(1) There is hereby created in the division the emergency direct assistance grant program, referred to in this section as the "grant program", to provide grants to individuals who have experienced financial need due to the COVID-19 pandemic or second-order effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and who may not be eligible for certain other types of assistance, such as:
Unemployment insurance pursuant to the "Colorado Employment Security Act", articles 70 to 82 of title 8;
Food assistance; or
Federal stimulus payments pursuant to the federal "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act," also known as the "CARES Act", Pub.L. 116-36, as amended.
The division shall administer the grant program and, subject to available funding,shall contract with nonprofit organizations to award grants as provided in this section. Subject to available funding, grants shall be paid out of the fund created in subsection (5) of this section.
The division shall implement the grant program in accordance with this section. Pursuant to article 4 of this title 24, the division may promulgate such rules as are required in this section and such additional rules as may be necessary to implement the grant program, including rules specifying the time frames for applying for grants, the form of the grant program application, and the time frames for distributing grant money.
To receive a grant, an individual must apply to a nonprofit organization with whichthe division has contracted pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.
(a) The emergency direct assistance grant program fund, referred to in this section as the "fund", is hereby created in the state treasury. The fund consists of money credited to the fund pursuant to subsection (7) of this section and any other money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund.
The state treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the deposit andinvestment of money in the fund to the fund.
Except as provided in subsection (5)(e) of this section, any unexpended and unencumbered money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year remains in the fund and does not revert to the general fund or any other fund.
The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the division to expend for thepurposes described in this section.
The state treasurer shall transfer all unexpended and unencumbered money in thefund on June 30, 2022, to the general fund.
During the second regular session of the seventy-third general assembly, the executive director of the department of local affairs shall report to the senate local government committee and the house of representatives transportation and local government committee, or any successor committees, under the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act", part 2 of article 7 of title 2, concerning the administration of the grant program.
(a) Within three days after December 7, 2020, the state treasurer shall transfer five million dollars from the general fund to the fund for the purposes of this section.
The division must use the money by June 30, 2021, for the purposes described in thissection.
The division may use up to three percent of the money transferred pursuant to thissubsection (7) to pay the costs of administering the grant program.
Any full-time employee that the division hires or contracts with for the purpose ofimplementing this section shall not be employed by the division for such purpose after September 1, 2022.
As used in this section, "COVID-19" means the coronavirus disease 2019 caused bythe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, also known as SARS-CoV-2.
This section is repealed, effective June 30, 2022.
Source: L. 2020, 1st Ex. Sess.: Entire section added, (SB 20B-002), ch. 8, p. 41, § 2, effective December 7.