(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Employer” means a person or entity who has petitioned, or will petition, to import an H-2A worker pursuant to Section 1188 of Title 8 of the United States Code to work on the employer’s agricultural land.
(2) “H-2A worker” means a nonimmigrant alien as described in Section 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of Title 8 of the United States Code employed to work for an employer.
(3) “State funding” means any provision of moneys or other financial assistance provided by the state or a state agency, including, but not limited to, grants, loans, and write-downs of land costs, but does not include any allocation of federal or state low-income housing tax credits pursuant to Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 50199.4) of this part or Sections 12206, 17058, or 23610.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other law and subject to paragraph (2), state funding shall not be provided to an employer or its agent who employs at least one H-2A worker for the purposes of funding predevelopment of, developing, or operating any housing.
(2) Any employer or other recipient of state funding who utilizes state funding for the purposes described in paragraph (1) shall reimburse the state or state agency that provided the funding in an amount equal to the amount of that state funding expended for those purposes.
(3) This subdivision shall not apply to any contract or other enforceable agreement pursuant to which the state or a state agency provides state funding that was entered into prior to January 1, 2020.
(4) The department shall not be responsible for inspecting units that are not subsidized by funding received by the department.
(5) A person or entity who receives state funding on and after January 1, 2020, and expends any of those funds for the purpose of funding predevelopment of, developing, or operating any housing shall submit a declaration to the entity administering the funding which declares the following:
(A) (i) The person or entity is not an agricultural employer, as defined in Section 1140.4 of the Labor Code, or its agent, or a farm labor contractor, as defined in Section 1682 of the Labor Code, or its agent, who employs at least one H-2A worker, as defined in Section 50205.
(ii) The person or entity will not rent, sell, or sublease housing funded pursuant to this chapter to an agricultural employer, as defined in Section 1140.4 of the Labor Code, or its agent, or a farm labor contractor, as defined in Section 1682 of the Labor Code, or its agent, who employs at least one H-2A worker, as defined in Section 50205, until the expiration of the regulatory agreement or affordability covenant, as applicable.
(B) The declaration described in subparagraph (A) may be met through the inclusion in a regulatory agreement, contract, or affordability covenant, as applicable, with the entity administering the funding program that is signed by the person or entity receiving funds.
(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 264, Sec. 14. (AB 107) Effective September 29, 2020.)