(a) Commencing with the 2020-21 fiscal year, up to thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) of the amount of the warrants for the principal apportionments for any of the months of February, March, April, May or June, that are instead to be drawn in the applicable months of the following fiscal year pursuant to Section 84321.62, may be drawn in February, March, April, May, or June, as applicable, subject to the approval of the Director of Finance, for a community college district as follows:

(1) In order for a community college district to receive a payment in February, March, April, May, or June pursuant to this section, the community college district shall certify to the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and to the Director of Finance at least two months before the applicable deferral that the deferral of warrants pursuant to Section 84321.62 will result in the community college district being unable to meet its financial obligations for any of the months of February, March, April, May, or June, as applicable, and shall provide the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges an estimate of the amount of additional funds necessary for the community college district to meet its financial obligations for the months of February, March, April, May, or June, as applicable.

(2) The criteria, as applicable, set forth in statute and regulations to qualify a community college district for an emergency apportionment shall be used to make the certification specified in paragraph (1).

(3) A community college district may receive, pursuant to this section, no more than the lesser of the following:

(A) The total amount of additional funds necessary for the community college district to meet its financial obligations for any of the months of February, March, April, May, or June, as reported to the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges pursuant to paragraph (1).

(B) The total payments the community college district is entitled to receive in the applicable deferral month pursuant to Section 84321.62.

(b) If the total amount requested by community college districts pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) exceeds thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) for any of the applicable deferral months, the Controller, the Treasurer, and the Director of Finance may authorize additional payments to meet these requests, but total payments to community college districts pursuant to this section shall not exceed sixty million dollars ($60,000,000) for any of the applicable deferral months. No later than one month before the applicable deferral, the Controller, the Treasurer, and the Director of Finance shall determine whether sufficient cash is available to make payments in excess of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) to a community college district. In making the determination that cash is sufficient to make additional payments, in whole or in part, the Controller, Treasurer, and Director of Finance shall consider costs for state government, the scope of any identified cash shortage, timing, achievability, legislative direction, and the impact and hardship imposed on potentially affected programs, entities, and related public services. The Department of Finance shall notify the Joint Legislative Budget Committee within 10 days of this determination and identify the total amount of requests that will be paid.

(c) If the total amount of cash made available pursuant to subdivision (b) is less than the amount requested pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), payments to community college districts shall be prorated.

(d) Payments pursuant to this section shall be made by the Controller no later than the last business day of the months of February, March, April, May, or June, as applicable.

(e) By August 1 of each year, commencing in 2021, the Department of Finance, in collaboration with the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, shall notify the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the following information by each community college district that, in the prior fiscal year, requested an exemption to the deferral of payments:

(1) The amount requested for each applicable month pursuant to subdivision (a).

(2) The amount received for each applicable month pursuant to this section. and, if the request was not granted, the reason for the denial.

(f) Except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (e) of Section 41202, for purposes of making the computations required by § 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, the warrants drawn pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be deemed to be “General Fund revenues appropriated for community college districts,” as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 41202, for the fiscal year in which the warrants are required to be drawn pursuant to Section 84321.62, and included within the “total allocations to school districts and community college districts from General Fund proceeds of taxes appropriated pursuant to XIII B,” as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 41202, for the fiscal year in which the warrants are required to be drawn pursuant to Section 84321.62.

(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 25, Sec. 8. (SB 116) Effective June 29, 2020.)