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Brown OKs loan program after vetoing tax credits
Governor signs off on a program that will back up loans for small businesses to fix access problems.
http://www.pe.com/articles/access-783329-business-small.html
Press-Enterprise
BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY / STAFF WRITER
Published: Oct. 13, 2015 Updated: 4:39 p.m.
One day after vetoing a bill that would have given small-business owners tax credits for work to bring their shops and restaurants up to access codes, Gov. Jerry Brown approved a bill creating a loan assistance program with the same goal.
Brown on Sunday Oct. 11 signed AB 1230, which creates the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program. It will be funded with $10 million from the state’s general fund.
On Saturday, Brown vetoed SB 251, chiefly authored by Sen. Richard Roth, a Riverside Democrat. That bill would have provided 10 percent of access-compliance expenditures, up to $10,250 annually for defined small businesses.
It also gave business owners defined grace periods to fix ADA violations found after an inspection by a certified access specialist. Neither grace period excluded actual damages and injunctive relief, and the law did not eliminate lawsuits as a cure for ADA violations.
Brown vetoed the Roth bill and eight others that had tax credits in their language, saying next year’s budget faced the prospect of over $1 billion in cuts after legislators did not grant an extension of the managed care organization tax the governor sought.
AB1230, authored by Assembly member Jimmy Gomez, a Los Angeles Democrat, will create the disabilities act loan assistance program within the existing California Capital Access Loan Program (CalCAP), which in turn is administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA), overseen by California State Treasurer John Chiang.
The matrix for small business loans under the authority’s programs is to “provide lenders with credit enhancements to encourage small business loans that might not be otherwise possible,” Chiang’s office said.
Through CalCAP, the CPCFA deposits a cash premium into an account for qualifying loans; lenders can apply for a claim on the premium in the event of a default.
The original program was established to help small business owners make improvements to meet pollution control standards; the same type of loan aid will be offered to small businesses to reach ADA compliance when AB 1230 becomes law Jan. 1, 2016.
Like Roth’s bill, AB 1230 was motivated by what Chiang called “predatory litigation brought under the banner of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Such litigation is nothing more than a shakedown leaving the business poorer and the disabled no better off.”
Such litigation cost more to settle than fixing the actual problem, merchants have complained.
“By providing neighborhood businesses with affordable access to construction loans to widen doorways, build accessible parking, and include wheelchair-friendly restrooms, we are providing disabled Californians with access to ordinary life,” Chiang said.
Contact the writer: rdeatley@pe.com or 951-368-9573
Governor signs off on a program that will back up loans for small businesses to fix access problems.
http://www.pe.com/articles/access-783329-business-small.html
Press-Enterprise
BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY / STAFF WRITER
Published: Oct. 13, 2015 Updated: 4:39 p.m.
One day after vetoing a bill that would have given small-business owners tax credits for work to bring their shops and restaurants up to access codes, Gov. Jerry Brown approved a bill creating a loan assistance program with the same goal.
Brown on Sunday Oct. 11 signed AB 1230, which creates the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program. It will be funded with $10 million from the state’s general fund.
On Saturday, Brown vetoed SB 251, chiefly authored by Sen. Richard Roth, a Riverside Democrat. That bill would have provided 10 percent of access-compliance expenditures, up to $10,250 annually for defined small businesses.
It also gave business owners defined grace periods to fix ADA violations found after an inspection by a certified access specialist. Neither grace period excluded actual damages and injunctive relief, and the law did not eliminate lawsuits as a cure for ADA violations.
Brown vetoed the Roth bill and eight others that had tax credits in their language, saying next year’s budget faced the prospect of over $1 billion in cuts after legislators did not grant an extension of the managed care organization tax the governor sought.
AB1230, authored by Assembly member Jimmy Gomez, a Los Angeles Democrat, will create the disabilities act loan assistance program within the existing California Capital Access Loan Program (CalCAP), which in turn is administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA), overseen by California State Treasurer John Chiang.
The matrix for small business loans under the authority’s programs is to “provide lenders with credit enhancements to encourage small business loans that might not be otherwise possible,” Chiang’s office said.
Through CalCAP, the CPCFA deposits a cash premium into an account for qualifying loans; lenders can apply for a claim on the premium in the event of a default.
The original program was established to help small business owners make improvements to meet pollution control standards; the same type of loan aid will be offered to small businesses to reach ADA compliance when AB 1230 becomes law Jan. 1, 2016.
Like Roth’s bill, AB 1230 was motivated by what Chiang called “predatory litigation brought under the banner of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Such litigation is nothing more than a shakedown leaving the business poorer and the disabled no better off.”
Such litigation cost more to settle than fixing the actual problem, merchants have complained.
“By providing neighborhood businesses with affordable access to construction loans to widen doorways, build accessible parking, and include wheelchair-friendly restrooms, we are providing disabled Californians with access to ordinary life,” Chiang said.
Contact the writer: rdeatley@pe.com or 951-368-9573
