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AB-482 California Cultural and Historical Endowment.(2013-2014)

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AB482:v94#DOCUMENT

Assembly Bill No. 482
CHAPTER 590

An act to amend Sections 20053 and 20080 of, and to add Section 20092 to, the Education Code, relating to the California Cultural and Historical Endowment.

[ Approved by Governor  October 05, 2013. Filed with Secretary of State  October 05, 2013. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 482, Atkins. California Cultural and Historical Endowment.
Existing law, the California Cultural and Historical Endowment Act, establishes the California Cultural and Historical Endowment in the California State Library, and provides that it is chaired by the State Librarian. Among other things, the act authorizes the endowment to make grants and loans on a competitive basis to public agencies and nonprofit organizations, as defined, to encourage development of California’s historical and cultural resources and requires the endowment to undertake a comprehensive survey of the state of cultural and historical preservation, accessibility, and interpretation in California.
This bill would transfer the California Cultural and Historical Endowment to the Natural Resources Agency and would provide that the endowment be chaired by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency and that the State Librarian remain as a member. The bill would also make a conforming change.
This bill would authorize the endowment to create a specified competitive grant program to support small capital projects in museums. The bill would, if the endowment creates the grant program, require the endowment to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program. The bill would require that the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates be deposited in the California Cultural and Historical Endowment Fund, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be available to fund the grant program.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 20053 of the Education Code is amended to read:

20053.
 (a) There is in the Natural Resources Agency the California Cultural and Historical Endowment, consisting of the following 10 members:
(1) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, who shall serve as chair of the endowment, or his or her designee.
(2) The State Librarian, or his or her designee.
(3) The Director of Finance, or his or her designee.
(4) Three members appointed by the Governor.
(5) Two members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(6) Two members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(b) Two Members of the Senate, appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and two Members of the Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, shall meet with the endowment and participate in its activities to the extent that such participation is not incompatible with their respective positions as Members of the Legislature.

SEC. 2.

 Section 20080 of the Education Code is amended to read:

20080.
 The endowment shall undertake a comprehensive survey of the state of cultural and historical preservation, accessibility, and interpretation in California. In conducting the survey, the endowment shall coordinate with existing state agencies, including the California Arts Council and the Secretary of State. The report shall include all of the following:
(a) A survey of elements in California’s existing assemblage of buildings, sites, artifacts, museums, cultural landscapes, trails, illustrations, the arts and artistic expressions, written materials, and displays and interpretive centers that are missing or underrepresented, such as if current facilities, materials, and services leave out, misrepresent, or inadequately present some important thread of the story of California as a unified society or of the many groups of people that together comprise historic and modern California.
(b) Recommendations for steps that should be taken to fill in the missing or underrepresented elements identified in subdivision (a).
(c) Recommendations for the manner of transferring the Office of Historic Preservation in the Department of Parks and Recreation to the endowment, consistent with the Legislature’s intent expressed in Section 20052.5.
(d) Recommendations for additional steps that should be taken to better preserve and administer cultural and historic resources efficiently and effectively, including additional actions that should be taken to improve the governmental structures responsible for historic and cultural preservation in California, including oversight and support of museums. In particular, the endowment shall examine the feasibility and desirability of establishing the endowment as a separate institution in state government, without ties to any existing agency or department, although under the general authority of the Governor. The endowment shall also identify the most appropriate chair, or the most appropriate method for selecting the chair, of its board.
(e) A survey of the capacities and fiscal conditions of public, nonprofit, and other private entities in California that provide cultural and historical facilities and services, including museums.
(f) Recommendations for the future financing of cultural and historical programs provided by public agencies and nonprofit agencies in California, including museums.
(g) Recommendations for programs to encourage the historic maintenance and restoration of properties in private ownership, including, but not limited to, a state tax credit for restoration of historic properties that maintain historic integrity, property tax deferral as long as a property’s historic integrity is maintained, and low interest loans.
(h) A study of the economic impact of the preservation and interpretation of cultural and historic resources in the state. This should include the economic benefits resulting from the preservation of historic commercial and residential properties and sites, and from historic and cultural tourism activities.

SEC. 3.

 Section 20092 is added to the Education Code, to read:

20092.
 (a) The endowment may create a competitive grant program to support small capital projects in museums pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 20057. The grant program shall give priority to the objectives listed in Section 20091. Once funding becomes available from the sale of specialized license plates pursuant to subdivision (b), funding for the grant program shall only be made, upon apppropriation by the Legislature, from the funds collected pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) If the endowment creates the grant program described in subdivision (a), the endowment shall apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to Section 5156 of the Vehicle Code for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program. It is hereby warranted to the purchasers of these specialized license plates that the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates shall be deposited in the California Cultural and Historical Endowment Fund to fund the grant program described in subdivision (a). The endowment shall comply with all of the requirements of Article 8.6 (commencing with Section 5151) of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of the Vehicle Code that apply to a state agency that sponsors a specialized license plate program.