Arts Council: The Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund.

The Dixon-Zenovich-Maddy California Arts Act of 1975 establishes the Arts Council, consisting of 11 appointed members. The act specifies the duties of the council, including providing for the exhibition of art works in public buildings throughout California. Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development. Existing law authorizes the Governor to appoint the Director of the Office of Small Business Advocate who serves as the Small Business Advocate. Existing law requires the advocate to serve as the principal advocate in the state on behalf of small businesses, to represent the views and interests of small businesses before other state agencies, and to enlist the cooperation and assistance of public and private agencies, businesses, and other organizations in disseminating information about the programs and services provided by state government that are of benefit to small businesses, among other things. This bill would create in the State Treasury the Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund. The bill would require the Office of Small Business Advocate to establish and administer a grant program, funded by the Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of enabling small nonprofit performing arts organizations, as defined, to hire and retain employees. The bill would limit the eligibility of applicants for the grant program to applicants that submit specified information, and, in some cases, information that has been attested to, including founding documents for the organizations, various policies and statements of the organization, financial records of the organization, or of its fiscal sponsor; and evidence of its production and advertisement of performing arts events that it has made open to the public. The bill would exclude various organizations from eligibility, as specified. The bill would require any recipient of the grant to provide the office with certified information, including certification that the grant funds were used for only the specified purposes allowed by these provisions; organizational information including venue size where applicable, annual budget, the number of employees and independent contractors in the last budget year, and the percentage of budget spent on payroll expenses; and certification that there have been no final judgments relating to employee misclassification at any time after the effective date of these provisions. This bill would require the office to adopt regulations as necessary for ensuring that grant recipients have not used moneys for other purposes and for validating the accuracy of certifications provided. The bill would authorize the office to distribute the grant according to a specified schedule that assigns a percentage of the first $10,000 of payroll expenses to be reimbursed based on the adjusted gross revenue, as defined, of the grant recipient organization per employee per quarter.