Unless the context requires otherwise, for purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

secretarial procedures.

provided in the Probate Code, common law, or equitable principles. Moneys in the fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the discretionary distribution of funds to nongaming tribes and limited-gaming tribes upon application of those tribes for purposes related to effective self-governance, self-determined community, and economic development.

application on a form developed by the panel

pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 12019.45.

each grant proposal. Two or more eligible tribes may apply for one specific distribution grant by submitting a joint application.

development. Eligible purposes or projects for specific distribution grants may include, but are not limited to, development of curricula in a tribal language or culture, housing, support for compliance with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, vocational training, community development, investments in tribal schools and colleges, support of tribal government institutions and tribal courts, nongaming economic diversification, or investment in public health, information technology, renewable energy, water conservation, cultural preservation or awareness, educational programs, or scholarships.

Section 12019.45.

(B) Each year thereafter, the eligible tribe’s equal shares grant application shall automatically renew for the eligible tribe to receive equal shares grants on a rolling basis, subject to the panel’s annual independent verification that the applicant is an eligible tribe as of the application deadline set by the panel.

for specific distribution grants shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

project.

representative of every eligible tribe applying in the application.

and panel deem valuable to evaluating the merits of awarding a grant.

making other distributions from the fund to eligible tribes.

compacts or class III gaming secretarial procedures, the commission and its staff shall not exercise discretion or control over the approval or disapproval of grant applications or the use of grants or other distributions from the fund by eligible tribes.

not limited to, holding, when necessary in a closed session, as authorized by Section 11126.4.5.

member may voluntarily recuse the member’s own self from the consideration of a grant application or a particular agenda item.

appointment made pursuant to this paragraph, the adviser shall only appoint an individual who is an elected tribal leader from a federally recognized tribe in California and shall endeavor to establish a panel that represents the diversity of tribes in California. No member appointed pursuant to this paragraph shall serve on the panel on or after January 1, 2020, unless separately appointed pursuant to a process authorized in paragraph (2).

appointed as they jointly determine is necessary to fairly and equitably achieve the purposes for which the fund was created.

whose application was automatically renewed by the deadline established by the panel. In the event that equal shares of six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) per eligible tribe exceeds 100 percent of the available moneys in the fund, the panel shall distribute as equal shares grants a proportional amount per eligible tribe that in total equals 100 percent of the available moneys in the fund. The panel shall distribute amounts awarded as annual equal shares grants in quarterly distributions within 45 days of the end of each fiscal quarter. The distributions shall be made at or around the same time as the California Gambling Control Commission makes its quarterly payments from the Indian Gaming

Revenue Sharing Trust Fund under subdivision (b) of Section 12012.90.

grant application or in compliance with conditions and limitations imposed by the panel.

with relevant experience to review and score applications. The technical experts may be compensated up to a one-hundred-dollar ($100) per diem for each day spent reviewing and scoring applications.

The panel may, in its discretion, modify any deadline it established for the use of a grant.

By applying for a grant, each eligible tribe and each individual applying on behalf of each eligible tribe shall agree to all of the following:

provide access to the panel, advisor, commission, bureau, or other state entity designated by the Governor to all documents relevant to the use of the grant to allow a comprehensive audit, to ensure a grant is used for the purpose or project set forth in the application, in compliance with the conditions or limitations on the grant, and applicable tribal-state gaming compacts and class III gaming secretarial procedures.

On or before July 15, 2020, and annually thereafter, the commission shall prepare and post on its Internet Web site a report detailing the status of grants and other distributions made from the fund for the previous fiscal year. In preparing the report, the commission shall not provide information prohibited from public disclosure pursuant to Section 12019.55, unless the eligible tribe that is the subject of the information authorizes the commission to include that information in the report as evidenced in a writing signed by an authorized representative of the eligible tribe.

The activities authorized and required by this article, including, but not limited to, the administrative and procedural support services provided by the commission, its staff, and the advisor, the costs and compensation of members of the panel, and the costs of audits, are regulatory costs in connection with the implementation and administration of responsibilities imposed by tribal-state gaming compacts and class III gaming secretarial procedures, and shall be funded by moneys in the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, and shall not be funded from the Indian Gaming Revenue Sharing Trust Fund or the fund.

Actions taken under this article shall be consistent with the provisions of tribal-state gaming compacts and class III gaming secretarial procedures.