14010.

 Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this section govern the construction of this part.

(a) “Corporation” or “the corporation” means any nonprofit California small business financial development corporation created pursuant to this part.

(b) “Financial institution” means banking organizations including national banks and trust companies authorized to conduct business in California and state-chartered commercial banks, trust companies, and savings and loan associations.

(c) “Financial company” means banking organizations including national banks and trust companies, savings and loan associations, state insurance companies, mutual insurance companies, and other banking, lending, retirement, and insurance organizations.

(d) “Expansion Fund” means the California Small Business Expansion Fund.

(e) Unless otherwise defined by the office director by regulation, “small business loan” means a loan to a business defined as an eligible small business as set forth in Section 121.3-10 of Part 121 of Chapter 1 of Title 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations, including those businesses organized for agricultural purposes that create or retain employment as a result of the loan. From time to time, the director shall provide guidelines as to the preferred ratio of jobs created or retained to total funds borrowed for guidance to the corporations.

(f) “Employment incentive loan” means a loan to a qualified business, as defined in subdivision (h) of Section 7082 of the Government Code, or to a business located within an enterprise zone, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 7072 of the Government Code.

(g) “Loan committee” means a committee appointed by the board of directors of a corporation to determine the course of action on a loan application pursuant to Section 14060.

(h) “Board of directors” means the board of directors of the corporation.

(i) “Office” means the California Office of Small Business Development.

(j)“Board” means the California Small Business Board.

(j) “Agency” means the Trade and Commerce Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

(k) “Director” means the Executive Director of the California Office of Small Business person designated for this position by the secretary.

(l) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Trade and Commerce Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

(m) “Trust fund” means the money from the expansion fund that is held in trust by a financial institution or a financial company. A trust fund is not a deposit of state funds and is not subject to the requirements of Section 16506 of the Government Code.

(n) “Trust fund account” means an account within the trust fund that is allocated to a particular small business financial development corporation for the purpose of paying loan defaults and claims on bond guarantees for a specific small business financial development corporation.

(o) “Trustee” is the lending institution or financial company selected by the office to hold and invest the trust fund. The agreement between the agency and the trustee shall not be construed to be a deposit of state funds.

14025.

 The director, as provided for in Section 15335.07 of the Government Code, shall do all of the following:

(a) Administer this part.

(b) In accordance with program resources, stimulate the formation of corporations and the use of branch offices for the purposes of making this program accessible to all areas of the state.

(c) Expeditiously approve or disapprove the articles of incorporation and any subsequent amendments to the articles of incorporation of a corporation.

(d) Require each corporation to submit an annual written plan of operation.

(e) Review reports from the Department of Financial Institutions and inform corporations as to what corrective action is required.

(f) Examine, or cause to be examined, at any reasonable time, all books, records, and documents of every kind, and the physical properties of a corporation. The inspection shall include the right to make copies, extracts, and search records.

14030.

 There is hereby created in the State Treasury the California Small Business Expansion Fund. All or a portion of the funds in the expansion fund may be paid out, with the approval of the Department of Finance, to a lending institution or financial company that will act as trustee of the funds. The expansion fund and the trust fund shall be used to pay for defaulted loan guarantees issued pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 14070), administrative costs of corporations, and those costs necessary to protect a real property interest in a defaulted loan or guarantee. The amount of guarantee liability outstanding at any one time shall not exceed four times the amount of funds on deposit in the expansion fund, including each of the trust fund accounts within the trust fund, unless the office director has permitted a higher leverage ratio for an individual corporation pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14037.

14036.

 The expansion fund and trust fund are created solely for the purpose of receiving state, federal, or local government money, and other public or private money to make loans, guarantees, and restricted investments pursuant to this article. Funds in the expansion fund may be allocated by the office director, with the approval of the Department of Finance, to the trust fund accounts.

14037.

 (a) The state shall not be liable or obligated in any way beyond the state money that is allocated and deposited in the trust fund account from state money and that is appropriated for these purposes.

(b) The office director may reallocate funds held within a corporation’s trust fund account.

(1) The office director shall reallocate funds based on which corporation is most effectively using its guarantee funds. If funds are withdrawn from a less effective corporation as part of a reallocation, the office shall make that withdrawal only after giving consideration to that corporation’s fiscal solvency, its ability to honor loan guarantee defaults, and its ability to maintain a viable presence within the region it serves. Reallocation of funds shall occur no more frequently than once per fiscal year. Any decision made by the office director pursuant to this subdivision may be appealed to the board. The board has authority to repeal or modify any decision to reallocate funds.

(2) The office director may authorize a corporation to exceed the leverage ratio specified in Section 14030, subdivision (b) of Section 14070, and subdivision (a) of Section 14076 pending the annual reallocation of funds pursuant to this section. However, no corporation shall be permitted to exceed an outstanding guarantee liability of more than five times its portion of funds on deposit in the expansion fund.

14037.5.

 The Director of Finance, with the approval of the Governor, may transfer moneys in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties to the California Small Business Expansion Fund for use by the Office of Small Business in the agency as authorized by the director, in an amount necessary to make loan guarantees pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 1 of the Corporations Code.

14037.6.

 (a) (1) The Director of Finance, with the approval of the Governor, may transfer moneys in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties to the California Small Business Expansion Fund for use by the Office of Small Business in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency as authorized by the director, in an amount necessary to make loan guarantees pursuant to this chapter. However, no more than five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be transferred pursuant to this section in connection with any single declared disaster.

(2) The Director of Finance, or his or her designee, within 30 days of any transfer made pursuant to this section, shall provide notice of the amount of the transfer to the Chair of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the chair of the committee in each house that considers appropriations.

(b) The Governor should utilize this authority to prevent business insolvencies and loss of employment in an area affected by a state of emergency within the state and declared a disaster by the President of the United States or by the Administrator of the United States Small Business Administration, or by the United States Secretary of Agriculture or declared to be in a state of emergency by the Governor of California.

(c) This section shall remain in effect until January 1, 2007, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2007, deletes or extends that date.

14038.

 (a)The funds in the expansion fund shall be paid out to trust fund accounts by the Treasurer on warrants drawn by the Controller and requisitioned by the office director, pursuant to the purposes of this chapter. The office director may transfer funds allocated from the expansion fund to accounts, established solely to receive the funds, in lending institutions designated by the office to act as trustee. The lending institutions so designated shall be approved by the state for the receipt of state deposits. Interest earned on the trust fund accounts in lending institutions may be utilized by the corporations pursuant to the purposes of this chapter.

(b) Except as specified in subdivision (c), the office director shall allocate and transfer money to trust fund accounts based on performance-based criteria. The criteria shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) The default record of the corporation.

(2) The number and amount of loans guaranteed by a corporation.

(3) The number and amount of loans made by a corporation if state funds were used to make those loans.

(4) The number and amount of surety bonds guaranteed by a corporation.

Any decision made by the office director pursuant to this subdivision may be appealed to the board within 15 days of notice of the proposed action. The board may repeal or modify any reallocation and transfer decisions made by the office director.

(c) The criteria specified in subdivision (b) shall not apply to a corporation that has been in existence for five years or less. The office director shall develop regulations specifying the basis for transferring account funds to those corporations that have been in existence for five years or less.

14070.

 (a) The corporate guarantee shall be backed by funds on deposit in the corporation’s corporate fund.

(b) Loan guarantees shall be secured by a reserve of at least 25 percent to be determined by the director, unless the office director authorizes a higher leverage ratio for an individual corporation pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14037.

(c) The expansion fund and corporate accounts shall be used exclusively to guarantee obligations and pay the administrative costs of the corporations. A corporation located in a rural area may utilize the funds for direct lending to farmers as long as at least 90 percent of the corporate fund farm loans, calculated by dollar amount, and all expansion fund farm loans are guaranteed by the United States Farmers Home Administration. The amount of funds available for direct farm lending shall be determined by the executive director. In its capacity as a direct lender, the corporation may sell in the secondary market the guaranteed portion of each loan so as to raise additional funds for direct lending. The agency shall issue regulations governing these direct loans, including the maximum amount of these loans.

(d) In furtherance of the purposes of this part, up to one-half of the corporate funds may be used to guarantee loans utilized to establish a Business and Industrial Development Corporation (BIDCO) under Division 15 (commencing with Section 33000) of the Financial Code.

(e) To execute the direct loan programs established in this chapter, the office director may loan trust funds to a corporation located in a rural area for the express purpose of lending those funds to an identified borrower. The loan authorized by the office director to the corporation shall be on terms similar to the loan between the corporation and the borrower. The amount of the loan may be in excess of the amount of a loan to any individual farm borrower, but actual disbursements pursuant to the office agency loan agreement shall be required to be supported by a loan agreement between the farm borrower and the corporation in an amount at least equal to the requested disbursement. The loan between the office agency and the corporation shall be evidenced by a credit agreement. In the event that any loan between the corporation and borrower is not guaranteed by a governmental agency, the portion of the credit agreement attributable to that loan shall be secured by assignment of any note, executed in favor of the corporation by the borrower to the office agency. The terms and conditions of the credit agreement shall be similar to the loan agreement between the corporation and the borrower, which shall be collateralized by the note between the corporation and the borrower. In the absence of fraud on the part of the corporation, the liability of the corporation to repay the loan to the office agency is limited to the repayment received by the corporation from the borrower except in a case where the Farmers Home Administration requires exposure by the corporation in rule or regulation. The corporation may use trust funds for loan repayment to the office agency if the corporation has exhausted a loan loss reserve created for this purpose. Interest and principal received by the office agency from the corporation shall be deposited into the same account from which the funds were originally borrowed.

(f) Upon the approval of the director, a corporation shall be authorized to borrow trust funds from the office agency for the purpose of relending those funds to small businesses. A corporation shall demonstrate to the director that it has the capacity to administer a direct loan program, and has procedures in place to limit the default rate for loans to startup businesses. Not more than 25 percent of any trust fund shall be used for the direct lending established pursuant to this subdivision. A loan to a corporation shall not exceed the amount of funds likely to be lent to small businesses within three months following the loan to the corporation. The maximum loan amount to a small business is fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). In the absence of fraud on the part of the corporation, the repayment obligation pursuant to the loan to the corporation shall be limited to the amount of funds received by the corporation for the loan to the small business and any other funds received from the office agency that are not disbursed. The corporation shall be authorized to charge a fee to the small business borrower, in an amount determined by the office director pursuant to regulation. The program provided for in this subdivision shall be available in all geographic areas of the state.

14075.

 (a) A corporation may, in an area declared to be in a state of emergency by the Governor, provide loan guarantees from funds allocated in Section 14037.5 to small businesses, small farms, nurseries, and agriculture-related enterprises that have suffered actual physical damage or significant economic injury as a result of the disaster.

(b) The agency may adopt regulations to implement the loan guarantee program authorized by this section. The agency may adopt these regulations as emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Government Code, and for purposes of that chapter, including Section 11349.6 of the Government Code, the adoption of the regulations shall be considered by the Office of Administrative Law to be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, and general welfare. Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, the regulations shall be repealed within 180 days after their effective date unless the agency complies with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Government Code, as provided in subdivision (e) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code.

(c) Allocations pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be deemed to be for extraordinary emergency or disaster response operations costs incurred by the office agency.

14076.

 (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the corporations make maximal use of their statutory authority to guarantee loans and surety bonds, including the authority to secure loans with a minimum loan loss reserve of only 25 percent, unless the office agency authorizes a higher leverage ratio for an individual corporation pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14037, so that the financing needs of small business may be met as fully as possible within the limits of corporations’ loan loss reserves. The agency shall report annually to the Legislature on the financial status of the corporations and their portfolio of loans and surety bonds guaranteed.

(b) Any corporation that serves an area declared to be in a state of emergency by the Governor or a disaster area by the President of the United States, the Administrator of the United States Small Business Administration, or the United States Secretary of Agriculture shall increase the portfolio of loan guarantees where the dollar amount of the loan is less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), so that at least 15 percent of the dollar value of loans guaranteed by the corporation is for those loans. The corporation shall comply with this requirement within one year of the date the emergency or disaster is declared. Upon application of a corporation, the director may waive or modify the rule for the corporation if the corporation demonstrates that it made a good faith effort to comply and failed to locate lending institutions in the region that the corporation serves that are willing to make guaranteed loans in that amount.

14085.

 It shall be unlawful for the director or any person who is an officer, director, or employee of a corporation, or who is a member of a loan committee, or who is an employee of the office agency to:

(a) Ask for, consent, or agree to receive, any commission, emolument, gratuity, money, property, or thing of value for his or her own use, benefit, or personal advantage, for procuring or endeavoring to procure for any person, partnership, joint venture, association, or corporation, any loan, guarantee, financial, or other assistance from any corporation.

(b) Borrow money, property, or to benefit knowingly, directly or indirectly, from the use of the money, credit, or property of any corporation.

(c) Make, maintain, or attempt to make or maintain, a deposit of the funds of a corporation with any other corporation or association on condition, or with the understanding, expressed or implied, that the corporation or association receiving the deposit shall pay any money or make a loan or advance, directly or indirectly, to any person, partnership, joint venture, association, or corporation, other than to a corporation formed under this part.

14086.

 It shall be unlawful for the director or any person who is an officer or director of a corporation, or who is an employee of the office agency, to purchase or receive, or to be otherwise interested in the purchase or receipt, directly or indirectly, of any asset of a corporation, without paying to the corporation the fair market value of the asset at the time of the transaction.

is added to Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:

3.7.California Emergency Grant Program

15347.

The Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing shall administer the California Emergency Grant Program for the general purpose of helping small businesses and local economies recover from disasters.

15348.

The secretary shall make grants from the Small Business Disaster Recover Loan Loss Reserve Account in the Small Business Expansion Fund to cities and counties, small business development corporations, small business development centers, and other nonprofit organizations, for the following specific purposes:

(a)To provide loan packaging assistance to small businesses who are attempting to qualify for small business administration loans, state loans, or private bank loans, for disaster relief.

(b)To provide counseling and technical assistance to small businesses in the areas of business planning and management, financial analyses, and cost recovery strategy.

(c)To provide bilingual services to business owners and their employees to ensure adequate access to all available disaster relief programs.

(d)To provide for the preparation of long-range economic development plans and revitalization strategies by communities which suffered substantial economic disruption.

(e)To provide assistance to communities to develop marketing plans and disseminate information about economic and business opportunities in the region, such as tourism promotion and available business sites.

(f)The Director of Finance, with the approval of the Governor, may transfer moneys from the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties to the Small Business Disaster Recovery Loan Loss Reserve Account in the Small Business Expansion Fund, for use by the department, in an amount necessary to implement this section.