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 California Individual Assistance Act to establish a grant program to provide financial assistance, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to local agencies, 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. The bill would require the director, in administering the California Individual Assistance Act, to prioritize recipients that are not eligible for federal funding, pursuant to specified regulation, due to the inability to meet minimum damage thresholds.

This bill would require the director to adopt regulations, as determined to be necessary, to govern the administration of the program.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.