Office of Emergency Services: federal grant funding; Community Relief Act.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not specify which legislative committees will receive copies of agreements.

Community Relief Act: Federal Grant Funding for Disaster Assistance

This act requires the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to provide local operational areas and urban areas with federal grant funding as much as allowed by federal law, and establishes a new Community Relief Act program to help people affected by disasters.

What This Bill Does

• Requires OES to give local operational areas and urban areas the maximum amount of federal grant funding from the Emergency Management Performance Grant Program that is permitted by federal law.
• Makes sure that certain legislative committees get copies of agreements made with local governments about spending state share of federal grant funds, including those from the State Homeland Security Grant Program.
• Allows OES to keep up to 3% of federal grant funding for administrative tasks like paperwork and meetings.
• Creates a new Community Relief Act program to give financial help to local agencies, tribal governments, community-based organizations, and individuals dealing with disaster costs.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local operational areas and urban areas in California
• Tribal governments and community-based organizations
• Individuals affected by disasters

Terms To Know

Emergency Management Performance Grant Program

A federal program that gives money to states for emergency management activities.

Community Relief Act

A new grant program created by the bill to help people affected by disasters.

Limits and Unknowns

• The OES can only provide federal grant funding as much as allowed by federal law.
• Details about how the Community Relief Act will be run are not fully explained and may need further rules from the Director of Emergency Services.

Official Summary Text

AB 624, as introduced, Dixon.
Office of Emergency Services: federal grant funding; Community Relief Act.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services (OES) within the office of the Governor, and sets forth its powers and duties relating to addressing natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property.
This bill would require the OES, to the extent permitted by federal law, to provide to local operational areas and urban areas the maximum local share of federal grant funding administered by the office from the Emergency Management Performance Grant Program. The bill would also require the OES, to the extent permitted by federal law, to provide specified legislative committees with copies of agreements entered into with local
governments to spend the state share of federal grant funding administered by the office from specified federal grant programs, including the State Homeland Security Grant Program. The bill would authorize the office to retain up to 3% of the above-described federal grant funding for administrative purposes.
Existing law, the California Disaster Assistance Act, requires the Director of Emergency Services to provide financial assistance to local agencies for their personnel costs, equipment costs, and the cost of supplies and materials used during disaster response activities, incurred as a result of a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor, subject to specified criteria. The act continuously appropriates moneys in the Disaster Assistance Fund and its subsidiary account, the Earthquake Emergency Investigations Account, without regard to fiscal year, for purposes of the act.
This bill would
enact the Community Relief Act to establish a grant program to provide financial assistance to local agencies, tribal governments, community-based organizations, and individuals for specified costs related to a disaster, as prescribed. The bill would require the director to allocate from the fund, subject to specified conditions, funds to meet the cost of expenses for those purposes. By authorizing increased expenditure of moneys from a continuously appropriated fund for a new purpose, the bill would make an appropriation.
This bill would authorize the director to adopt regulations, as determined to be necessary, to govern the administration of the program.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF