California Disaster Assistance Act.

The California Assembly Committee on Emergency Management, led by Chair Ransom, proposes modifications to the state's disaster assistance framework that would mandate the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to establish a formal community recovery process and expand participation of private nonprofit organizations in emergency response efforts.

The legislation requires OES to implement a model recovery process following gubernatorial emergency proclamations, detailing specific roles and procedures for emergency response. This process would outline protocols for deploying OES representatives onsite, coordinating temporary services like crisis counseling and housing assistance, and establishing local assistance centers. The bill explicitly incorporates private nonprofit organizations into the state's emergency response structure, defining their eligibility for state assistance when providing disaster-related services that incur extraordinary costs.

Under the proposed changes, private nonprofits must meet federal Stafford Act eligibility criteria to receive state assistance for emergency supply distribution and related activities. The bill maintains existing prohibitions on organizations that incorporate religious content in their emergency services, while requiring compliance with state and federal civil rights laws and constitutional provisions regarding religious organizations. Rather than formal regulations, OES would issue implementation guidelines for these provisions, potentially allowing more responsive updates to emergency response protocols.