, and San
Francisco, through an integrated investment and development
strategy, as provided , until January 1, 2013, enact
the Economic Opportunity Initiative Act of 2007, to require the
Business, Transportation and Housing Agency to establish a pilot
project to be known as the Economic Opportunity Initiative Program.
It would require the agency to enter into technical and partnership
assistance agreements with economic development corporations meeting
specified criteria. It would require the agency to conduct
a study on the impact of the program and report the results of the
study to the Governor and the Legislature on or before December 31,
2012 .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Far too many of this state's urban residents and areas
continue to be neglected and plagued by unemployment, poverty, crime,
drugs, neighborhood blight, and a poor quality of life.
(b) According to recent findings by the United States Department
of Housing and Urban Development, the unemployment rate in this state'
s five major urban centers hovers around 20 percent, which is four
times this state's average. Those five major urban centers contain
just under 18 million people, which is nearly 52 percent of this
state's population. The poverty rate remains at 40 percent.
(c) Aside from the variety of social, economic, and environmental
ills associated with the above-referenced findings, chief among these
problems are wasted resources and lost tax revenues, declining
property values, the effects on community aesthetics, and
generational wealth gaps.
(d) Distressed neighborhood conditions often lead to a sense of
resignation and hopelessness, which is interpreted by children,
youth, and families as a signal that no one cares and often prompts
the belief that further damage to human life or property is costless.
(e) The California Economic Strategy Panel has found that quality
of life is one of the key public policy issues that profoundly
affects the capacity and prospects of this state's businesses to
prosper and grow economically. A thriving neighborhood commercial
district is a paramount component of each community's quality of
life. It provides a central gathering place for entertainment, civic
life, and commerce; supplies a focal point for community identity and
pride; offers a sense of place, connectivity, integration, and
cohesion for residents; attracts visitors and projects a healthy
community image upon which industrial investors rely in part when
making their location decisions; and provides small-business
ownership opportunities, jobs, retail sales, and property tax
revenues.
(f) In its 2002 report, "Creating a Shared California Economic
Strategy: A Call to Action," the California Economic Strategy Panel
recognizes economic development is widely distributed across many
organizations and jurisdictions. The report calls for a more focused
strategy tailored on regional diversity, and recommends economic
development investment goals with measurable outcomes including
rising per capita income, job growth, new business creation, growing
private sector investment, increased minority entrepreneurship, and
reduced income inequality.
(g) Based on years of research and experience, the basic
ingredients of innovative and inclusive communities include:
(1) A skilled workforce with opportunities for lifelong learning.
(2) Access to capital with a positive environment for private
investment.
(3) Quality infrastructure, including transportation and housing.
(4) Effective governance, including proinnovative tax and
regulatory policies.
(5) Collaboration between the public, private, and civic sectors.
(h) Based on extensive research, low-income neighborhoods can
create the conditions for competitive industry and job creation if
the right factors are in place.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to do
all of the following:
(1) Increase state assistance to civic and regional leaders in
order to pilot the development of a statewide action plan to
simultaneously revitalize the five low-income neighborhoods of Los
Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco, through
an integrated business investment, homeownership, and workforce
development strategy.
(2) Provide incentives to the private sector to invest in the
implementation of a statewide action plan.
(3) Foster innovation in strengthening this state's competitive
advantages and key industry clusters by employing broad-based
collaboration focused on the targeted inner-city neighborhoods and
economic regions.
(i) Although many of California's inner city business and
community leaders are addressing economic challenges with innovative
approaches, limited capacity, fragmented or insufficient state
economic development supports, and the lack of adequate private and
public sector partnerships impedes their ability to reach critical
mass in neighborhood and regional competitiveness.
(j) The continued neglect of mixed-use and infill development,
along with business and job attraction, retention, incubation, and
training opportunities in California's low- to moderate-income urban
areas, particularly in the wake of a rapidly growing population,
leads to many economic inefficiencies in the state, including the
following:
(1) Further creating a disconnect between land and transportation
management.
(2) Undermining the state's clean air and climate stabilization
measures.
(3) Undermining the state's global competitiveness in agriculture.
(4) Increasing traffic and pollution.
(5) Contributing to decreased levels of family interaction.
(k) The absence of state support for neighborhood revitalization
strategies that are community-based, collaborative, and market-driven
makes it difficult to mitigate private equity investment risks in
underserved markets, and to reverse the economic marginalization of
California's low- to moderate-income populations.
(l) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting
this act to do both of the following:
(1) Promote economic development and the creation of wealth and
job opportunities in low- to moderate-income geographic areas and
among individuals living in those areas by encouraging developmental
venture capital investments in those areas.
(2) Foster innovation in strengthening California's competitive
advantages and key industry clusters by employing broad-based
collaboration focused on inner city neighborhoods and economic
regions.
SEC. 2. Chapter 12.9 (commencing with Section
7090) is added to Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government
Code , to read:
CHAPTER 12.9. ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY INITIATIVE ACT OF 2007
7090. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
Economic Opportunity Initiative Act of 2007.
7091. (a) The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency shall
establish a pilot project to be known as the Economic Opportunity
Initiative Program, pursuant to which the agency may enter into
technical and partnership development assistance agreements with
community development corporations selected pursuant to subdvision
(c) of Section 7092 for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) In implementing the program established pursuant to this
chapter, the agency shall work in conjunction with the following
entities, as appropriate:
(1) The California Arts Council.
(2) The California Community Colleges.
(3) The Department of Insurance.
(4) The California Environmental Protection Agency.
(5) The California Film Commission.
(6) The California State University.
(7) The Workforce Investment Board.
(8) The State Department of Education.
(9) The Department of Housing and Community Development.
(10) The Employment Training Panel.
(11) The Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
(12) The Public Employees' Retirement System.
(13) The State Teachers' Retirement System.
(14) The University of California.
(15) Any state entity deemed necessary by the agency.
7092. (a) A community development corporation may apply to
participate in the program established under this chapter if it meets
all of the following criteria:
(1) The organization is a nonprofit entity certified under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(2) The organization has a management or volunteer team with
experience in community development.
(3) The organization is rooted in the community it serves, and has
a primary objective of contributing to a well-balanced statewide
economy by facilitating the increase of business investment,
homeownership, and workforce development assistance for persons and
neighborhoods whose participation in the free enterprise system is
hampered because of social or economic disadvantages.
(b) To participate in the program established under this chapter,
an organization meeting the eligibility requirements set forth in
subdivision (a) shall submit an application to the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency that includes all of the following:
(1) Information regarding the community development qualifications
and the general reputation of the organization's management.
(2) A description of how the organization intends to work with
private investors, banks, and other financial institutions to address
the unmet capital needs of the communities served.
(3) With respect to commitments to be made to the organization
under this chapter, an estimate of the ratio of cash to in-kind
contributions.
(4) A description of the organization's community action plan
containing all of the following elements:
(A) A strategy to make investments along a commercial district
thoroughfare in a low- to moderate-income geographic area that has a
history of commercial and residential blight or developmental
stagnancy, as documented by a state or local government authority.
(B) The Main Street Four Point Approach to organization,
promotion, design, and economic restructuring for neighborhood
commercial district revitalization as developed by the National Trust
for Historic Preservation.
(C) A description of how implementation of the community action
plan will do all of the following:
(i) Enhance technical assistance to small businesses, create
opportunities for microbusinesses, attract and retain businesses in
the area, increase access to capital and markets, and enhance the
entrepreneurial climate in the area by preventing, controlling, and
reducing crime, and forming partnerships to cultivate ongoing arts
and entertainment venues in the area.
(ii) Revitalize the neighborhood by eliminating blight and
increasing the availability of quality affordable owner-occupied, as
well as market rate, housing.
(iii) Steer low- and moderate-income youth into science and
engineering-related educational and career pathways by involving
parents, academia, industry, after school programs, and community
groups in a comprehensive case management and support system.
(iv) Steer at-risk youth, low-income adults, and ex-offenders away
from destructive lifestyles and help them to be economically
self-sufficient and productive members of the community through
comprehensive career technical education and job placement services.
(9) Any other information the agency may require.
(c) (1) The agency shall select organizations to participate in
the program from among organizations submitting applications pursuant
to subdivision (b).
(2) In selecting organizations pursuant to this subdivision, the
agency shall consider all of the following:
(A) The likelihood that the organization will meet the goals of
its community action plan.
(B) The experience and background of the organization's management
team.
(C) The need for developmental venture capital investments in the
geographic areas in which the organization intends to serve.
(D) The extent to which the organization will concentrate its
activities on serving the geographic areas in which it intends to
operate.
(F) The extent to which the activities proposed by the
organization will expand economic opportunities in the geographic
area and region in which it intends to serve.
(H) Any other factors deemed appropriate by the agency.
(3) The agency shall select organizations pursuant to this
subdivision in a way that promotes neighborhood revitalization
through integrated business investment, homeownership, and workforce
development strategies in geographic areas across the state.
7093. The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency shall
conduct a study on the impact of the program established by this
chapter, including, but not limited to, the costs to the state of,
and revenues generated by, the program. The agency shall report the
results of the study to the Governor and the Legislature on or before
December 31, 2012.
7094. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.