(a)  Five million dollars ($5,000,000) of the funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter in Item 2240-114-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2000 shall be transferred to the Rental Housing Construction Fund created pursuant to Section 50740 to be used pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c).

(b)  The department shall provide state grants to local agencies to assist them in attracting new business and jobs in “housing rich” communities that lack an adequate employment base to match the amount and cost of housing in those communities.

(c)  A local agency that has completed an economic development strategic plan may apply for a grant to create an economic development strike team to assist the local agency in better targeting and coordinating outreach to employers who may choose to locate jobs within the community.

(d)  In order to be eligible for a grant pursuant to this section, a local agency shall have an adopted housing element that the department has determined pursuant to Section 65585 of the Government Code to be in substantial compliance with the requirements of Article 10.6 (commencing with Section 65580) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code.

(e)  The department shall establish maximum grant amounts and establish an appropriate process for evaluating need and making grant awards.

(f)  No later than December 31, 2002, the department shall provide an interim report to the Legislature indicating the progress of the program established by this section, including the number of jurisdictions accessing the program. No later than December 31, 2005, the department shall provide a final report with updates to the data contained in the interim report and a description of the achievements by local agencies participating in the program.

(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 665, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2001.)