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H.B. 336 Enrolled

             1     

AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH REFUGEE

             2     
SERVICES FUND

             3     
2008 GENERAL SESSION

             4     
STATE OF UTAH

             5     
Chief Sponsor: Christopher N. Herrod

             6     
Senate Sponsor: Gregory S. Bell

             7     
             8      LONG TITLE
             9      General Description:
             10          This bill creates a restricted special revenue fund, known as the Refugee Services Fund,
             11      for purposes related to the supplying of services to refugees located in the state.
             12      Highlighted Provisions:
             13          This bill:
             14          .    creates a restricted special revenue fund, known as the Refugee Services Fund,
             15      identifies a revenue stream for the fund, and provides that fund monies shall be used
             16      to train refugee organizations to develop their capacity to operate effectively and to
             17      provide grants to organizations to provide refugee services;
             18          .    provides for administration of the Refugee Services Fund by the director of the
             19      Employment Development Division of the Department of Workforce Services;
             20          .    provides the purposes for which monies in the Refugee Services Fund may be used;
             21          .    provides for monitoring of the Refugee Services Fund and an accounting of how
             22      monies in the fund are spent; and
             23          .    provides for an annual report.
             24      Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
             25          None
             26      Other Special Clauses:
             27          This bill provides an immediate effective date.
             28      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             29      ENACTS:


             30          35A-3-116, Utah Code Annotated 1953
             31     
             32      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             33          Section 1. Section 35A-3-116 is enacted to read:
             34          35A-3-116. Restricted special revenue fund -- Use of monies -- Committee and
             35      director duties -- Restrictions.
             36          (1) There is created a restricted special revenue fund, known as the "Refugee Services
             37      Fund," hereafter referred to in this section as "the fund."
             38          (2) The director or the director's designee, hereafter referred to in this section as the
             39      director, shall administer the fund with input from the Department of Community and Culture,
             40      including any advisory committees within the Department of Community and Culture that deal
             41      with refugee services issues.
             42          (3) (a) Money shall be deposited into the fund from numerous sources, including federal
             43      grants, private foundations, and individual donors.
             44          (b) The director shall encourage a refugee who receives services from activities funded
             45      under Subsection (8) to become a donor to the fund once the refugee's financial situation
             46      improves to the point where the refugee is capable of making a donation.
             47          (4) The director may not expend monies in the fund that are not restricted to a specific
             48      use under federal law or by donors without input from the Department of Community and
             49      Culture, either directly or through an advisory committee identified in Subsection (2).
             50          (5) The state treasurer shall invest the monies in the fund under Title 51, Chapter 7,
             51      State Money Management Act, except that all interest or other earnings derived from the fund
             52      monies shall be deposited in the General Fund.
             53          (6) The monies in the fund may not be used by the director for administrative expenses.
             54          (7) If the Department of Community and Culture establishes a refugee services advisory
             55      committee referred to in Subsection (2), that committee may:
             56          (a) advise the director on refugee services needs in the state and on relevant operational
             57      aspects of any grant or revenue collection program established under this part;


             58          (b) recommend specific refugee projects to the director;
             59          (c) recommend policies and procedures for administering the fund;
             60          (d) make recommendations on grants made from the fund for any of the refugee
             61      services activities authorized under this section;
             62          (e) advise the director on the criteria by which grants shall be made from the fund;
             63          (f) recommend the order in which approved projects would be funded;
             64          (g) make recommendations regarding the distribution of money from the fund in
             65      accordance with the procedures, conditions, and restrictions placed upon monies in the fund by
             66      donors; and
             67          (h) have joint responsibility to solicit public and private funding for the fund.
             68          (8) The director may use fund monies to:
             69          (a) train an existing refugee organization to develop its capacity to operate
             70      professionally and effectively and to become an independent, viable organization; or
             71          (b) provide grants to an existing refugee organization and other entities identified in
             72      Subsection (9) to assist them:
             73          (i) with case management;
             74          (ii) in meeting emergency housing needs for refugees;
             75          (iii) in providing English language services;
             76          (iv) in providing interpretive services;
             77          (v) in finding and maintaining employment for refugees;
             78          (vi) in collaborating with the state's public education system to improve the involvement
             79      of refugee parents in assimilating their children into public schools;
             80          (vii) in meeting the health and mental health needs of refugees;
             81          (viii) in providing or arranging for child care services; or
             82          (ix) in administering refugee services.
             83          (9) In addition to Subsection (8), the director with advice from the Department of
             84      Community and Culture or its refugee services advisory committee, if one is created, may grant
             85      fund money for refugee services outlined in Subsection (8) through a request for proposal


             86      process to:
             87          (a) local governments;
             88          (b) nonprofit community, charitable, or neighborhood-based organizations or private
             89      for profit organizations that deal solely or in part with providing or arranging for the provision
             90      of refugee services; or
             91          (c) regional or statewide nonprofit organizations.
             92          (10) The director shall enter into a written agreement with each successful grant
             93      applicant that has specific terms for each grant consistent with the provisions of this section that
             94      includes the structure, amount, and nature of the grant.
             95          (11) The director shall monitor the activities of the recipients of grants issued from the
             96      fund on an annual basis to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions imposed on the
             97      recipient by the fund.
             98          (12) An entity receiving a grant shall provide the director with periodic accounting of
             99      how the monies it received from the fund were spent.
             100          (13) By November 1 of each year the director shall make an annual report to the
             101      Workforce Services and Community and Economic Development Interim Committee regarding
             102      the status of the fund and the programs and services funded by the fund.
             103          Section 2. Effective date.
             104          If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this bill takes effect
             105      upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah
             106      Constitution Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto,
             107      the date of veto override.


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