AB 3152: Excise tax: loan guaranties: education and training.

Existing law requires the California Housing Finance Agency to, among other housing-related duties, insure certain housing loans to qualified buyers that meet certain requirements, including that the loan is secured by mortgages or deeds of trust, or the loan is wholly or partially insured or guaranteed by an agency or instrumentality of the United States, except as specified.

This bill would authorize an eligible person to apply to an administrator for the guaranty of up to 50% of one or more qualified loans, as defined, in an aggregate amount that does not exceed an unspecified amount. The bill would define eligible person to mean an African American with a special consideration for an African American who is a descendant of persons enslaved in the United States. The bill would prohibit the administrator from guaranteeing a qualified loan if there are not sufficient moneys in the Reparations Fund, described below, to cover the cost of the guaranty.

This bill would also entitle an eligible person to education or training, or a refresher or retraining course, at an approved educational or training institution, as defined, for no more than 4 years if the eligible person is in satisfactory standing according to the regularly prescribed standards and practices of the educational or training institution and would require the administrator to pay certain costs related to the education or training, including the cost of tuition and other standard fees for that eligible person. The bill would make these provisions operative only if there are sufficient moneys in the Reparations Fund, described below, to cover the costs of administering the provisions.

This bill would create in the State Treasury the Reparations Fund and would continuously appropriate the fund for the purposes of the programs described above. The bill would require revenues, interest, and penalties, less refunds and reimbursement to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for reasonable administrative expenses, derived from a tax described below to be deposited into the fund. The bill would also authorize the fund to accept charitable donations, as specified. By creating a continuously appropriated fund and providing moneys for the fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state of, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. The California Constitution prohibits the state and its political subdivisions from levying or collecting a sales or use tax on the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption in the state of, food products for human consumption, except as provided by statute as of January 1, 1993.

This bill would, beginning July 1, 2025, require a purchaser to pay a tax on the purchase for use in this state of gold bullion and gold coins, tangible property made in whole or in part from cotton, or tobacco products from a retailer at the rate of an unspecified percentage of the sales price of those items of tangible personal property. The bill would provide for the administration and collection of this tax pursuant to procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. By expanding the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would also, beginning July 1, 2025, require a purchaser to pay a tax, imposed and administered in the same manner as the tax described above, on the purchase for use in this state of wine, olives, cane sugar, granulated sugar, rice, and coffee beans from a retailer at the rate of an unspecified percentage of the sales price of those items of tangible personal property. The bill would make the operation of this provision contingent upon an unspecified Assembly Constitutional Amendment of the 202324 Regular Session being approved by the voters and taking effect.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This bill would make findings and declarations related to a gift of public funds.