Governor Newsom on Wednesday released his May Revision to the state budget he proposed this past January 2021. As you recall, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) last December rolled out a grant program for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. That effort initially excluded veteran services organizations and our lobbying firm was able to quickly correct that oversight.
We have not heard from anyone whether local posts were successful in obtaining a grant, but we heard from folks that they were unsuccessful in obtaining a grant.
Governor Newsom announced an additional three rounds of funding ($1.5 billion total) on Wednesday, but the Legislature must approve his proposal. The soonest this additional funding, if approved, would be available is July 1, 2021. Note that the Governor proposes to first offer two closed rounds to applicants that did not receive a grant yet.
Here is a summary of the Governor’s announcement on May 19:
SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
As referenced in the immediate action section, $2.5 billion has been allocated to provide immediate relief to small businesses affected by the pandemic. This funding supported six rounds of grants to small businesses, including a special round for nonprofit cultural institutions. As of May 2021, approximately 198,000 small businesses either have been or will be awarded grants. Due to the high demand for the program, after the sixth round of funding, it is estimated that approximately 180,000 applications will remain unfunded.
The May Revision proposes $1.5 billion federal ARPA funds for three additional rounds of grants to provide relief to more small businesses. The Office of the Small Business Advocate, within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), will first offer two closed rounds to target the applicants who are currently waitlisted—some of whom have been on the list since December—and then offer a final round that will be open to both new applicants and waitlisted applicants, to capture any entities who have not applied before or may still be on the waitlist.
Of the $50 million allocated for nonprofit cultural institutions, only $34 million was awarded to eligible recipients, leaving $16 million available for this purpose. The May Revision proposes opening additional rounds of grants for eligible nonprofit cultural institutions until the full $50 million has been awarded.
We encourage VSOs to again alert posts regarding this grant program and encourage them to apply.
Author: Seth Reeb
Seth Reeb of Reeb Government Relations is veterans legislative advocate for the American Legion Department of California and a member of El Dorado Post 119.
