State-funded assistance grants and contracts: advance payments.

Existing law authorizes a state agency administering a grant program or contract to advance a payment to a recipient entity, subject to specified requirements. Existing law defines "recipient entity" for these purposes to mean a private, nonprofit organization qualified under federal law, or a federally recognized Indian tribe whose territorial boundaries lie wholly or partially within the State of California, as specified. Existing law requires the administering state agency, among other things, to prioritize recipient entities and projects serving disadvantaged, low-income, and under-resourced communities, to stipulate an advance payment structure and request process within the grant agreement or contract, and to ensure an advance payment to the recipient entity does not exceed 25% of the total grant or contract amount, except as specified. Existing law requires recipient entities to satisfy specified minimum requirements, including depositing any funds received as an advance payment into a federally insured account, as specified. This bill would limit the requirement to prioritize recipient entities and projects to grants and contracts advertised before January 1, 2026. The bill would eliminate the requirement to stipulate an advance payment structure and request process, and, instead, would require the administering agency to consider utilizing specified advance payment best practices and processes. The bill would limit the above-described federally insured account requirement to apply only to grants and contracts in excess of $10,000. The bill would require, rather than authorize, an administering state agency to advance a payment to a recipient entity in accordance with the above requirements for all grants and contracts advertised on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would require the solicitation for the grant or contract to state the percentage of the grant or contract funds that may be distributed as an advance payment. Existing law requires each state agency to register every grant the state agency administers with the California State Library prior to commencing a solicitation or award process for distribution of the grant, and to provide specified information that assists the California State Library with cataloging the distribution of grants and provides potential applicants with understandable and consistent information about available funding opportunities. This bill would require a state agency to include within the information submitted to the California State Library, the percentage of the grant funds that may be distributed as an advance payment.