AB 685

Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate (OSBA) within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as GO-Biz, to advocate for causes of small business and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace. Existing law also establishes the California Small Business Technical Assistance Program (SB-TAP) within OSBA, under the direct authority of the Small Business Advocate, for the purpose of assisting small businesses through free or low-cost one-on-one consulting and low-cost training by entering into grant agreements with one or more small business technical assistance centers. Under existing law, OSBA administers the Capital Infusion Program (CIP) pursuant to the SB-TAP, as specified. This bill would establish the Small Business Resiliency and Innovation Act to provide assistance to small businesses. For this purpose, the bill would appropriate $26,000,000 from the General Fund to the Small Business Resiliency and Innovation Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury. The bill would require OSBA to administer the fund and to allocate moneys in the fund to both the CIP and the SB-TAP, and to OSBA for administrative purposes, as provided. The bill would require Go-Biz to submit a report to the Legislature detailing the allocation and expenditure of funds pursuant to these provisions on or before January 1, 2030. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.