I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4991 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a pilot program under 

which eligible individuals may elect to receive financial assistance in 

lieu of educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance 

Program to establish and operate a qualified business enterprise, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2019 

Ms. GABBARD (for herself, Mr. SPANO, and Mr. LAWSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a pilot 

program under which eligible individuals may elect to 

receive financial assistance in lieu of educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program to establish and operate a qualified business enterprise, 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 ‘‘Post-9/11 Veteran 

5 Business Acceleration Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO ALLOW ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS 

2 TO ELECT TO RECEIVE FINANCIAL ASSIST3 ANCE IN LIEU OF POST-9/11 EDUCATIONAL 

4 ASSISTANCE TO ESTABLISH AND OPERATE A 

5 QUALIFIED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Sub7 chapter III of chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code, 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 3328. Pilot program to allow election to receive fi10 nancial assistance to establish and oper11 ate a small business 

12 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) Not later than January 

13 1, 2021, the Secretary, in collaboration with the Adminis14 trator of the Small Business Administration, shall estab15 lish a pilot program under which an eligible individual may 

16 elect to receive financial assistance, in lieu of educational 

17 assistance under this chapter, for a three-year period— 

18 ‘‘(A) to establish and operate a new qualified 

19 business enterprise; or 

20 ‘‘(B) to operate an existing qualified business 

21 enterprise. 

22 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), an eligible indi23 vidual is an individual who— 

24 ‘‘(A) is entitled to 36 months of educational as25 sistance under this chapter; 


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1 ‘‘(B) is not in bankruptcy proceedings at the 

2 time of application; and 

3 ‘‘(C) has a credit score equal to or greater than 

4 the minimum credit score required by the Adminis5 trator to receive a loan under section 7(a) of the 

6 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)). 

7 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Secretary shall 

8 establish an application process to select individuals to 

9 participate in the pilot program. 

10 ‘‘(c) ALLOWABLE EXPENSES.—An individual may 

11 use financial assistance under the pilot program for the 

12 following expenses in connection with the establishment or 

13 operation of a qualified business enterprise: 

14 ‘‘(1) Payment of a mortgage or lease with re15 spect to property used regularly and exclusively to 

16 operate the qualified business enterprise. 

17 ‘‘(2) Utilities, phone, and computer expenses. 

18 ‘‘(3) Equipment, furniture, and machinery. 

19 ‘‘(4) Vehicles and travel expenses. 

20 ‘‘(5) Property maintenance costs. 

21 ‘‘(6) Insurance. 

22 ‘‘(7) Wages, salaries, payroll taxes, and bene23 fits. 

24 ‘‘(8) Supplies and other office expenses. 


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1 ‘‘(9) Professional fees, including legal and ac2 counting services. 

3 ‘‘(10) Advertising and marketing costs. 

4 ‘‘(11) Such other expenses as the Secretary de5 termines appropriate. 

6 ‘‘(d) AMOUNT AND PAYMENT OF FINANCIAL ASSIST7 ANCE.—(1) The Secretary shall make available to an indi8 vidual under the pilot program financial assistance in the 

9 following amounts: 

10 ‘‘(A) In the first year of the pilot program, an 

11 amount equal to the sum of— 

12 ‘‘(i) $20,000; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the monthly amount of the basic al14 lowance for housing payable under section 403 

15 of title 37 for a member with dependents in pay 

16 grade E–5 residing in the military housing area 

17 that encompasses all or the majority portion of 

18 the ZIP code area in which is located the pri19 mary residence of the individual, multiplied by 

20 12. 

21 ‘‘(B) In the second year of the pilot program, 

22 $20,000. 

23 ‘‘(C) In the third year of the pilot program, 

24 $20,000. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall make payments under this 

2 section as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) In the first year of the pilot program, and 

4 as requested by an individual under the program— 

5 ‘‘(i) for— 

6 ‘‘(I) the first month, in a lump sum 

7 equal to 60 percent of the total amount 

8 under subsection (d)(1)(A); and 

9 ‘‘(II) each subsequent month, in an 

10 amount equal to 40 percent of the total 

11 amount under such subsection divided by 

12 11; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) on a monthly basis. 

14 ‘‘(B) In the second and third year of the pilot 

15 program, on a monthly basis. 

16 ‘‘(e) EXPENDITURE REPORTING AND TRACKING SYS17 TEM.—The Secretary, in collaboration with the Adminis18 trator, shall establish and operate a secure electronic re19 porting system through which— 

20 ‘‘(1) an individual participating in the pilot pro21 gram may report— 

22 ‘‘(A) expenditures of a qualified business 

23 enterprise established or operated under the 

24 pilot program; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) such other information as the Sec2 retary may require; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the Secretary may track expenditures and 

4 other information reported under paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(f) REVIEW OF EXPENDITURES; IMPROPER USE OF

6 FUNDS.—The Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) at least once every two months, review the 

8 system established under subsection (e) to determine 

9 whether an individual participating in the pilot pro10 gram is using financial assistance under the pilot 

11 program for allowable expenses described in sub12 section (c); and 

13 ‘‘(2) require an individual who uses financial 

14 assistance for a nonallowable expense to remit to the 

15 Secretary an amount equal to the amount used for 

16 the nonallowable expense. 

17 ‘‘(g) COMBINATION OF BENEFITS.—The Secretary 

18 may allow multiple individuals to use financial assistance 

19 under the pilot program to establish or operate a single 

20 qualified business enterprise. 

21 ‘‘(h) TRAINING.—The Secretary, in collaboration 

22 with the Administrator, shall provide training to individ23 uals participating in the pilot program with respect to the 

24 establishment and operation of a business, including how 

25 to avoid becoming a victim of predatory lending. 


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1 ‘‘(i) WITHDRAWAL FROM PILOT PROGRAM.—(1) An 

2 individual, upon notice to the Secretary, may withdraw 

3 from participation in the pilot program at any time prior 

4 to the completion of the three-year period of the program. 

5 ‘‘(2) In the event that an individual withdraws from 

6 the pilot program under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) determine the remaining educational as9 sistance to which the individual is entitled under this 

10 chapter; and 

11 ‘‘(B) allow the individual to use such remaining 

12 educational assistance in accordance with this chap13 ter. 

14 ‘‘(j) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

15 pilot program for a period of seven years. 

16 ‘‘(k) QUALIFIED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE DE17 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘qualified business en18 terprise’ means a business enterprise engaged in lawful 

19 activities under— 

20 ‘‘(1) Federal law; or 

21 ‘‘(2) the law of the State in which the business 

22 enterprise is located.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3301 of 

24 such title is amended by adding at the end the following 

25 new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(5) The term ‘educational assistance under 

2 this chapter’ does not include financial assistance 

3 under section 3328.’’. 

4 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

5 at the beginning of chapter 33 of such title is amended 

6 by inserting after the item relating to section 3327 the 

7 following new item: 

‘‘3328. Pilot program to allow election to receive financial assistance to establish 

and operate a small business.’’. 

Æ 


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