(a) The department, or its contracted vendor, shall use moneys in the fund to administer grants to nonprofit organizations in California that are exempt from taxation under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code and that either specialize in assisting pregnant people who are low income, or who face other financial barriers. A grant recipient under this subdivision shall use the funds awarded to fund a new program or support an existing program that increases patient access to abortion. By way of nonlimiting examples, the program and the awarded funds may be used for any of the following:

(1) Practical support services related to seeking abortion.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(2) Abortion navigators, patient navigators, and community health workers services based in California.

(3) Case management support for patients seeking abortion.

(4) Costs associated with training volunteers and staff in the provision of practical support services to abortion patients in California.

(5) Costs associated with enabling grantees that meet the requirements of this section to assist pregnant people with practical support services, including staffing and administrative costs.

(6) Costs associated with coordinating practical support services, abortion providers, and other support services in California.

(b) (1) Unless otherwise specified by the department, grants under this article are for a period of one year and may be renewed.

(2) An application for a grant shall be made on a form to be developed by the department or its contracted vendor.

(3) Decisions regarding the grants and the funding level of the grant shall be made after consideration of all relevant factors, such as the grantee‘s anticipated level of need and the availability of funds.

(c) To administer this section, the department, or its contracted vendor, shall use moneys in the fund to pay direct and indirect costs of the department, or its contracted vendor, including hiring or administrative costs.

(d) The department, or its contracted vendor, shall use moneys in the fund to maintain a system of financial reporting on all aspects of the fund. The financial reporting shall include, but is not limited to, information from the grantees on their expenditures and activities using grant funds associated with this article as the department deems necessary to ensure the use of the funds are consistent with the purposes of this article and the terms of any grant award.

(e) For purposes of this section, the department, or its contracted vendor, shall not require the submission of any identifying personal information about individuals receiving practical support services as part of an application for a grant or reporting of expenditures and activities using grant funds under this article. Information required by the department, or its contracted vendor, may only include information in summary, statistical, or other forms that do not identify particular individuals.

(f) An application for a grant under this article and financial reporting by grantees are exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(g) Contracts entered into or amended pursuant to this article are exempt from Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 14825) of Part 5.5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, § 19130 of the Government Code, Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, and the State Administrative Manual, and are exempt from the review or approval of any division of the Department of General Services.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 738, Sec. 3. (AB 204) Effective September 29, 2022.)