(a) From any funds appropriated by the annual Budget Act or another statute for purposes of this article, the commission shall administer the program, which is hereby established. Under this program, the commission shall make available one-time grants to California resident workers who have been displaced from their employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are not already accessing an educational or training program, can demonstrate a financial need by meeting the income and asset qualifications, established pursuant to subdivision (k) of Section 69432.7, to be eligible for a Cal Grant A award, and agree to use the grant funds for any of the following purposes:

(1) To access an educational program or qualified training program at an institution of higher education.

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(2) To obtain training from a provider that is included on the state’s Eligible Training Provider List.

(b) (1) The commission shall determine the amount of each grant award so that no grant awarded under this article is less than one thousand dollars ($1,000), and no award exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500). The commission shall consider individual applicant financial need and educational or training program costs in determining individual award amounts. The commission shall prioritize available grants to participants with incomes that are the greatest percentage less than the average monthly family or individual income in calendar years 2018 and 2019 needed to meet the average living wage in the participant’s California county or metropolitan statistical area of the state, as computed by the living wage calculation developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

(2) The commission shall allocate at least one-half of the funding appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another statute for purposes of this article to provide grants to eligible individuals who are caring for at least one dependent child under 18 years of age in the calendar year of the application.

(c) In awarding grants to individuals pursuant to this article, the commission shall do all of the following:

(1) Develop an application for prospective individuals to request a grant. In developing the application, the commission shall consider if the application process can be integrated within the application process for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the California Dream Act application.

(2) Verify that an applicant was displaced from the applicant’s employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and meets the income and asset criteria, established pursuant to subdivision (k) of Section 69432.7, to be eligible for a Cal Grant A award.

(3) Require an applicant to self-certify that they have been unable to obtain employment that provides an average monthly wage that is equal to, or greater than, the average monthly wage received from their employment before the COVID-19 pandemic.

(4) Verify that the applicant was not enrolled in a training program, college, or university at the time the applicant was displaced from the applicant’s employment.

(5) Ensure that, if a student opts to attend an institution of higher education, the student’s grant funding is used to supplement and not supplant other sources of grant financial aid.

(d) Grants allocated by the commission under this article shall be used to do either of the following:

(1) Support the costs to access an educational program offered by an institution of higher education.

(2) Obtain training from a provider that is included on the state’s Eligible Training Provider List, and that has a demonstrated track record of having the majority of its participants obtain employment that pays at least a living wage, as calculated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology within one calendar year of program completion.

(e) An eligible individual may request and receive no more than one grant under this article.

(f) To the extent practicable, applicants determined to be eligible for a grant under this article shall have their grants provided directly to the institution of higher education of their choosing or directly to the applicable training provider included on the state’s Eligible Training Provider List.

(g) The commission shall collaborate with institutions of higher education to facilitate the offering of these grant opportunities through campuses of those institutions. As a condition of making these grants available to individuals through institutions of higher education, those institutions shall comply with the applicable programmatic requirements of subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, and report the information necessary for the commission to complete the report required pursuant to subdivision (i). To the extent practicable, institutions of higher education shall match the grant awards provided to individuals enrolling in an educational program offered by the institution with any available institutional aid.

(h) The commission may adopt regulations it deems necessary for the implementation of this program. If the commission opts to adopt regulations pursuant to this subdivision, these regulations shall be adopted by December 31, 2021, and shall be adopted as emergency regulations in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). For purposes of the Administrative Procedure Act, including § 11349.6 of the Government Code, the adoption of those regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, or general welfare, notwithstanding subdivision (e) of § 11346.1 of the Government Code.

(i) No later than December 31, 2023, the commission shall report to the Legislature, in compliance with § 9795 of the Government Code, and to the Governor on the number of grants provided to an institution of higher education on behalf of a grantee or to a training provider included on the state’s Eligible Training Provider List on behalf of a grantee.

(j) (1) The commission may use up to 1 percent of the amount appropriated for purposes of this article to support its direct costs in administering the program.

(2) Institutions of higher education administering this grant program through their campuses may use up to 1 percent of the amount allocated to their campuses for purposes of this section to support direct costs to administer the program.

(3) The commission shall provide a portion of funds not to exceed 1 percent of the amount appropriated for purposes of this article to institutions of higher education administering this grant program for purposes of promoting the program and attracting eligible applicants in their respective communities.

(k) The Legislature finds and declares, within the meaning of subsection (d) of Section 1621 of Title 8 of the United States Code, that undocumented persons shall be eligible to receive grants under this article.

(l) It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate state funding in the annual Budget Act or another statute to support the provision of a grant award to any eligible resident who meets, or could meet in a future year, the requirements for exemption from nonresident tuition pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 68130.5.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 144, Sec. 30. (AB 132) Effective July 27, 2021.)