Bill Text: CA SB747 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: COVID-19 relief: tenancy: grant program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB747 Detail]

Download: California-2021-SB747-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  September 09, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 747

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Introduced by Senator Hurtado

February 19, 2021

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An act to add Section 89012 to the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education, and making an appropriation therefor. relating to tenancy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 747, as amended, Hurtado. Central Valley Medical School Endowment Fund. COVID-19 relief: tenancy.

Existing law, the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act, until October 1, 2025, establishes procedural requirements and limitations on evictions for nonpayment of rent due to COVID-19 rental debt, as defined. The act, among other things, prohibits a tenant that delivers to a landlord or files with the court a declaration, under penalty of perjury, of COVID-19-related financial distress, as defined, from being deemed in default or, before October 1, 2021, being subject to an unlawful detainer action brought by the tenant’s landlord with regard to the COVID-19 rental debt, as prescribed.

Existing law, the State Rental Assistance Program, establishes a program for providing rental assistance, using funding made available pursuant to federal law, administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would address certain issues related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on landlords and tenants, including by providing public funds to cover monetary judgments against tenants in small claims court who do not qualify for the State Rental Assistance Program, revisiting the self-certification process created by the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act, and providing assistance to landlords who have tenants who have not paid the rent and who do not qualify for emergency rental assistance dollars, including, but not limited to, by providing hardship loans, property tax deferral programs, and income tax credits to landlords.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of California’s public and independent segments of higher education. The act provides that the University of California has exclusive jurisdiction in public higher education to award the doctoral degree in all fields of learning, except that it may agree with the California State University to award joint doctoral degrees in selected fields. With respect to doctoral degrees, the act limits the California State University to awarding these degrees jointly with the University of California, as described above, or, with approval by the California Postsecondary Education Commission, jointly with independent institutions of higher education.

This bill would create the Central Valley Medical School Endowment Fund, to be administered by the California State University Foundation. The bill would require that moneys received from public and private sources to be used for the purpose of supporting the establishment of a medical school in the central valley region be deposited into that fund and would continuously appropriate moneys in the Central Valley Medical School Endowment Fund to the California State University, as specified.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: YESNO   Fiscal Committee: YESNO   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) As of July 2021, more than 1,800,000 property owners were behind on their mortgages. Many of these property owners are landlords. When federal mortgage forbearance ends, these landlords may be forced to remove their rental units from the market and sell them in order to avoid foreclosure.

(b) The State Rental Assistance Program (program) provides rental assistance only for tenants who make less than or equal to 80 percent of the area median income. There are still many landlords with tenants who are behind on their rent and who will not qualify for any form of government rental assistance because they earned too much money to qualify for the program.

(c) Although the program has been accepting rental assistance applications for most of 2021, payment to landlords and tenants, especially small landlords who are in desperate financial straits, has been untenably slow.

(d) Some tenants have claimed a COVID-19 hardship and yet do not qualify for rental assistance. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act (CTRA) self-certification process allows only tenants to state their cases with no ability for landlords to challenge a self-certification of COVID-19-related financial distress.

(e) Upon the expiration of CTRA, tenants with rental debt who do not qualify for the program may face small claims judgments that will unnecessarily burden their financial stability.

SEC. 2.

 It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would address the issues described in Section 1 of this act, including by providing public funds to cover monetary judgments against tenants in small claims court who do not qualify for the State Rental Assistance Program, revisiting the self-certification process created by the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act, and providing assistance to landlords who have tenants who have not paid the rent and who do not qualify for emergency rental assistance dollars, including, but not limited to, by providing hardship loans, property tax deferral programs, and income tax credits to landlords.

SECTION 1.Section 89012 is added to the Education Code, to read:

89012.

(a)The Central Valley Medical School Endowment Fund is hereby established, to be administered by the California State University Foundation. Funds received for the purposes set forth in subdivision (b) shall be deposited into the Central Valley Medical School Endowment Fund. For purposes of this section “endowment fund” means the Central Valley Medical School Endowment Fund.

(b)Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all moneys deposited in the endowment fund are hereby continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal year, to the California State University to support the establishment of a medical school in the central valley region.

(c)The endowment fund may receive donations and contributions from public and private sources.

(d)Earnings generated by the endowment fund shall be retained by the endowment fund.