AB 1553: Economic development: Capital Access Loan Program.

Existing law establishes the Capital Access Loan Program to assist small businesses in financing the costs of complying with environmental mandates and the remediation of contamination on their properties, as specified. Existing law establishes within the program the California Americans with Disabilities Small Business Capital Access Loan Program (ADA program) to assist small businesses in financing the costs of projects that alter or retrofit existing small business facilities to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Existing law requires moneys in the ADA program fund, which is continuously appropriated, to be used for contributions in support of qualified loans, costs to educate the small business community and participating lenders about the program, and administrative expenditures, as specified. Existing law, for the purposes of the ADA program, defines a small business as a business that has less than $1,000,000 in total gross annual income and meets other requirements. Under existing law, the California Pollution Control Financing Authority administers these programs and is authorized to establish small business assistance funds for certain purposes, including, among others, funding the programs.

This bill would authorize the use of moneys in the ADA program fund for direct payments to borrowers enrolling loans. The ADA program, as specified, would require the authority to adopt related regulations and would allow small business assistance funds to include nonreimbursable payments made directly to borrowers in furtherance of the ADA program, as specified, administered by the authority as part of the Capital Access Loan Program. This bill would expand the definition of small business for the purposes of the ADA program to include businesses with less than $5,000,000 in total gross annual income, thereby expanding the types of businesses that qualify for funding under the ADA program. By expanding the authorized uses of moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would rename the ADA program the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program.