II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 771 

To amend section 21 of the Small Business Act to require cyber certification 

for small business development center counselors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 13, 2019 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 

and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend section 21 of the Small Business Act to require 

cyber certification for small business development center 

counselors, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Cyber 

5 Training Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DUTIES OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN2 TER COUNSELORS. 

3 (a) CYBER TRAINING.—Section 21 of the Small Busi4 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 648) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(o) CYBER STRATEGY TRAINING FOR SMALL BUSI7 NESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

9 ‘‘(A) the term ‘cyber strategy’ means re10 sources and tactics to assist in planning for cy11 bersecurity and defending against cyber risks 

12 and attacks; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the term ‘lead small business develop14 ment center’ means a small business develop15 ment center that has received a grant from the 

16 Administration. 

17 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.—The Adminis18 trator shall establish a cyber counseling certification 

19 program, or designate a substantially similar exist20 ing program, to certify the employees of lead small 

21 business development centers in providing cyber 

22 planning assistance to small business concerns. 

23 ‘‘(3) NUMBER OF CERTIFIED EMPLOYEES.— 

24 The Administrator shall ensure that the number of 

25 employees of each lead small business development 


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1 center who are certified in providing cyber planning 

2 assistance is not less than the lesser of— 

3 ‘‘(A) 5; or 

4 ‘‘(B) 10 percent of the total number of em5 ployees of the lead small business development 

6 center. 

7 ‘‘(4) CYBER STRATEGY.—In carrying out para8 graph (2), the Administrator, to the extent prac9 ticable, shall consider any cyber strategy methods in10 cluded in the Small Business Development Center 

11 Cyber Strategy developed under section 

12 1841(a)(3)(B) of the National Defense Authoriza13 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114– 

14 328). 

15 ‘‘(5) REIMBURSEMENT FOR CERTIFICATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the avail17 ability of appropriations, the Administrator 

18 shall reimburse a lead small business develop19 ment center for costs relating to the certifi20 cation of an employee of the lead small business 

21 center in providing cyber planning assistance 

22 under the program established under paragraph 

23 (2). 

24 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The total amount re25 imbursed by the Administrator under subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S771.IS S771

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1 graph (A) may not exceed $350,000 in any fis2 cal year.’’. 

3 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

5 of the Small Business Administration shall implement 

6 paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 21(o) of the Small 

7 Business Act, as added by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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