07 LC
36 0390
House
Bill 137
By:
Representatives Teilhet of the
40th,
Fludd of the
66th,
Davis of the
122nd,
Starr of the
78th,
Marin of the
96th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to general provisions of the Department of Economic
Development, so as to provide for the establishment of a grant program to
support training and technical assistance for low-income microentrepreneurs; to
provide for legislative findings; to provide for definitions; to provide for
rules and regulations; to provide for related matters; to provide for an
effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
1 of Chapter 7 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to general provisions of the Department of Economic Development, is amended by
adding Code Section 50-7-18, to read as follows:
"50-7-18.
(a)
The General Assembly finds and determines that:
(1)
Development and expansion of businesses in economically distressed communities
in both rural and urban areas can assist residents who are unemployed,
underemployed, or in low-income jobs;
(2)
Microenterprises provide a means for unemployed, underemployed, or low-income
individuals to find and sustain productive work, and they provide opportunities
for economically distressed communities to thrive;
(3)
Low-income microentrepreneurs lack access to capital, training, and technical
assistance;
(4)
Many low-income microentrepreneurs need lending services and technical
assistance to start, operate, or expand their businesses;
(5)
Local microenterprise support organizations have demonstrated cost-effective
delivery methods for providing lending services and technical assistance;
and
(6)
Charitable foundation support, federal program funding, and private sector
support can be leveraged by a state-wide program for development of
microenterprises.
(b)
As used in this Code section, the term:
(1)
'Commissioner' means the commissioner of the Department of Economic
Development.
(2)
'Low-income person' means a person with income adjusted for family size that
does not exceed:
(A)
For metropolitan areas, 80 percent of median income; or
(B)
For nonmetropolitan areas, the greater of 80 percent of the area median income
or 80 percent of the state-wide nonmetropolitan area median income.
(3)
'Metropolitan area' means a county or group of contiguous counties or parts
thereof as designated by the department which contains at least one central city
of 50,000 inhabitants or more as determined by the latest available federal
census or such other population estimate as may be provided by law.
(4)
'Microenterprise' means a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation that
has fewer than five employees and generally lacks access to conventional loans,
equity, or other banking services.
(5)
'Microenterprise development organization or program' means a nonprofit entity
or a program administered by such an entity, including community development
corporations or other nonprofit development organizations and social service
organizations, that provides services to low-income
microenterprises.
(6)
'Qualified organization' means a nonprofit microenterprise development
organization that has a demonstrated record of delivering services to low-income
individuals.
(7)
'Training and technical assistance' means services and support provided to
low-income owners and operators of microenterprises, such as assistance for the
purpose of enhancing business planning, marketing, management, financial
management skills, and assistance for the purpose of accessing financial
services.
(c)
The commissioner shall establish a microenterprise technical assistance and
capacity building grant program, subject to appropriations by the General
Assembly, to provide assistance in the form of grants to qualified
organizations. The commissioner shall ensure that not less than 50 percent of
the funds made available are used to benefit persons whose income, adjusted for
family size, is not more than 150 percent of the poverty line as defined in 42
U.S.C. Section 9902(2). A qualified organization must provide at least one
dollar in matching funds for every dollar of state financial assistance. Fees,
grants, and gifts from public or private sources may be used to comply with the
matching funds requirement.
(d)
The commissioner shall establish by regulation such requirements as may be
necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Code section."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2007.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.