II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5220 

To reauthorize programs of the Small Business Administration, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2022 

Mr. CARDIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To reauthorize programs of the Small Business 

Administration, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Small Business Administration Reauthorization and 

6 Modernization Act of 2022’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTERS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 

2022 


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Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Amendments to Women’s Business Center Program. 

Sec. 103. Effect on existing grants. 

Sec. 104. Regulations. 

TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS 

IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2022 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Annual report on entrepreneurial development programs. 

Sec. 203. Marketing of services. 

Sec. 204. Data collection working group. 

Sec. 205. Oversight; fees from private partnerships and cosponsorships; negotiation. 

Sec. 206. Equity for small business development centers. 

Sec. 207. Confidentiality requirements. 

Sec. 208. Limitation on award of grants to small business development centers. 

Sec. 209. Authorization of appropriations for formula grants received by States. 

Sec. 210. Requirements relating to matching funds. 

Sec. 211. Duties of the Associate Administrator for Small Business Development Centers. 

Sec. 212. Determination of budgetary effects. 

TITLE III—SCORE FOR SMALL BUSINESS ACT OF 2022 

Sec. 301. Short title. 

Sec. 302. SCORE Program provisions and requirements. 

Sec. 303. Authorization of appropriations for the SCORE program. 

Sec. 304. Reporting requirements. 

Sec. 305. Technical and conforming amendments. 

TITLE IV—FEDERAL CONTRACTING FAIRNESS ACT OF 2022 

Sec. 401. Short title. 

Sec. 402. Findings. 

Sec. 403. Definitions. 

Sec. 404. Duration of participation; ramp-up period; transition period. 

Sec. 405. Administrative requirements for 8(a) firms. 

Sec. 406. SBA representation on the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council. 

Sec. 407. Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization; Director. 

Sec. 408. Sole source thresholds. 

Sec. 409. Mentor-protege program. 

Sec. 410. Certification process. 

Sec. 411. Repeal of bonafide office rule. 

Sec. 412. Reports. 

Sec. 413. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE V—COMMUNITY ADVANTAGE LOAN PROGRAM 

PERMANENCY ACT OF 2022 

Sec. 501. Short title. 

Sec. 502. Findings. 

Sec. 503. Community Advantage Loan Program. 

TITLE VI—STEP IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2022 

Sec. 601. Short title. 


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Sec. 602. State Trade Expansion Program. 

TITLE VII—VETERANS PROGRAMS 

Sec. 701. Veteran Federal procurement entrepreneurship training program. 

Sec. 702. Boots to Business Program. 

TITLE VIII—SURETY BOND PROGRAM 

Sec. 801. Expanding surety bond program. 

TITLE IX—SBIC EMERGING MANAGERS PROGRAM 

Sec. 901. Broadening investment by the SBIC program. 

TITLE X—NEW START ACT OF 2022 

Sec. 1001. Short title. 

Sec. 1002. Findings. 

Sec. 1003. Pilot program. 

TITLE XI—UPLIFT ACT OF 2022 

Sec. 1101. Short title. 

Sec. 1102. Findings. 

Sec. 1103. Purposes. 

Sec. 1104. Innovation Centers Program. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATION; ADMINISTRATOR.—The 

4 terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Administrator’’ mean 

5 the Small Business Administration and the Adminis6 trator thereof, respectively. 

7 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON8 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con9 gress’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Small Business and 

11 Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Small Business of 

13 the House of Representatives. 


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1 (3) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

2 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given the 

3 term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 632). 

5 TITLE I—WOMEN’S BUSINESS 

6 CENTERS IMPROVEMENT ACT 

7 OF 2022 

8 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s Business 

10 Centers Improvement Act of 2022’’. 

11 SEC. 102. AMENDMENTS TO WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656) 

14 is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 29. WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—The term 

18 ‘Assistant Administrator’ means the Assistant Ad19 ministrator of the Office of Women’s Business Own20 ership established under subsection (j). 

21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en22 tity’ means— 

23 ‘‘(A) an organization described in section 

24 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 


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1 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 

2 of such Code; 

3 ‘‘(B) a State, regional, or local economic 

4 development organization, if the organization 

5 certifies that grant funds received under this 

6 section will not be commingled with other 

7 funds; 

8 ‘‘(C) an institution of higher education, as 

9 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

10 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), unless the insti11 tution is receiving a grant under section 21; 

12 ‘‘(D) a development, credit, or finance cor13 poration chartered by a State, if the corpora14 tion certifies that grant funds received under 

15 this section will not be commingled with other 

16 funds; or 

17 ‘‘(E) any combination of entities listed in 

18 subparagraphs (A) through (D). 

19 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 

20 the Women’s Business Center Program established 

21 under subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(4) RELEVANT ORGANIZATIONS.—The term 

23 ‘relevant organizations’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) organizations that advocate for or 

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1 ness ownership, or women’s business centers; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) other organizations as the Adminis4 trator determines appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(5) RESOURCE PARTNERS.—The term ‘re6 source partners’ means small business development 

7 centers, chapters of the Service Corps of Retired Ex8 ecutives established under section 8(b)(1)(B), and 

9 Veteran Business Outreach Centers described in sec10 tion 32. 

11 ‘‘(6) WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER.—The term 

12 ‘women’s business center’ means the location at 

13 which counseling and training on the management, 

14 operations (including manufacturing, services, and 

15 retail), access to capital, international trade, govern16 ment procurement opportunities, and any other mat17 ter that is needed to start, maintain, or expand a 

18 small business concern owned and controlled by 

19 women. 

20 ‘‘(7) WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER ORGANIZA21 TION.—The term ‘Women’s Business Center Organi22 zation’ means a membership organization formed by 

23 women’s business centers to pursue matters of com24 mon concern. 

25 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

2 Women’s Business Center Program under which the 

3 Administrator may enter into a cooperative agree4 ment with an eligible entity to provide a grant to the 

5 eligible entity to operate 1 or more women’s business 

6 centers for the benefit of small business concerns 

7 owned and controlled by women. 

8 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—A women’s business cen9 ter established using funds made available under 

10 this section shall be designed to provide entrepre11 neurial counseling and training that meets the needs 

12 of the small business concerns owned and controlled 

13 by women, especially concerns owned and controlled 

14 by women who are both socially and economically 

15 disadvantaged, as defined in section 8(a), and shall 

16 provide— 

17 ‘‘(A) financial assistance, including coun18 seling and training on how to— 

19 ‘‘(i) apply for and secure business 

20 credit and investment capital; 

21 ‘‘(ii) prepare and present financial 

22 statements; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) manage cash flow and other fi24 nancial operations of a small business con25 cern; 


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1 ‘‘(B) management assistance, including 

2 counseling and training on how to plan, orga3 nize, staff, direct, and control each major activ4 ity and function of a small business concern; 

5 ‘‘(C) marketing assistance, including coun6 seling and training on how to— 

7 ‘‘(i) identify and segment domestic 

8 and international market opportunities; 

9 ‘‘(ii) prepare and execute marketing 

10 plans; 

11 ‘‘(iii) develop pricing strategies; 

12 ‘‘(iv) locate contract opportunities; 

13 ‘‘(v) negotiate contracts; and 

14 ‘‘(vi) use various public relations and 

15 advertising techniques; and 

16 ‘‘(D) other services, as needed, in order to 

17 meet the changing and evolving needs of the 

18 small business community. 

19 ‘‘(3) TYPES OF GRANTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) INITIAL GRANT.—The amount of an 

21 initial grant, which shall be for a 5-year term, 

22 provided under this section to an eligible entity 

23 shall be not more than $300,000 annually (as 

24 that amount is annually adjusted by the Admin25 istrator to reflect the change in inflation). 


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1 ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION GRANTS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

3 may award a continuation grant, which 

4 shall be for a 5-year term, of not more 

5 than $300,000 annually (as that amount is 

6 annually adjusted by the Administrator to 

7 reflect the change in inflation) to an eligi8 ble entity that received an initial grant 

9 under subparagraph (A). 

10 ‘‘(ii) NO LIMITATION.—There shall be 

11 no limitation on the number of continu12 ation grants an eligible entity may receive 

13 under this section. 

14 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) INITIAL GRANTS AND CONTINUATION

16 GRANTS.—To receive an initial grant or continuation 

17 grant under this section, an eligible entity shall sub18 mit an application to the Administrator in such 

19 form, in such manner, and containing such informa20 tion as the Administrator may require, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) a certification that the eligible enti22 ty— 

23 ‘‘(i) has designated an executive direc24 tor or program manager, who may be com25 pensated using grant funds awarded under 


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1 this section or other sources, to manage 

2 each women’s business center for which a 

3 grant under subsection (b) is sought; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) meets accounting and reporting 

5 requirements established by the Director of 

6 the Office of Management and Budget; 

7 ‘‘(B) information demonstrating the expe8 rience and effectiveness of the eligible entity 

9 in— 

10 ‘‘(i) providing entrepreneurial coun11 seling and training described in subsection 

12 (b)(2); 

13 ‘‘(ii) providing training and services to 

14 a representative number of women who are 

15 both socially and economically disadvan16 taged; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) working with resource partners, 

18 offices of the Administration, and other 

19 public and private entities engaging in en20 trepreneurial and small business develop21 ment; and 

22 ‘‘(C) a 5-year plan that— 

23 ‘‘(i) includes information relating to 

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1 en’s business center in the area in which 

2 each center is located; 

3 ‘‘(ii) describes the ability of the eligi4 ble entity to meet the needs of the market 

5 to be served by each women’s business cen6 ter; 

7 ‘‘(iii) describes the ability of the eligi8 ble entity to obtain the matching funds re9 quired under subsection (e); and 

10 ‘‘(iv) describes the ability of the eligi11 ble entity to provide entrepreneurial coun12 seling and training described in subsection 

13 (b)(2), including to a representative num14 ber of women who are both socially and 

15 economically disadvantaged. 

16 ‘‘(2) RECORD RETENTION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

18 shall maintain a copy of each application sub19 mitted under this subsection for not less than 

20 5 years. 

21 ‘‘(B) PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—The Ad22 ministrator shall take steps to reduce, to the 

23 maximum extent practicable, the paperwork 

24 burden associated with carrying out subpara25 graph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(d) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In selecting recipients of 

3 initial grants under this section, the Administrator 

4 shall consider— 

5 ‘‘(A) the experience of the applicant in pro6 viding entrepreneurial counseling and training; 

7 ‘‘(B) the amount of time needed for the 

8 applicant to commence operation of a women’s 

9 business center; 

10 ‘‘(C) the capacity of the applicant to meet 

11 the accreditation standards established under 

12 subsection (j)(4) in a timely manner and the 

13 likelihood that the recipient will become accred14 ited; 

15 ‘‘(D) the ability of the applicant to sustain 

16 operations, including the applicant’s ability to 

17 obtain matching funds under subsection (e), for 

18 a 5-year period; 

19 ‘‘(E) the proposed location of a women’s 

20 business center to be operated by the applicant 

21 and the location’s proximity to Veteran Busi22 ness Outreach Centers described in section 32 

23 and to recipients of grants under section 

24 8(b)(1) or 21; 


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1 ‘‘(F) the counsel of a Women’s Business 

2 Center Organization or another relevant organi3 zation on the level of unmet need in the area 

4 where the women’s business center is to be lo5 cated; and 

6 ‘‘(G) whether the applicant has received 

7 trainings conducted by, utilized services pro8 vided by, or engaged with a Women’s Business 

9 Center Organization or another relevant organi10 zation in the preparation of the application. 

11 ‘‘(2) SELECTION CRITERIA.— 

12 ‘‘(A) RULEMAKING.—The Administrator 

13 shall issue regulations to specify the criteria for 

14 review and selection of applicants under this 

15 subsection. 

16 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF REGULATIONS AT TIME

17 OF APPLICATION.—Unless otherwise required 

18 by an Act of Congress or an order of a Federal 

19 court, any application for an opportunity to 

20 award a grant under this section shall be gov21 erned by the regulations issued pursuant to 

22 subparagraph (A) that are in effect at the time 

23 of the public announcement of such opportunity 

24 made by the Administrator pursuant to sub25 section (k)(1). 


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1 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

2 in this paragraph may be construed as prohib3 iting the Administrator from modifying the reg4 ulations issued pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

5 as the regulations apply to an opportunity to be 

6 awarded a grant under this section that the Ad7 ministrator has not yet publicly announced pur8 suant to subsection (k)(1). 

9 ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (5), 

11 upon approval of an application submitted by an eli12 gible entity under subsection (c), the eligible entity 

13 shall agree to obtain contributions from non-Federal 

14 sources— 

15 ‘‘(A) in the first and second year of the 

16 term of an initial grant, if applicable, 1 non17 Federal dollar for every 2 Federal dollars; and 

18 ‘‘(B) in each subsequent year of the term 

19 of an initial grant, if applicable, or for the term 

20 of a continuation grant, 1 non-Federal dollar 

21 for each Federal dollar. 

22 ‘‘(2) FORM OF MATCHING FUNDS.—Not more 

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1 kind contributions that are budget line items only, 

2 including office equipment and office space. 

3 ‘‘(3) SOLICITATION.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of law, an eligible entity may— 

5 ‘‘(A) solicit cash and in-kind contributions 

6 from private individuals and entities to be used 

7 to operate a women’s business center; and 

8 ‘‘(B) use amounts made available by the 

9 Administrator under this section for the cost of 

10 solicitation and management of the contribu11 tions received, subject to the limitations set by 

12 the Administrator. 

13 ‘‘(4) DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.—The Admin14 istrator may disburse an amount not greater than 

15 25 percent of the total amount of a grant awarded 

16 to an eligible entity before the eligible entity obtains 

17 the matching funds described in paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(5) FAILURE TO OBTAIN MATCHING FUNDS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible entity 

20 fails to obtain the required matching funds de21 scribed in paragraph (1), the eligible entity may 

22 not be eligible to receive advance disbursements 

23 pursuant to paragraph (4) during the remain24 der of the term, if applicable, of an initial grant 

25 awarded under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION GRANT.—Before ap2 proving an eligible entity for a continuation 

3 grant under this section, the Administrator 

4 shall make a written determination, including 

5 the reasons for the determination, of whether 

6 the Administrator believes that the eligible enti7 ty will be able to obtain the requisite matching 

8 funding under paragraph (1) for the continu9 ation grant. 

10 ‘‘(6) WAIVER OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon request by an 

12 eligible entity and in accordance with this para13 graph, the Administrator may waive, in whole 

14 or in part, the requirement to obtain matching 

15 funds under paragraph (1) for a grant awarded 

16 under this section for the eligible entity for a 1- 

17 year term of the grant. 

18 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

19 whether to issue a waiver under this paragraph, 

20 the Administrator shall consider— 

21 ‘‘(i) the economic conditions affecting 

22 the eligible entity; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the demonstrated ability of the 

24 eligible entity to raise non-Federal funds; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the performance of the eligible 

2 entity under the initial grant. 

3 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—The Administrator 

4 may not issue a waiver under this paragraph if 

5 the Administrator determines that granting the 

6 waiver would undermine the credibility of the 

7 Program. 

8 ‘‘(7) EXCESS NON-FEDERAL DOLLARS.—The 

9 amount of non-Federal dollars obtained by an eligi10 ble entity that is greater than the amount that is re11 quired to be obtained by the eligible entity under 

12 this subsection shall not be subject to the require13 ments of part 200 of title 2, Code of Federal Regu14 lations, or any successor thereto, if the amount of 

15 non-Federal dollars— 

16 ‘‘(A) is not used as matching funds for 

17 purposes of implementing the Program; and 

18 ‘‘(B) was not obtained by using funds 

19 granted under the Program. 

20 ‘‘(8) CARRYOVER.—An eligible entity may use 

21 excess non-Federal dollars described in paragraph 

22 (7) to satisfy the matching funds requirement under 

23 paragraph (1) for the subsequent 1-year grant term, 

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1 ject to the requirements of part 200 of title 2, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto. 

3 ‘‘(f) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) SEPARATION OF FUNDS.—An eligible enti5 ty shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) operate a women’s business center 

7 under this section separately from other 

8 projects, if any, of the eligible entity; and 

9 ‘‘(B) separately maintain and account for 

10 any grant funds received under this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) EXAMINATION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED SITE VISIT.—Before re13 ceiving an initial grant under this section, each 

14 applicant shall have a site visit by an employee 

15 of the Administration in order to ensure that 

16 the applicant has sufficient resources to provide 

17 the services for which the grant is being pro18 vided. 

19 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REVIEW.—An employee of 

20 the Administration shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) conduct an annual programmatic 

22 and financial examination of each eligible 

23 entity, as described in subsection (g); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) provide the results of the exam25 ination to the eligible entity. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REMEDIATION OF PROBLEMS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) PLAN OF ACTION.—If an examination 

3 of an eligible entity conducted under paragraph 

4 (2)(B) identifies any problems, the eligible enti5 ty shall, not later than 45 calendar days after 

6 receiving a copy of the results of the examina7 tion, provide the Assistant Administrator with a 

8 plan of action, including specific milestones, for 

9 correcting those problems. 

10 ‘‘(B) PLAN OF ACTION REVIEW BY THE AS11 SISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later than 30 

12 days after receipt of the plan of action, the As13 sistant Administrator shall review the plan of 

14 action submitted under subparagraph (A), and 

15 if the Assistant Administrator determines that 

16 the plan— 

17 ‘‘(i) will bring the eligible entity into 

18 compliance with all the terms of a coopera19 tive agreement described in subsection (b), 

20 the Assistant Administrator shall approve 

21 the plan; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) is inadequate to remedy the 

23 problems identified in the annual examina24 tion to which the plan of action relates, the 

25 Assistant Administrator shall set forth the 


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1 reasons in writing and provide the deter2 mination to the eligible entity not later 

3 than 15 calendar days after the date of de4 termination. 

5 ‘‘(C) AMENDMENT TO PLAN OF ACTION.— 

6 An eligible entity receiving a determination 

7 under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall have 30 cal8 endar days from the receipt of the determina9 tion to amend the plan of action to satisfy the 

10 problems identified by the Assistant Adminis11 trator and resubmit the plan to the Assistant 

12 Administrator. 

13 ‘‘(D) AMENDED PLAN REVIEW BY THE AS14 SISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later than 15 

15 calendar days after receipt of an amended plan 

16 of action under subparagraph (C), the Assistant 

17 Administrator shall approve or reject the plan 

18 and provide the approval or rejection in writing 

19 to the eligible entity. 

20 ‘‘(E) APPEAL OF ASSISTANT ADMINIS21 TRATOR DETERMINATION.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Assistant 

23 Administrator rejects an amended plan of 

24 action under subparagraph (D), the eligible 

25 entity shall have the opportunity to appeal 


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1 the decision to the Administrator, who may 

2 delegate the appeal to an appropriate offi3 cer of the Administration. 

4 ‘‘(ii) OPPORTUNITY FOR EXPLA5 NATION.—Any appeal described in clause 

6 (i) shall provide an opportunity for the eli7 gible entity to provide, in writing, an expla8 nation of why the amended plan of action 

9 of the eligible entity remedies the problems 

10 identified in the annual examination con11 ducted under paragraph (2)(B). 

12 ‘‘(iii) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION.— 

13 The Administrator shall provide to the eli14 gible entity a determination of the appeal, 

15 in writing, not later than 15 calendar days 

16 after the eligible entity files an appeal 

17 under this subparagraph. 

18 ‘‘(iv) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ACT.— 

19 If the Administrator fails to act on an ap20 peal made under this subparagraph within 

21 the 15-day period specified under clause 

22 (iii), the amended plan of action of the eli23 gible entity submitted under subparagraph 

24 (C) shall be deemed to be approved. 

25 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION OF GRANT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

2 shall terminate a grant to an eligible entity 

3 under this section if the eligible entity fails to 

4 comply with— 

5 ‘‘(i) a plan of action approved by the 

6 Assistant Administrator under paragraph 

7 (3)(B)(i); or 

8 ‘‘(ii) an amended plan of action ap9 proved by the Assistant Administrator 

10 under paragraph (3)(D) or approved on 

11 appeal under paragraph (3)(E). 

12 ‘‘(B) APPEAL OF TERMINATION.—An eligi13 ble entity shall have the opportunity to chal14 lenge the termination of a grant under subpara15 graph (A) on the record and after an oppor16 tunity for a hearing. 

17 ‘‘(C) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—A deter18 mination made pursuant to subparagraph (B) 

19 shall be considered final agency action for the 

20 purposes of chapter 7 of title 5, United States 

21 Code. 

22 ‘‘(5) ENGAGEMENT WITH MAJORITY WOMEN’S

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1 en’s Business Centers Improvement Act of 2022, a 

2 majority of women’s business centers that are oper3 ating pursuant to agreements with the Administra4 tion are members of an individual Women’s Business 

5 Center Organization, the Administrator shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) recognize the existence and activities 

7 of the Organization; and 

8 ‘‘(B) consult with the Organization, and to 

9 the extent practicable, women’s business centers 

10 and other relevant organizations, on the devel11 opment of documents with respect to— 

12 ‘‘(i) announcing the annual scope of 

13 activities pursuant to this section; 

14 ‘‘(ii) requesting proposals to deliver 

15 assistance as provided in this section; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) the governance, general oper17 ations, and administration of the Program, 

18 including general best practices in the op19 eration of the Program and the develop20 ment of regulations and financial examina21 tions under that Program. 

22 ‘‘(6) ENFORCEMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) GRANTS.—The Assistant Adminis24 trator shall develop policies and procedures to 

25 minimize the possibility of awarding a grant to 


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1 an eligible entity that will operate a women’s 

2 business center that likely will not remain in 

3 compliance with program and financial require4 ments. 

5 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUAL COOPERATIVE AGREE6 MENTS.—The Assistant Administrator shall en7 force the terms of any individual cooperative 

8 agreement described in paragraph (5)(B)(iii). 

9 ‘‘(g) PROGRAM EXAMINATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administration shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) develop and implement an annual 

12 programmatic and financial examination of 

13 each eligible entity receiving a grant under this 

14 section, under which each eligible entity shall 

15 provide to the Administration— 

16 ‘‘(i) an itemized cost breakdown of ac17 tual expenditures for costs incurred during 

18 the preceding year; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) documentation regarding the 

20 amount of matching assistance from non21 Federal sources obtained and expended by 

22 the eligible entity during the preceding 

23 year in order to meet the requirements of 

24 subsection (e) and, with respect to any in25 kind contributions described in subsection 


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1 (e)(2) that were used to satisfy the re2 quirements of subsection (e), verification of 

3 the existence and valuation of those con4 tributions; and 

5 ‘‘(B) analyze the results of each examina6 tion and, based on that analysis, make a deter7 mination regarding the programmatic and fi8 nancial viability of each women’s business cen9 ter operated by the eligible entity. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUED FUNDING.— 

11 In determining whether to award a continuation 

12 grant to an eligible entity, the Administrator shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) consider the results of the most re14 cent examination of the eligible entity under 

15 paragraph (1); 

16 ‘‘(B) determine if— 

17 ‘‘(i) the eligible entity has failed to 

18 provide, or provided inadequate, informa19 tion under paragraph (1)(A); or 

20 ‘‘(ii) the eligible entity has failed to 

21 provide any information required to be pro22 vided by a women’s business center for 

23 purposes of the management report under 

24 subsection (l)(1), or the information pro25 vided by the center is inadequate; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) consider the accreditation status as 

2 described in subsection (j)(4). 

3 ‘‘(h) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—An eligible entity that 

5 receives a grant under this section may enter into a 

6 contract with a Federal department or agency to 

7 provide specific assistance to small business concerns 

8 owned and controlled by women and other under9 served small business concerns, if performance of 

10 that contract does not hinder the ability of the eligi11 ble entity to carry out the terms of a grant received 

12 under this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATOR.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the 

15 Administrator to enter into contracts shall be in 

16 effect for each fiscal year only to the extent and 

17 in the amounts as are provided in advance in 

18 appropriations Acts. 

19 ‘‘(B) ADVERSE CONTRACT ACTION.—After 

20 the Administrator has entered into a contract, 

21 either as a grant or a cooperative agreement, 

22 with any applicant under this section, the Ad23 ministrator shall not suspend, terminate, or fail 

24 to renew or extend the contract unless the Ad25 ministrator provides the applicant with written 


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1 notification setting forth the reasons therefore 

2 and affords the applicant an opportunity for a 

3 hearing, appeal, or other administrative pro4 ceeding under chapter 5 of title 5, United 

5 States Code. 

6 ‘‘(i) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A women’s business center 

8 may not disclose the name, address, email address, 

9 or telephone number of any individual or small busi10 ness concern receiving assistance under this section 

11 without the consent of that individual or small busi12 ness concern, unless— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Administrator orders the disclo14 sure after the Administrator is ordered to make 

15 a disclosure by a court in any civil or criminal 

16 enforcement action initiated by a Federal or 

17 State agency; or 

18 ‘‘(B) the Administrator considers a disclo19 sure to be necessary for the purpose of con20 ducting a financial audit of a women’s business 

21 center, except that the disclosure shall be lim22 ited to the information necessary for the audit. 

23 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION USE OF INFORMATION.— 

24 This subsection shall not— 


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1 ‘‘(A) restrict the access of the Administra2 tion to women’s business center data; or 

3 ‘‘(B) prevent the Administration from 

4 using information about individuals who use 

5 women’s business centers to conduct surveys of 

6 those individuals. 

7 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall 

8 issue regulations to establish standards for disclo9 sures for purposes of a financial audit described in 

10 paragraph (1)(B). 

11 ‘‘(j) OFFICE OF WOMEN’S BUSINESS OWNERSHIP.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

13 within the Administration an Office of Women’s 

14 Business Ownership, which shall be— 

15 ‘‘(A) responsible for the administration of 

16 the Administration’s programs for the develop17 ment of women’s business enterprises, as de18 fined in section 408 of the Women’s Business 

19 Ownership Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 7108); and 

20 ‘‘(B) administered by an Assistant Admin21 istrator, who shall be appointed by the Adminis22 trator. 

23 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR OF THE OF24 FICE OF WOMEN’S BUSINESS OWNERSHIP.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) QUALIFICATION.—The position of As2 sistant Administrator of the Office of Women’s 

3 Business Ownership shall be— 

4 ‘‘(i) a Senior Executive Service posi5 tion under section 3132(a)(2) of title 5, 

6 United States Code; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) a noncareer appointee, as defined 

8 in section 3132(a)(7) of that title. 

9 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Assistant Adminis10 trator shall administer the programs and serv11 ices of the Office of Women’s Business Owner12 ship and perform the following functions: 

13 ‘‘(i) Recommend the annual adminis14 trative and program budgets of the Office 

15 of Women’s Business Ownership and eligi16 ble entities receiving a grant under the 

17 Program. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Review the annual budgets sub19 mitted by each eligible entity receiving a 

20 grant under the Program. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Collaborate with other Federal 

22 departments and agencies, State and local 

23 governments, nonprofit organizations, and 

24 for-profit organizations to maximize utili25 zation of taxpayer dollars and reduce or 


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1 eliminate any duplication among the pro2 grams overseen by the Office of Women’s 

3 Business Ownership and those of other en4 tities that provide similar services to 

5 women entrepreneurs. 

6 ‘‘(iv) Maintain a clearinghouse to pro7 vide for the dissemination and exchange of 

8 information between women’s business cen9 ters. 

10 ‘‘(v) Serve as the vice chairperson of 

11 the Interagency Committee on Women’s 

12 Business Enterprise and as the liaison for 

13 the National Women’s Business Council. 

14 ‘‘(3) MISSION.—The mission of the Office of 

15 Women’s Business Ownership shall be to assist 

16 women entrepreneurs to start, grow, and compete in 

17 global markets by providing quality support with ac18 cess to capital, access to markets, job creation, 

19 growth, and counseling by— 

20 ‘‘(A) fostering participation of women en21 trepreneurs in the economy by overseeing a net22 work of women’s business centers throughout 

23 the United States; 

24 ‘‘(B) creating public-private partnerships 

25 to support women entrepreneurs and conduct 


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1 outreach and education to small business con2 cerns owned and controlled by women; and 

3 ‘‘(C) working with other programs of the 

4 Administration to— 

5 ‘‘(i) ensure women are well-rep6 resented in those programs and being 

7 served by those programs; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) identify gaps where participation 

9 by women in those programs could be in10 creased. 

11 ‘‘(4) ACCREDITATION PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 

13 270 days after the date of enactment of the 

14 Women’s Business Centers Improvement Act of 

15 2022, the Administrator shall publish standards 

16 for a program to accredit eligible entities that 

17 receive a grant under this section. 

18 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC COMMENT; TRANSITION.— 

19 Before publishing the standards under subpara20 graph (A), the Administrator— 

21 ‘‘(i) shall provide a period of not less 

22 than 60 days for public comment on the 

23 standards; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) may not terminate a grant under 

2 this section absent evidence of fraud or 

3 other criminal misconduct by the recipient. 

4 ‘‘(C) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.—The Ad5 ministrator may provide financial support, by 

6 contract or otherwise, to a Women’s Business 

7 Center Organization to provide assistance in es8 tablishing the standards required under sub9 paragraph (A) or for carrying out an accredita10 tion program pursuant to those standards. 

11 ‘‘(5) CONTINUATION GRANT CONSIDER12 ATIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In determining wheth14 er to award a continuation grant under this sec15 tion, the Administrator shall consider the re16 sults of the annual programmatic and financial 

17 examination conducted under subsection (g) 

18 and the accreditation program under paragraph 

19 (4). 

20 ‘‘(B) ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENT.—On 

21 and after the date that is 2 years after the date 

22 of enactment of the Women’s Business Centers 

23 Improvement Act of 2022, the Administration 

24 may not award a continuation grant under this 

25 section unless the applicable eligible entity has 


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1 been approved under the accreditation program 

2 conducted pursuant to paragraph (4), except 

3 that the Assistant Administrator for the Office 

4 of Women’s Business Ownership may waive the 

5 accreditation requirement, in the discretion of 

6 the Assistant Administrator, upon a showing 

7 that the eligible entity is making a good faith 

8 effort to obtain accreditation. 

9 ‘‘(6) ANNUAL CONFERENCE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each women’s busi11 ness center shall participate in annual profes12 sional development at an annual conference fa13 cilitated by the Administrator. 

14 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATION.—The Adminis15 trator shall collaborate with 1 or more Women’s 

16 Business Center Organizations, women’s busi17 ness centers, or other relevant organizations in 

18 carrying out the responsibilities of the Adminis19 trator under subparagraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(k) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE

21 PROGRAM.—The Administrator shall provide the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(1) A public announcement of any opportunity 

24 to be awarded grants under this section, to include 


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1 the selection criteria under subsection (d) and any 

2 applicable regulations. 

3 ‘‘(2) To any applicant for a grant under this 

4 section that failed to obtain a grant, an opportunity 

5 to debrief with the Administrator to review the rea6 sons for the failure of the applicant. 

7 ‘‘(3) To an eligible entity that receives an initial 

8 grant under this section, if a site visit or review of 

9 the eligible entity is carried out by an officer or em10 ployee of the Administration (other than the Inspec11 tor General), a copy of the site visit report or eval12 uation, as applicable, not later than 30 calendar 

13 days after the completion of the visit or evaluation. 

14 ‘‘(l) ANNUAL MANAGEMENT REPORT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

16 prepare and submit to the Committee on Small 

17 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and 

18 the Committee on Small Business of the House of 

19 Representatives an annual report on the effective20 ness of women’s business centers operated through 

21 a grant awarded under this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FOR REPORT.—Each wom23 en’s business center shall, annually and upon re24 quest, provide the Administrator with sufficient in25 formation to complete the report required under 


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1 paragraph (1), including the information described 

2 in paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

4 paragraph (1) shall summarize— 

5 ‘‘(A) information concerning, with respect 

6 to each women’s business center established 

7 pursuant to a grant awarded under this section, 

8 the most recent analysis of the annual pro9 grammatic and financial examination of the ap10 plicable eligible entity, as required under sub11 section (g)(1)(B), and the subsequent deter12 mination made by the Administration under 

13 that subsection; 

14 ‘‘(B) the total number of individuals and 

15 the number of unique individuals counseled or 

16 trained through the Program; 

17 ‘‘(C) the total number of hours of coun18 seling and training services provided through 

19 the Program; 

20 ‘‘(D) to the extent practicable, the demo21 graphics of Program participants to include the 

22 gender, race, ethnicity, and age of each partici23 pant; 

24 ‘‘(E) the number of Program participants 

25 who are veterans; 


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1 ‘‘(F) the number of new businesses started 

2 by participants in the Program; 

3 ‘‘(G) to the extent practicable, the number 

4 of jobs supported, created, or retained with as5 sistance from women’s business centers; 

6 ‘‘(H) the total amount of capital secured 

7 by participants in the Program, including 

8 through loans and equity investment of the Ad9 ministration; 

10 ‘‘(I) the number of participants in the Pro11 gram receiving financial assistance, including 

12 the type and dollar amount, under a loan pro13 gram of the Administration; 

14 ‘‘(J) an estimate of gross receipts, includ15 ing to the extent practicable a description of 

16 any change in revenue of small business con17 cerns assisted through the Program; 

18 ‘‘(K) the number of referrals of individuals 

19 to other resources and programs of the Admin20 istration; 

21 ‘‘(L) the results of satisfaction surveys of 

22 participants, including a summary of any com23 ments received from those participants; and 


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1 ‘‘(M) any recommendations by the Admin2 istrator to improve the delivery of services by 

3 women’s business centers. 

4 ‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

6 appropriated to the Administration to carry out this 

7 section, to remain available until expended, 

8 $31,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 

9 2026. 

10 ‘‘(2) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

12 subparagraph (B), amounts made available 

13 under this subsection for fiscal year 2023, and 

14 each fiscal year thereafter, may only be used for 

15 grant awards and may not be used for costs in16 curred by the Administration in connection with 

17 the management and administration of the pro18 gram under this section. 

19 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Of the amount made 

20 available under this subsection for a fiscal year, 

21 for the fiscal year beginning after the date of 

22 enactment of the Women’s Business Centers 

23 Improvement Act of 2022 and each fiscal year 

24 thereafter through fiscal year 2026, 2.6 percent 

25 shall be available for costs incurred by the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 22, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5220.IS S5220

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1 ministration in connection with the manage2 ment and administration of the program under 

3 this section. 

4 ‘‘(C) ACCREDITATION AND ANNUAL CON5 FERENCE.—Of the amounts made available in 

6 any fiscal year to carry out this section, not 

7 more than $250,000 may be used by the Ad8 ministration to pay for expenses related to car9 rying out paragraphs (4) and (6) of subsection 

10 (j). 

11 ‘‘(3) EXPEDITED ACQUISITION.—Notwith12 standing any other provision of law, the Adminis13 trator may use expedited acquisition methods as the 

14 Administrator determines to be appropriate to carry 

15 out this section, except that the Administrator shall 

16 ensure that all small business concerns are provided 

17 a reasonable opportunity to submit proposals.’’. 

18 SEC. 103. EFFECT ON EXISTING GRANTS. 

19 (a) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A nonprofit organiza20 tion receiving a grant under section 29(m) of the Small 

21 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(m)), as in effect on the day 

22 before the date of enactment of this Act, shall continue 

23 to receive the grant under the terms and conditions in ef24 fect for the grant on the day before the date of enactment 

25 of this Act, except that the nonprofit organization may 


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1 not apply for a continuation of the grant under section 

2 29(m)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 656(m)(5)), as in effect on the day before the date of en4 actment of this Act. 

5 (b) LENGTH OF CONTINUATION GRANT.—The Ad6 ministrator may award a grant under section 29 of the 

7 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656), as amended by this 

8 title, to a nonprofit organization receiving a grant under 

9 section (m) of such section 29, as in effect on the day 

10 before the date of enactment of this Act, for the period— 

11 (1) beginning on the day after the last day of 

12 the grant agreement under such section 29(m); and 

13 (2) ending at the end of the third fiscal year be14 ginning after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 104. REGULATIONS. 

16 Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act, the Administrator shall issue rules as are nec18 essary to carry out section 29 of the Small Business Act 

19 (15 U.S.C. 656), as amended by this title, and ensure that 

20 a period of public comment for those rules is not less than 

21 60 days. 


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1 TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS DE2 VELOPMENT CENTERS IM3 PROVEMENT ACT OF 2022 

4 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Devel6 opment Centers Improvement Act of 2022’’. 

7 SEC. 202. ANNUAL REPORT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL8 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

9 Section 10 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 639) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL DE12 VELOPMENT PROGRAMS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

14 ‘‘(A) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘cov15 ered program’ means a program authorized 

16 under section 7(j), 7(m), 8(a), 8(b)(1), 21, 22, 

17 29, 32, or 34. 

18 ‘‘(B) ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT

19 ACTIVITY.—The term ‘entrepreneurial develop20 ment activity’ means an activity related to the 

21 delivery of entrepreneurial development services, 

22 entrepreneurial education, or support for the 

23 development and maintenance of business train24 ing services carried out through a covered pro25 gram. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Administrator 

2 shall include in the comprehensive annual report re3 quired under subsection (a) the following data: 

4 ‘‘(A) A list of all entrepreneurial develop5 ment activities undertaken during the fiscal 

6 year preceding the date of the report through a 

7 covered program, including— 

8 ‘‘(i) a description and operating de9 tails for each such covered program and 

10 the activities performed under each such 

11 covered program; 

12 ‘‘(ii) operating circulars, manuals, and 

13 standard operating procedures for each 

14 such covered program; 

15 ‘‘(iii) a description of the process used 

16 to make awards relating to the provision of 

17 entrepreneurial development activities 

18 under each such covered program; 

19 ‘‘(iv) a list of all recipients of awards 

20 under each such covered program and the 

21 amount of each such award; and 

22 ‘‘(v) a list of contractors, including 

23 the name and location of such contractor, 

24 of an award recipient. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The total amount of funding obli2 gated for a covered program and the entrepre3 neurial development activities conducted under 

4 each such covered program for the fiscal year 

5 preceding the date of the report. 

6 ‘‘(C) The names and titles of the individ7 uals responsible for carrying out a covered pro8 gram. 

9 ‘‘(D) For entrepreneurial development ac10 tivities undertaken during the fiscal year pre11 ceding the date of the report through the small 

12 business development center program estab13 lished under section 21 (in this section referred 

14 to as the ‘Program’)— 

15 ‘‘(i) the total number and number of 

16 individuals counseled or trained through 

17 the Program; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the total number of hours of 

19 counseling and training services provided 

20 through the Program; 

21 ‘‘(iii) to the extent practicable, the de22 mographics of participants in the Program, 

23 which shall include the gender, race, eth24 nicity, and age of each such participant; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the number of participants in 

2 the Program who are veterans; 

3 ‘‘(v) the number of new businesses 

4 started by participants in the Program; 

5 ‘‘(vi) to the extent practicable, the 

6 number of jobs supported, created, and re7 tained with assistance from the Program; 

8 ‘‘(vii) to the extent practicable, the 

9 total amount of capital secured by partici10 pants in the Program, including through 

11 loans and equity investment from the Ad12 ministration; 

13 ‘‘(viii) the number of participants in 

14 the Program receiving financial assistance, 

15 including the type and dollar amount, 

16 under a loan program of the Administra17 tion; 

18 ‘‘(ix) an estimate of gross receipts, in19 cluding, to the extent practicable, a de20 scription of any change in revenue, of 

21 small business concerns assisted through 

22 the Program; 

23 ‘‘(x) the number of referrals of indi24 viduals to other resources and programs of 

25 the Administration; 


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1 ‘‘(xi) the results of satisfaction sur2 veys of participants in the Program, in3 cluding a summary of any comments re4 ceived from those participants; and 

5 ‘‘(xii) any recommendations by the 

6 Administrator to improve the delivery of 

7 services by the Program.’’. 

8 SEC. 203. MARKETING OF SERVICES. 

9 Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(o) NO PROHIBITION OF MARKETING OF SERV12 ICES.—An applicant receiving a grant under this section 

13 may use up to 10 percent of their budget to market and 

14 advertise the services of the applicant to individuals and 

15 small business concerns.’’. 

16 SEC. 204. DATA COLLECTION WORKING GROUP. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP TO IM18 PROVE DATA COLLECTION.—The Administrator shall es19 tablish a group to be known as the ‘‘Data Collection Work20 ing Group’’ consisting of entrepreneurial development 

21 grant recipients, the associations and organizations rep22 resenting such recipients, and officials from the Adminis23 tration, to carry out a study to determine the best methods 

24 for conducting data collection activities and create or re25 vise existing systems dedicated to data collection. 


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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, the Data Collection Working 

3 Group shall issue a report to the appropriate committees 

4 of Congress containing the findings and determinations 

5 made in carrying out the study required under subsection 

6 (a), including— 

7 (1) recommendations for revising existing data 

8 collection practices for the small business develop9 ment center program established under section 21 of 

10 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648); and 

11 (2) a proposed plan for the Administrator to 

12 implement the recommendations described in para13 graph (1). 

14 SEC. 205. OVERSIGHT; FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS 

15 AND COSPONSORSHIPS; NEGOTIATION. 

16 Section 21(a)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)) is amended— 

18 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

19 by inserting ‘‘, including financial oversight,’’ after 

20 ‘‘oversight’’; 

21 (2) by moving subparagraphs (A) and (B) 2 

22 ems to the right; 

23 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘Whereas’’; 


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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘Program’’ after ‘‘Cen2 ter’’; and 

3 (C) by striking ‘‘National’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘national’’; and 

5 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(D)(i) A small business development cen7 ter that participates in a private partnership or 

8 cosponsorship, in which the Administrator or 

9 designee of the Administrator also participates, 

10 may collect fees or other income in order to 

11 hold events related to the private partnership or 

12 cosponsorship. 

13 ‘‘(ii) Nothing in clause (i) shall be con14 strued as the Administration endorsing a pri15 vate partnership or cosponsorship described in 

16 clause (i). 

17 ‘‘(E) An association formed under sub18 paragraph (A) shall, at the request of a small 

19 business development center applicant or appli20 cants, participate in the negotiation of the coop21 erative agreement described in this paragraph 

22 between the small business development center 

23 applicant or applicants and the Administra24 tion.’’. 


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1 SEC. 206. EQUITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 

2 CENTERS. 

3 Section 21(a)(4)(C)(v) of the Small Business Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)(v)) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(v) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Of the 

6 amounts made available in any fiscal year 

7 to carry out this section, not more than 

8 $600,000 may be used by the Administra9 tion to pay expenses enumerated in sub10 paragraphs (B) through (D) of section 

11 20(a)(1).’’. 

12 SEC. 207. CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS. 

13 Section 21(a)(7)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 648(a)(7)(A)) is amended, in the matter preceding 

15 clause (i)— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘or telephone number’’ and in17 serting ‘‘, telephone number, or email address’’; and 

18 (2) by inserting ‘‘, or the nature or content of 

19 such assistance, to any State, local, or Federal agen20 cy, or to any third party’’ after ‘‘receiving assistance 

21 under this section’’. 

22 SEC. 208. LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS TO SMALL 

23 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21 of the Small Business 

25 Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as amended by section 203 of this 

26 title, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘any women’s business 

3 center operating pursuant to section 29,’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘or a women’s business 

5 center operating pursuant to section 29 as a 

6 Small Business Development Center’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘and women’s business 

8 centers operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(p) LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS.—Except 

11 for nonprofit institutions of higher education, and notwith12 standing any other provision of law, the Administrator 

13 may not award a grant or contract to, or enter into a coop14 erative agreement with, an entity under this section unless 

15 that entity— 

16 ‘‘(1) received a grant or contract from, or en17 tered into a cooperative agreement with, the Admin18 istrator under this section before the date of enact19 ment of this subsection; and 

20 ‘‘(2) seeks to renew such a grant, contract, or 

21 cooperative agreement after such date.’’. 

22 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 

23 made by this section may not be construed as prohibiting 

24 a women’s business center described in section 29 of the 

25 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656) from receiving a 


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1 subgrant from an entity receiving a grant under section 

2 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648). 

3 SEC. 209. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FOR4 MULA GRANTS RECEIVED BY STATES. 

5 Section 21(a)(4)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)) is amended— 

7 (1) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘subparagraph’’ 

8 and all that follows through the period at the end 

9 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph $175,000,000 for each 

10 of fiscal years 2023 through 2026.’’; and 

11 (2) in clause (viii)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘shall reserve not less than 

13 $1,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘shall reserve not 

14 more than $2,000,000’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘$200,000’’. 

17 SEC. 210. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO MATCHING FUNDS. 

18 Section 21(a)(4)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 

19 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: ‘‘Such matching funds shall be evidenced by 

21 good faith assertions from the applicant, and the expendi22 ture of matching funds shall not be made a prerequisite 

23 of the reimbursement of Federal funds, notwithstanding 

24 the final reconciliation payment for the close-out of each 

25 award.’’. 


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1 SEC. 211. DUTIES OF THE ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR 

2 SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

3 Section 21(h)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 648(h)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(C) MARKETING.—The Associate Admin7 istrator for Small Business Development Cen8 ters shall market and advertise the Small Busi9 ness Development Center Program and partici10 pants in that Program as a resource available 

11 to any Federal program providing assistance to 

12 small business concerns, including the FAST 

13 program established under section 34.’’. 

14 SEC. 212. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

15 The budgetary effects of this title, for the purpose 

16 of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 

17 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest state18 ment titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ 

19 for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 

20 Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, 

21 provided that such statement has been submitted prior to 

22 the vote on passage. 


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1 TITLE III—SCORE FOR SMALL 

2 BUSINESS ACT OF 2022 

3 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘SCORE for Small 

5 Business Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 302. SCORE PROGRAM PROVISIONS AND REQUIRE7 MENTS. 

8 Section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(B)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘a Service Corps of Retired 

12 Executives (SCORE)’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

13 SCORE program’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘SCORE may’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘the SCORE Association may’’; and 

16 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(c) SCORE PROGRAM.— 

19 ‘‘(1) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Admin20 istrator shall enter into a cooperative agreement 

21 with the SCORE Association to carry out the 

22 SCORE program, which shall include the following 

23 requirements: 

24 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATOR DUTIES.—The Ad25 ministrator shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) every 2 years, conduct a financial 

2 examination of the SCORE Association to 

3 ensure that any costs paid for with Federal 

4 funds are allowable, allocable, and reason5 able; 

6 ‘‘(ii) review and approve contracts en7 tered into by the SCORE Association to 

8 provide goods or services for the SCORE 

9 program of a value greater than an 

10 amount determined by the Administrator; 

11 ‘‘(iii) maintain a system through 

12 which the SCORE Association provides 

13 documentation relating to those contracts; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(iv) not later than 30 days after the 

16 receipt of a quarterly report on the 

17 achievements of the SCORE program sub18 mitted by the SCORE Association, rec19 oncile differences between that report and 

20 the performance results of the SCORE 

21 program reported in a management infor22 mation system of the Office of Entrepre23 neurial Development. 

24 ‘‘(B) SCORE ASSOCIATION DUTIES.—The 

25 SCORE Association shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) manage nationwide chapters of 

2 the SCORE program; 

3 ‘‘(ii) provide annual training to em4 ployees of the SCORE Association on gen5 erating and using program income from 

6 the SCORE program; 

7 ‘‘(iii) submit documentation to the 

8 Administrator verifying the annual train9 ing is completed; 

10 ‘‘(iv) maintain separation of funds do11 nated to the SCORE Association from pro12 gram income and funds received pursuant 

13 to a cooperative agreement; and 

14 ‘‘(v) maintain and enforce require15 ments for volunteers participating in the 

16 SCORE program, including requirements 

17 that each volunteer shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) based on the business expe19 rience and knowledge of the volun20 teer— 

21 ‘‘(aa) provide personal coun22 seling, mentoring, and coaching 

23 on the process of starting, ex24 panding, managing, buying, and 

25 selling a business at no cost to 


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1 individuals who own, or aspire to 

2 own, small business concerns; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(bb) facilitate free or low5 cost education workshops for in6 dividuals who own, or aspire to 

7 own, small business concerns; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(II) as appropriate, use tools, 

10 resources, and expertise of other orga11 nizations to carry out the SCORE 

12 program. 

13 ‘‘(C) JOINT DUTIES.—The Administrator, 

14 in consultation with the SCORE Association, 

15 shall ensure that the SCORE program and each 

16 chapter of the SCORE program— 

17 ‘‘(i) develop and implement plans and 

18 goals to effectively and efficiently provide 

19 services to individuals in rural areas, eco20 nomically disadvantaged communities, or 

21 other traditionally underserved commu22 nities, including plans for virtual, remote, 

23 and web-based initiatives, chapter expan24 sion, partnerships, and the development of 


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1 new skills by volunteers participating in 

2 the SCORE program; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) reinforce an inclusive culture by 

4 recruiting diverse volunteers for the chap5 ters of the SCORE program. 

6 ‘‘(2) ONLINE COMPONENT.—In addition to pro7 viding in-person services, the SCORE Association 

8 shall maintain and expand online counseling services 

9 including webinars, electronic mentoring platforms, 

10 and online toolkits to further support entrepreneurs. 

11 ‘‘(3) ACCOUNTING.—The SCORE Association 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) maintain a centralized accounting 

14 and financing system for each chapter of the 

15 SCORE program; 

16 ‘‘(B) maintain a uniform policy and proce17 dures to manage Federal funds received pursu18 ant to a cooperative agreement described in 

19 paragraph (1); and 

20 ‘‘(C) maintain an employee of the SCORE 

21 Association to serve as a compliance officer to 

22 ensure expenditures of the SCORE program are 

23 fully compliant with any law, regulation, or co24 operative agreement relating to the SCORE 

25 program. 


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1 ‘‘(4) COMPENSATION.—The SCORE Associa2 tion shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) maintain a documented compensation 

4 policy that— 

5 ‘‘(i) specifies the maximum rate of 

6 pay allowable for any individual in the 

7 SCORE Association; 

8 ‘‘(ii) specifies the maximum percent of 

9 the aggregate salaries of employees of the 

10 SCORE Association that may be spent on 

11 individual performance awards to employ12 ees of the SCORE Association; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) shall be reviewed annually by 

14 the SCORE Association and the Adminis15 trator; 

16 ‘‘(B) prohibit payment of salaries or per17 formance awards that exceed the limits set by 

18 the SCORE Association compensation policy; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(C) prohibit members of the Board of Di21 rectors of the SCORE Association or any em22 ployees of the SCORE Association from simul23 taneously serving on the Board of Directors of, 

24 or receiving compensation from, the SCORE 


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1 Foundation without written approval from the 

2 Administrator. 

3 ‘‘(5) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION REQUIRE4 MENTS.—The SCORE Association shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) annually update all manuals or other 

6 documents applicable to employees and volun7 teers of the SCORE Association or the SCORE 

8 program to include requirements relating to re9 porting procedures and protections for whistle10 blowers; and 

11 ‘‘(B) conduct an annual training for em12 ployees and volunteers of the SCORE Associa13 tion or the SCORE program on the require14 ments described in subparagraph (A) and en15 courage the use of the hotline established by the 

16 Office of the Inspector General of the Adminis17 tration to submit whistleblower reports. 

18 ‘‘(6) PUBLISHED MATERIALS.—The SCORE 

19 Association shall ensure all published materials in20 clude written acknowledgment of Administration 

21 support of the SCORE program if those materials 

22 are paid for in whole or in part by Federal funds. 

23 ‘‘(7) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Adminis25 trator nor the SCORE Association may disclose 


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1 the name, email address, address, or telephone 

2 number of any individual or small business con3 cern receiving assistance from the SCORE As4 sociation without the consent of the individual 

5 or small business concern, unless— 

6 ‘‘(i) the Administrator is ordered to 

7 make a disclosure by a court in any civil 

8 or criminal enforcement action initiated by 

9 a Federal or State agency; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator determines 

11 that a disclosure is necessary for the pur12 pose of conducting a financial audit of the 

13 SCORE program, in which case disclosure 

14 shall be limited to the information nec15 essary for the audit. 

16 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATOR USE OF INFORMA17 TION.—This paragraph shall not— 

18 ‘‘(i) restrict the access of the Adminis19 trator to SCORE program activity data; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) prevent the Administrator from 

21 using SCORE program client information 

22 to conduct client surveys. 

23 ‘‘(C) STANDARDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

2 shall, after opportunity for notice and com3 ment, establish standards for— 

4 ‘‘(I) disclosures with respect to 

5 financial audits described in subpara6 graph (A)(ii); and 

7 ‘‘(II) conducting client surveys, 

8 including standards for oversight of 

9 the surveys and for dissemination and 

10 use of client information. 

11 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM PRIVACY PROTEC12 TION.—The standards issued under this 

13 subparagraph shall, to the extent prac14 ticable, provide for the maximum amount 

15 of privacy protection. 

16 ‘‘(8) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 

17 days after the date of enactment of the SCORE for 

18 Small Business Act of 2022 and annually thereafter, 

19 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 

20 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

21 and the Committee on Small Business of the House 

22 of Representatives a report on the performance and 

23 effectiveness of the SCORE program, which may be 

24 included as part of another report submitted to 


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1 those committees by the Administrator, and which 

2 shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) the total number and the number of 

4 unique clients counseled or trained under the 

5 SCORE program; 

6 ‘‘(B) the total number of hours of coun7 seling or training provided under the SCORE 

8 program; 

9 ‘‘(C) the total number of local workshops 

10 provided under the SCORE program; 

11 ‘‘(D) the total number of clients attending 

12 online and local workshops provided under the 

13 SCORE program; 

14 ‘‘(E) to the extent practicable, the demo15 graphics of SCORE program clients and volun16 teers, which shall include the gender, race, eth17 nicity, and age of each client or volunteer; 

18 ‘‘(F) the number of SCORE program cli19 ents and volunteers who are veterans; 

20 ‘‘(G) with respect to businesses assisted 

21 under the SCORE program, the cost to create 

22 a job, the cost to create a business, and the re23 turn on investment; 


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1 ‘‘(H) the number of referrals of SCORE 

2 program clients to other resources and pro3 grams of the Administration; 

4 ‘‘(I) the results of SCORE program client 

5 satisfactory surveys, including a summary of 

6 any comments received from those clients; 

7 ‘‘(J) the number of new businesses started 

8 by SCORE program clients; 

9 ‘‘(K) the percentage of businesses assisted 

10 by the SCORE program realizing revenue 

11 growth; 

12 ‘‘(L) to the extent practicable, the number 

13 of jobs created with assistance from the 

14 SCORE program; 

15 ‘‘(M) the total cost of the SCORE pro16 gram; 

17 ‘‘(N) any recommendations of the Adminis18 trator to improve the SCORE program; 

19 ‘‘(O) an explanation of how the SCORE 

20 program has been integrated with— 

21 ‘‘(i) small business development cen22 ters; 

23 ‘‘(ii) women’s business centers de24 scribed in section 29; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Veteran Business Outreach Cen2 ters described in section 32; 

3 ‘‘(iv) other offices of the Administra4 tion; and 

5 ‘‘(v) other public and private entities 

6 engaging in entrepreneurial and small 

7 business development; 

8 ‘‘(P) the SCORE compensation policy for 

9 the relevant fiscal year, including— 

10 ‘‘(i) a list of any changes to the com11 pensation policy since the previous fiscal 

12 year; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) justification if the maximum rate 

14 of pay allowable for any individual in the 

15 SCORE Association exceeds the maximum 

16 rate of pay allowable for an individual in 

17 the career Senior Executive Service em18 ployed at the Administration; 

19 ‘‘(Q) the names, positions, and salaries of 

20 any employees of the SCORE Association whose 

21 salaries exceed the maximum rate of pay allow22 able per the SCORE compensation policy; 

23 ‘‘(R) the percent of the aggregate salaries 

24 of employees of the SCORE Association spent 

25 on individual performance awards to employees 


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1 of the SCORE Association, with a justification 

2 if this amount exceeds 10 percent; 

3 ‘‘(S) the total amount of performance 

4 awards that have been disbursed or will be dis5 bursed after the last day of the fiscal year in 

6 which the awards were earned and a justifica7 tion for any awards that have been disbursed or 

8 will be disbursed outside the fiscal year in 

9 which the awards were earned; and 

10 ‘‘(T) the names, positions, and salaries of 

11 any members of the Board of Directors of the 

12 SCORE Association or any employees of the 

13 SCORE Association that simultaneously serve 

14 on the Board of Directors of, or receive com15 pensation from, the SCORE Foundation with16 out written approval of the Administrator.’’. 

17 SEC. 303. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE 

18 SCORE PROGRAM. 

19 Section 20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 

20 note) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) SCORE PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be 

22 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the 

23 SCORE program such sums as are necessary for the Ad24 ministrator to make grants or enter into cooperative 


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1 agreements in a total amount that does not exceed 

2 $18,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2023 and 2024.’’. 

3 SEC. 304. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms 

5 ‘‘SCORE Association’’ and ‘‘SCORE program’’ have the 

6 meanings given those terms in subsection (gg) of section 

7 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632), as added 

8 by section 305 of this title. 

9 (b) STUDY AND REPORT ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF

10 THE SCORE PROGRAM.— 

11 (1) STUDY.—The SCORE Association shall 

12 carry out a study on the future role of the SCORE 

13 program and develop a strategic plan for how the 

14 SCORE program will meet the needs of small busi15 ness concerns during the 5-year period beginning on 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, with specific ob17 jectives for the first, third, and fifth years of the 5- 

18 year period. 

19 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the SCORE Asso21 ciation shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

22 Congress a report containing— 

23 (A) all findings and determinations made 

24 in carrying out the study required under para25 graph (1); 


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1 (B) the strategic plan developed under 

2 paragraph (1); and 

3 (C) an explanation of how the SCORE As4 sociation plans to achieve the strategic plan, as5 suming both stagnant and increased funding 

6 levels. 

7 (c) ADMINISTRATOR REPORT ON LEASED SPACE.— 

8 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

9 Act, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate 

10 committees of Congress a report containing an assessment 

11 of the cost of leased space that is donated to the SCORE 

12 Association. 

13 (d) ONLINE COMPONENT REPORT.—Not later than 

14 3 months after the last day of the first full fiscal year 

15 following the date of enactment of this Act, the SCORE 

16 Association shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

17 Congress a report on the effectiveness of the online coun18 seling services required under paragraph (2) of section 

19 8(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c)), as 

20 added by section 302 of this title, including a description 

21 of— 

22 (1) how the SCORE Association determines 

23 electronic mentoring and webinar needs, develops 

24 training for electronic mentoring, establishes 


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1 webinar criteria curricula, and evaluates webinar 

2 and electronic mentoring results; 

3 (2) the internal controls that are used and a 

4 summary of the topics covered by the webinars; and 

5 (3) performance metrics, including the number 

6 of small business concerns counseled by, the number 

7 of small business concerns created by, the number of 

8 jobs created and retained by, and the funding 

9 amounts directed towards those online counseling 

10 services. 

11 SEC. 305. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

12 (a) SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—The Small Business Act 

13 (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended— 

14 (1) in section 3 (15 U.S.C. 632), by adding at 

15 the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(gg) SCORE PROGRAM DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

17 ‘‘(1) SCORE PROGRAM.—The term ‘SCORE 

18 program’ means the Service Corps of Retired Execu19 tives program described in section 8(c). 

20 ‘‘(2) SCORE ASSOCIATION.—The term 

21 ‘SCORE Association’ means the Service Corps of 

22 Retired Executives Association or any successor or 

23 other organization that enters into a cooperative 

24 agreement described in section 8(c)(1) with the Ad25 ministrator to operate the SCORE program. 


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1 ‘‘(3) SCORE FOUNDATION.—The term 

2 ‘SCORE Foundation’ means an organization with a 

3 mission to support the SCORE Association and vol4 unteers of the SCORE program.’’; 

5 (2) in section 7 (15 U.S.C. 636)— 

6 (A) in subsection (b)(12)— 

7 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik8 ing ‘‘SCORE’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE PRO9 GRAM’’; and 

10 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

11 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘SCORE program’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII), by 

14 striking ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘SCORE program’’; 

16 (3) in section 20(d)(1)(E) (15 U.S.C. 631 

17 note), by striking ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Execu18 tives program’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE program’’; 

19 and 

20 (4) in section 22 (15 U.S.C. 649)— 

21 (A) in subsection (b)— 

22 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 

23 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives au24 thorized by section (8)(b)(1)’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘SCORE program’’; and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 

2 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘SCORE program’’; and 

4 (B) in subsection (c)(12), by striking 

5 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives authorized 

6 by section 8(b)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE pro7 gram’’. 

8 (b) OTHER LAWS.— 

9 (1) SMALL BUSINESS REAUTHORIZATION ACT

10 OF 1997.—Section 707 of the Small Business Reau11 thorization Act of 1997 (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Ex13 ecutives (SCORE) program’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE 

14 program described in section 8(c) of the Small Busi15 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c))’’. 

16 (2) VETERANS ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND

17 SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1999.—Sec18 tion 301 of the Veterans Entrepreneurship and 

19 Small Business Development Act of 1999 (15 U.S.C. 

20 657b note) is amended— 

21 (A) in subsection (a)— 

22 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 

23 (1), by striking ‘‘Service Core of Retired 

24 Executives (described in section 8(b)(1)(B) 

25 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 


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1 637(b)(1)(B)) and in this section referred 

2 to as ‘SCORE’)’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE 

3 program described in section 8(c) of the 

4 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c)) (in 

5 this section referred to as the ‘SCORE 

6 program’)’’; 

7 (ii) in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), by 

8 striking ‘‘SCORE’’ each place the term ap9 pears and inserting ‘‘the SCORE pro10 gram’’; and 

11 (iii) in paragraph (2), by striking 

12 ‘‘the’’ before ‘‘establishing’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (b), by striking 

14 ‘‘SCORE’’ each place the term appears and in15 serting ‘‘the SCORE program’’. 

16 (3) MILITARY RESERVIST AND VETERAN SMALL

17 BUSINESS REAUTHORIZATION AND OPPORTUNITY

18 ACT OF 2008.—The Military Reservist and Veteran 

19 Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity 

20 Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 636 note) is amended— 

21 (A) in section 3, by striking paragraph (5) 

22 and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(5) the term ‘SCORE program’ means the 

24 SCORE program described in section 8(c) of the 

25 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c));’’; and 


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1 (B) in section 201(c)(2)(B)(i), by striking 

2 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and in3 serting ‘‘SCORE program’’. 

4 (4) CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM

5 REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009.—Section 621 of the 

6 Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthoriza7 tion Act of 2009 (15 U.S.C. 657p) is amended— 

8 (A) in subsection (a), by striking para9 graph (4) and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) the term ‘SCORE program’ means the 

11 SCORE program described in section 8(c) of the 

12 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c));’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (b)(4)(A)(iv), by striking 

14 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and in15 serting ‘‘SCORE program’’. 

16 (5) ENERGY POLICY AND CONSERVATION

17 ACT.—Section 337(d)(2)(A) of the Energy Policy 

18 and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6307(d)(2)(A)) is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Ex20 ecutives (SCORE)’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE pro21 gram’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—FEDERAL CON2 TRACTING FAIRNESS ACT OF 

3 2022 

4 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Contracting 

6 Fairness Act of 2022’’. 

7 SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) There remain disparities in education, em10 ployment, and business history, which includes un11 equal contracting opportunities, unequal access to 

12 credit or capital, and acquisition of credit or capital 

13 under commercially unfavorable circumstances, be14 tween individuals defined as socially and economi15 cally disadvantaged under the Small Business Act 

16 (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) and other individuals. 

17 (2) The following statistics reiterate the dispari18 ties described in paragraph (1): 

19 (A) Of the 16,300,000 students enrolled in 

20 4-year undergraduate university in the fall of 

21 2016, 9,100,000 were White, 3,200,000 were 

22 Hispanic, 2,200,000 were Black, and 1,100,000 

23 million were Asian. In 2018, 41 percent of all 

24 18- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in college. 

25 However, 37 percent of Black 18- to 24-yearVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 Dec 22, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5220.IS S5220

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1 olds and 26 percent of Hispanic 18- to 24-year2 olds were enrolled in college. Additionally, in 

3 2019, 29 percent of Black adults had a bach4 elor’s degree or higher, 21 percent of Latino or 

5 Hispanic adults had a bachelor’s degree or 

6 higher, and 22 percent of Pacific Islander 

7 adults had a bachelor’s degree or higher, as 

8 compared to 45 percent of White adults. 

9 (B) In 2020, 24 percent of Black employ10 ees and 24 percent of Hispanic employees re11 port having been discriminated against at work, 

12 compared to 15 percent of White employees re13 porting discrimination at work. In the first 

14 quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate in the 

15 United States among White workers was 3.6 

16 percent compared to 6.8 percent among Black 

17 workers and 4.9 percent among Hispanic work18 ers. 

19 (C) With regards to contracting, in 2021, 

20 2.78 percent of Federal contracts were awarded 

21 to Asian-owned small businesses, 1.67 percent 

22 went to Black-owned small businesses, 1.78 

23 percent went to Hispanic-owned small busi24 nesses, and 2.69 percent went to Native Amer25 ican-owned small businesses compared to 15.64 


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1 percent of Federal contracts awarded to White2 owned small businesses. In total, 9.4 percent of 

3 contracting dollars went to minority-owned 

4 businesses when 19 percent of United States 

5 employer businesses are minority-owned. 

6 (D) In terms of access to capital, in 2021, 

7 15 percent of Asian-owned small businesses re8 ceived all the financing they sought, 16 percent 

9 of Black-owned small businesses received all the 

10 non-emergency financing they sought, and 19 

11 percent of Hispanic-owned small businesses re12 ceived all the non-emergency financing they 

13 sought, as compared to 35 percent of White14 owned small businesses. 

15 (3) Given these disparities, the program estab16 lished under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act 

17 (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) remains a vital part in increas18 ing access to Federal contracting opportunities for 

19 business owners considered socially and economically 

20 disadvantaged, as defined in such Act, and is a crit21 ical business development program for ensuring 

22 these individuals can start and grow their businesses 

23 to compete for Federal contracts. 


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1 SEC. 403. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this title, the terms ‘‘qualified HUBZone small 

3 business concern’’, ‘‘small business concern owned and 

4 controlled by service-disabled veterans’’, and ‘‘small busi5 ness concern owned and controlled by women’’ have the 

6 meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Small Busi7 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

8 SEC. 404. DURATION OF PARTICIPATION; RAMP-UP PERIOD; 

9 TRANSITION PERIOD. 

10 (a) EXTENSION OF PROGRAM PARTICIPATION PE11 RIOD.—Section 7(j)(15) of the Small Business Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 636(j)(15)) is amended— 

13 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

14 by striking ‘‘nine years’’ and inserting ‘‘10 years’’; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘four 

16 years’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’; and 

17 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘five 

18 years’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 

19 (b) RAMP-UP PERIOD.— 

20 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

21 ‘‘covered small business concern’’ means a small 

22 business concern that, as of the date of enactment 

23 of this Act— 

24 (A) is in the first 3 years as a participant 

25 in the program established under section 8(a) 

26 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)); 


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1 (B) is an individually owned entity; and 

2 (C) has not been awarded a contract under 

3 such section 8(a), excluding contracts that meet 

4 the simplified acquisition threshold described in 

5 section 134 of title 41, United States Code. 

6 (2) ELECTION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara8 graph (B), a covered small business concern 

9 may elect at the time of certification to begin 

10 the 10-year program participation period under 

11 section 7(j)(15) of the Small Business Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 636(j)(15)), as amended by subsection 

13 (a), on the earlier of— 

14 (i) the date on which the covered 

15 small business concern is awarded a con16 tract under section 8(a) of the Small Busi17 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)); or 

18 (ii) 3 years after the date on which 

19 the covered small business concern was 

20 certified to participate in the program es21 tablished under such section 8(a). 

22 (B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding sub23 paragraph (A), the program participation pe24 riod for a covered small business concern under 


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1 section 7(j)(15) of the Small Business Act (15 

2 U.S.C. 636(j)(15)) shall not exceed 13 years. 

3 (3) TRAINING.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), if a covered small business 

6 concern makes an election under paragraph (2), 

7 the covered small business concern shall— 

8 (i) participate in 12 hours per year of 

9 marketing, business development training, 

10 and engagement to show intent in building 

11 capacity to participate in the Federal con12 tracting market, which shall be satisfied 

13 through training provided by the Adminis14 tration, the Minority Business Develop15 ment Agency, resource partners of the Ad16 ministration, Procurement Technical As17 sistance Centers, or national organizations 

18 with expertise in Federal contracting or 

19 that provide contracting certifications; and 

20 (ii) log the progress of the covered 

21 small business concern on the training car22 ried out under clause (i) in the annual re23 view submitted by the covered small busi24 ness concern. 

25 (B) EXCEPTION.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—The requirements 

2 under subparagraph (A)(i) shall be waived 

3 for a covered small business concern if, be4 fore reaching 36 hours of training under 

5 subparagraph (A)(i), the covered small 

6 business concern is awarded a contract 

7 under section 8(a) of the Small Business 

8 Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)). 

9 (ii) REQUIREMENT TO LOG.—Notwith10 standing clause (i), a covered small busi11 ness concern that receives a waiver under 

12 clause (i) is required to log the training in 

13 which the small business concern partici14 pates under subparagraph (A) in accord15 ance with clause (ii) of such subparagraph. 

16 (c) TRANSITION PERIOD.— 

17 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

18 (A) the term ‘‘covered small business con19 cern’’ means a small business concern that is in 

20 the final 3 years of participation in the program 

21 established under section 8(a) of the Small 

22 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)); and 

23 (B) the term ‘‘economically disadvantaged 

24 individual’’ means an individual described in 


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1 section 8(a)(6)(A) of the Small Business Act 

2 (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(6)(A)). 

3 (2) INCREASED AMOUNTS.—The Administrator 

4 may permit the owner of a covered small business 

5 concern to have an adjusted gross income and per6 sonal net worth that is not more than 3 times higher 

7 than the amount allowed for the covered small busi8 ness program under the program established under 

9 section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 637(a)), and continue to be considered economically 

11 disadvantaged for the purposes of that program, if 

12 the owner demonstrates— 

13 (A) an investment in the covered small 

14 business concern to continue to compete in the 

15 Federal contracting market, such as investment 

16 in company infrastructure; 

17 (B) a plan for how the covered small busi18 ness concern is being prepared to compete for 

19 Federal contracts after exiting the program es20 tablished under section 8(a) of the Small Busi21 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)); and 

22 (C) any other metrics as determined by the 

23 Administrator. 


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1 SEC. 405. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR 8(a) 

2 FIRMS. 

3 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Administrator shall issue or revise regula5 tions to— 

6 (1) make the review process for small business 

7 concerns already certified under section 8(a) of the 

8 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) less burden9 some by modifying the annual review of each such 

10 small business concern, including by— 

11 (A) providing that, with respect to such an 

12 annual review, each such small business con13 cern— 

14 (i) shall submit to the Administrator 

15 a new business plan, including a contract 

16 forecast, a transitional management plan, 

17 and an annual performance of contracts, 

18 and a business capture strategy approach 

19 only if the plan or approach, as applicable, 

20 has changed, as compared with the pre21 vious year; and 

22 (ii) may indicate to the Administrator 

23 that there has been no change to the busi24 ness plan or business capture strategy ap25 proach described in clause (i) during the 

26 previous year; and 


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1 (B) making such other reductions in the 

2 number of forms and documents submitted by 

3 each such small business concern that the Ad4 ministrator determines necessary, while still en5 suring that each such small business concern 

6 maintains good standing with respect to the 

7 program carried out under such section 8(a); 

8 (2) determine a new process for how the Ad9 ministrator processes the annual review of each such 

10 small business concern that, at a minimum, requires 

11 the Administrator to conduct a review, which shall 

12 be expedited, of the small business concern when the 

13 small business concern is awarded a contract under 

14 such section 8(a); and 

15 (3) coordinate with the General Services Ad16 ministration to streamline the Past Performance 

17 Questionnaire form for small business concerns and 

18 Federal agencies participating in the programs es19 tablished under sections 8(a), 8(m), 31, and 36 of 

20 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a), 637(m), 

21 657a, 657f). 

22 SEC. 406. SBA REPRESENTATION ON THE FEDERAL ACQUI23 SITION REGULATION COUNCIL. 

24 Section 1302(b) of title 41, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

3 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

4 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

5 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(E) the Administrator of the Small Busi8 ness Administration.’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘subpara10 graphs (B) to (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs 

11 (B) through (E)’’. 

12 SEC. 407. OFFICE OF SMALL AND DISADVANTAGED BUSI13 NESS UTILIZATION; DIRECTOR. 

14 Section 15(k)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

15 U.S.C. 644(k)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘be at a level 

16 that is not less senior than the Under Secretary of Defense 

17 for Policy or the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisi18 tion and Sustainment,’’ after ‘‘appraisals),’’. 

19 SEC. 408. SOLE SOURCE THRESHOLDS. 

20 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in section 8 (15 U.S.C. 637)— 

23 (A) in subsection (a)(1)(D)(i), by striking 

24 subclause (II) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(II) the anticipated award price 

2 of the contract (including options and 

3 options periods) will exceed— 

4 ‘‘(aa) $12,000,000 in the 

5 case of a contract opportunity as6 signed a North American Indus7 try Classification System code for 

8 research and development, except 

9 that such amount shall be 

10 $14,000,000 if the small business 

11 concern is a participating or 

12 graduated mentor in, or a joint 

13 venture established under, the 

14 mentor-protege program under 

15 section 45; 

16 ‘‘(bb) $14,000,000 (or 

17 $16,000,000, if the small busi18 ness concern is a participating or 

19 graduated mentor in, or a joint 

20 venture established under, the 

21 mentor-protege program under 

22 section 45) in the case of a con23 tract opportunity described in 

24 item (aa), if the small business 

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1 stitution of higher education de2 scribed in section 371(a) of the 

3 Higher Education Act of 1965 

4 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)), for which 

5 the limitations on subcontracting 

6 under section 46 shall not apply; 

7 ‘‘(cc) $14,000,000 in the 

8 case of a contract opportunity as9 signed a North American Indus10 try Classification System code for 

11 manufacturing, except that such 

12 amount shall be $16,000,000 if 

13 the small business concern is a 

14 participating or graduated men15 tor in, or a joint venture estab16 lished under, the mentor-protege 

17 program under section 45; or 

18 ‘‘(dd) $10,000,000 in the 

19 case of any other contract oppor20 tunity, except that such amount 

21 shall be $12,000,000 if the small 

22 business concern is a partici23 pating or graduated mentor in, 

24 or a joint venture established 


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1 under, the mentor-protege pro2 gram under section 45.’’; and 

3 (B) in subsection (m)— 

4 (i) in paragraph (7)(B), by striking 

5 clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(i) $12,000,000 in the case of a con8 tract opportunity assigned a North Amer9 ican Industry Classification System code 

10 for research and development; 

11 ‘‘(ii) $14,000,000 in the case of a con12 tract opportunity described in item (aa), if 

13 the small business concern partners with 

14 an institution of higher education de15 scribed in section 371(a) of the Higher 

16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 1067q(a)); 

18 ‘‘(iii) $14,000,000 in the case of a 

19 contract opportunity assigned a North 

20 American Industry Classification System 

21 code for manufacturing; or 

22 ‘‘(iv) $10,000,000 in the case of any 

23 other contract opportunity; and’’; and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (8)(B), by striking 

2 clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(i) $12,000,000 in the case of a con5 tract opportunity assigned a North Amer6 ican Industry Classification System code 

7 for research and development; 

8 ‘‘(ii) $14,000,000 in the case of a con9 tract opportunity described in item (aa), if 

10 the small business concern partners with 

11 an institution of higher education de12 scribed in section 371(a) of the Higher 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

14 1067q(a)); 

15 ‘‘(iii) $14,000,000 in the case of a 

16 contract opportunity assigned a North 

17 American Industry Classification System 

18 code for manufacturing; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) $10,000,000 in the case of any 

20 other contract opportunity; and’’; 

21 (2) in section 31(c)(2)(A)(ii) (15 U.S.C. 

22 657a(c)(2)(A)(ii)), by striking subclauses (I) and 

23 (II) and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(I) $12,000,000 in the case of a 

25 contract opportunity assigned a North 


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1 American Industry Classification Sys2 tem code for research and develop3 ment; 

4 ‘‘(II) $14,000,000 in the case of 

5 a contract opportunity described in 

6 item (aa), if the qualified HUBZone 

7 small business concern partners with 

8 an institution of higher education de9 scribed in section 371(a) of the High10 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

11 1067q(a)); 

12 ‘‘(III) $14,000,000 in the case of 

13 a contract opportunity assigned a 

14 North American Industry Classifica15 tion System code for manufacturing; 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(IV) $10,000,000 in the case of 

18 any other contract opportunity; and’’; 

19 and 

20 (3) in section 36(c)(2) (15 U.S.C. 657f(c)(2)), 

21 by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) $12,000,000 in the case of a contract 

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1 try Classification System code for research and 

2 development; 

3 ‘‘(B) $14,000,000 in the case of a contract 

4 opportunity described in item (aa), if the small 

5 business concern partners with an institution of 

6 higher education described in section 371(a) of 

7 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 1067q(a)); 

9 ‘‘(C) $14,000,000 in the case of a contract 

10 opportunity assigned a North American Indus11 try Classification System code for manufac12 turing; or 

13 ‘‘(D) $10,000,000 in the case of any other 

14 contract opportunity; and’’. 

15 SEC. 409. MENTOR-PROTEGE PROGRAM. 

16 (a) REMOVAL OF RESTRICTION ON NUMBER OF

17 MENTORS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 45(b)(3)(A) of the 

19 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657r(b)(3)(A)) is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘, including any restrictions’’ 

21 and all that follows through the end of the subpara22 graph and inserting a period. 

23 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall 

24 issue regulations to provide that there is no restric25 tion on the number of mentors under section 45 of 


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1 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657r) that a 

2 small business concern participating in the program 

3 established under section 8(a) of the Small Business 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) may have while participating 

5 in the program, if the mentor-protege relationships 

6 do not conflict or compete with each other. 

7 (b) DATABASE.—The Administrator shall create an 

8 online centralized database for mentors and proteges (as 

9 defined in section 45 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 657r)) to foster connection and support business develop11 ment between the 2 groups. 

12 (c) STREAMLINED PROCESS.—The Administrator 

13 shall issue regulations to streamline the process for apply14 ing to the mentor-protege program established under sec15 tion 45 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657r). 

16 SEC. 410. CERTIFICATION PROCESS. 

17 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

19 issue regulations to streamline the certification process for 

20 small business concerns seeking to become certified as— 

21 (1) a participant in the program established 

22 under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 637(a)); 

24 (2) a small business concern owned and con25 trolled by women; 


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1 (3) a qualified HUBZone small business con2 cern; or 

3 (4) a small business concern owned and con4 trolled by service-disabled veterans. 

5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

7 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that 

8 outlines how the Administrator plans to streamline the 

9 certification process described in subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 411. REPEAL OF BONAFIDE OFFICE RULE. 

11 Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

12 637(a)) is amended by repealing paragraph (11). 

13 SEC. 412. REPORTS. 

14 (a) DEMOGRAPHIC DATA.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

16 thereafter, the Administrator shall— 

17 (1) make publicly available on the website of 

18 the Administration— 

19 (A) disaggregated data on the size and 

20 number of contracts in total by the Federal 

21 Government and by each Federal agency to 

22 small business concerns by demographics, in23 cluding, at a minimum, the gender, race, and 

24 ethnicity categories published by the Adminis25 tration in the disaggregated Federal contracting 


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1 data in December 2021, and the size of the 

2 small business concern; and 

3 (B) data on the number of small business 

4 concerns owned and controlled by disabled indi5 viduals that are participating in the program 

6 established under section 8(a); and 

7 (2) with consultation with the Administrator of 

8 General Services, include on SAM.gov the ability for 

9 small business concerns to report the data described 

10 in paragraph (1)(B). 

11 (b) REVIEW OF SIZE STANDARDS.—Not later than 

12 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad13 ministrator shall conduct a review of and submit to Con14 gress a report on the size standards applicable to partici15 pants in the program established under section 8(a) of the 

16 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)), and outline ways 

17 in which the Administration can modify size standards to 

18 allow program participants to grow and continue to exist 

19 after exiting the program. 

20 (c) ABILITY TO OBTAIN SET-ASIDE AND SOLE

21 SOURCE CONTRACTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub23 mit to Congress a report on— 

24 (1) the ability of small business concerns par25 ticipating in the program established under 8(a) of 


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1 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) that are 

2 not owned by Alaska Native Corporations or Native 

3 Hawaiian Organizations to compete for and success4 fully obtain set-aside contracts, including by report5 ing data comparing the distribution of awarded set6 aside contracts among— 

7 (A) small business concerns participating 

8 in that program that are not owned by Alaska 

9 Native Corporations or Native Hawaiian Orga10 nizations; and 

11 (B) small business concerns participating 

12 in that program that are owned by Alaska Na13 tive Corporations or Native Hawaiian Organiza14 tions; and 

15 (2) the best sole source thresholds to enable 

16 small business concerns participating in the program 

17 established under 8(a) of the Small Business Act 

18 (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) to secure available sole source 

19 contracts. 

20 (d) CHANGES TO 8(a) PROGRAM.—Not later than 

21 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad22 ministrator shall submit to Congress a report on a plan 

23 to implement the changes to the program established 

24 under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 


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1 637(a)) required under this title and the amendments 

2 made by this title. 

3 SEC. 413. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin5 istration— 

6 (1) for fiscal year 2023 and every fiscal year 

7 thereafter— 

8 (A) $20,000,000 to increase the number of 

9 procurement center representatives under sec10 tion 15(l) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 644(l)) and commercial marketing representa12 tives, of which $2,000,000 of those amounts 

13 shall be used to provide those individuals with 

14 increased training on the process to be awarded 

15 a sole-source contract; 

16 (B) $20,000,000 to increase the number of 

17 district office business specialists available 

18 under the program established under section 

19 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

20 637(a)); 

21 (C) $5,000,000 for costs related to certi22 fying small business concerns as small business 

23 concerns owned and controlled by women; and 

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1 protege program established under section 45 of 

2 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657r); and 

3 (2) for fiscal year 2023, to remain available 

4 until expended, $2,500,000 to replace the dynamic 

5 small business search database of the Administra6 tion. 

7 TITLE V—COMMUNITY ADVAN8 TAGE LOAN PROGRAM PER9 MANENCY ACT OF 2022 

10 SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Community Advantage 

12 Loan Program Permanency Act of 2022’’. 

13 SEC. 502. FINDINGS. 

14 Congress finds that— 

15 (1) capital access remains one of the largest 

16 barriers to overcome for socially and economically 

17 disadvantaged business owners as well as for the 

18 smallest small businesses; 

19 (2) according to the Double Jeopardy: COVID– 

20 19’s Concentrated Health and Wealth Effects in 

21 Black Communities study conducted by the Federal 

22 Reserve banks, in 2020— 

23 (A) firms owned by people of color are 

24 more likely to have weak capitalizations, limited 


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1 bank relationships, and little in cash reserves; 

2 and 

3 (B) 51 percent of Black-owned businesses 

4 have less than 3 months of cash reserves in 

5 case of an emergency, which is nearly 7 per6 centage points higher than their peers; 

7 (3) according to the Small Business Credit Sur8 vey conducted by the Federal Reserve banks, in 

9 2021— 

10 (A) 31 percent of firms that sought financ11 ing received the full financing sought by the 

12 firm; 

13 (B) firms owned by people of color were 

14 least likely to receive the full amount of financ15 ing sought by the firm, with 15 percent of 

16 Asian-owned businesses, 16 percent of Black17 owned businesses, and 19 percent of Hispanic18 owned businesses receiving full financing, as op19 posed to 35 percent of non-Hispanic White20 owned businesses receiving full financing; and 

21 (C) firms with fewer employees were also 

22 least likely to receive the full financing sought 

23 by the firm, with 23 percent of businesses with 

24 1 to 4 employees and 37 percent of businesses 

25 with 5 to 49 employees receiving full financing, 


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1 as opposed to 55 percent of businesses with 50 

2 to 499 employees receiving full financing; 

3 (4) the Community Advantage Pilot Program of 

4 the Administration has helped increase lending 

5 backed by the Administration to firms owned by peo6 ple of color, women, and veterans and firms classi7 fied as startups; 

8 (5) from fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2022— 

9 (A) 13 percent of loans under the Commu10 nity Advantage Pilot Program went to Black 

11 business owners, while 4 percent of loans under 

12 the loan program under section 7(a) of the 

13 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) (in this 

14 section referred to as the ‘‘7(a) loan program’’) 

15 went to Black business owners; 

16 (B) 15 percent of loans under the Commu17 nity Advantage Pilot Program went to Hispanic 

18 business owners, while 8 percent of loans under 

19 the 7(a) loan program went to Hispanic busi20 ness owners; 

21 (C) 20 percent of loans under the Commu22 nity Advantage Pilot Program went to women 

23 business owners, while 17 percent of loans 

24 under the 7(a) loan program went to women 

25 business owners; and 


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1 (D) 9 percent of loans under the Commu2 nity Advantage Pilot Program went to veteran 

3 business owners, while 5 percent of loans under 

4 the 7(a) loan program went to veteran business 

5 owners; and 

6 (6) from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021, 

7 14 percent of loans under the Community Advantage 

8 Pilot Program went to startup business owners, 

9 while 7 percent of loans under the 7(a) loan pro10 gram went to startup business owners. 

11 SEC. 503. COMMUNITY ADVANTAGE LOAN PROGRAM. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a) of the Small Busi13 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

15 ‘‘(38) COMMUNITY ADVANTAGE LOAN PRO16 GRAM.— 

17 ‘‘(A) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the 

18 Community Advantage Loan Program are— 

19 ‘‘(i) to create a mission-oriented loan 

20 guarantee program that builds on the dem21 onstrated success of the Community Ad22 vantage Pilot Program of the Administra23 tion, as established in 2011, to reach more 

24 underserved small business concerns; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to increase lending to small busi2 ness concerns in underserved and rural 

3 markets, including veterans and members 

4 of the military community, socially and 

5 economically disadvantaged individuals, as 

6 described in paragraphs (5) and (6)(A) of 

7 section 8(a), respectively, women, and new 

8 businesses; 

9 ‘‘(iii) to ensure that the program 

10 under this subsection expands inclusion 

11 and more broadly meets congressional in12 tent to reach borrowers who are unable to 

13 get credit elsewhere on reasonable terms 

14 and conditions; 

15 ‘‘(iv) to help underserved small busi16 ness concerns become bankable by utilizing 

17 the small dollar financing and business 

18 support experience of mission-oriented 

19 lenders; 

20 ‘‘(v) to allow certain mission-oriented 

21 lenders, primarily financial intermediaries 

22 focused on economic development in under23 served markets, access to guarantees for 

24 loans under this subsection (in this para25 graph referred to as ‘7(a) loans’) of not 


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1 more than $350,000 and provide manage2 ment and technical assistance to small 

3 business concerns as needed; 

4 ‘‘(vi) to provide certainty for the lend5 ing partners that make loans under this 

6 subsection and to attract new lenders; 

7 ‘‘(vii) to encourage collaboration be8 tween mission-oriented and conventional 

9 lenders under this subsection in order to 

10 support underserved small business con11 cerns; and 

12 ‘‘(viii) to assist covered institutions 

13 with providing business support services 

14 and technical assistance to small business 

15 concerns, when needed. 

16 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

17 ‘‘(i) the term ‘Community Advantage 

18 Network Partner’— 

19 ‘‘(I) means a nonprofit, mission20 oriented organization that acts as a 

21 Referral Agent to covered institutions 

22 in order to expand the reach of the 

23 program to small businesses in under24 served markets; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) does not include a covered 

2 institution making loans under the 

3 program; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘covered institution’ 

5 means an entity that— 

6 ‘‘(I) is— 

7 ‘‘(aa) a development com8 pany, as defined in section 103 of 

9 the Small Business Investment 

10 Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 662), 

11 participating in the 504 Loan 

12 Guaranty program established 

13 under title V of that Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 695 et seq.); 

15 ‘‘(bb) a nonprofit inter16 mediary, as defined in subsection 

17 (m)(11), participating in the 

18 microloan program under sub19 section (m); 

20 ‘‘(cc) a non-federally regu21 lated entity or a lending institu22 tion certified as a community de23 velopment financial institution by 

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1 lished under section 104(a) of 

2 the Riegle Community Develop3 ment and Regulatory Improve4 ment Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 

5 4703(a)); or 

6 ‘‘(dd) an eligible inter7 mediary, as defined in subsection 

8 (l)(1), participating in the Inter9 mediary Lending Program estab10 lished under subsection (l)(2); 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(II) has approved and disbursed 

13 10 similarly sized loans in the pre14 ceding 24-month period and is serv15 icing not less than 10 similarly sized 

16 loans to small business concerns in 

17 the portfolio of the entity; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘existing business’ 

19 means a small business concern that has 

20 been in existence for not less than 2 years 

21 on the date on which a loan is made to the 

22 small business concern under the program; 

23 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘new business’ means a 

24 small business concern that has been in ex25 istence for not more than 2 years on the 


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1 date on which a loan is made to the small 

2 business concern under the program; 

3 ‘‘(v) the term ‘program’ means the 

4 Community Advantage Loan Program es5 tablished under subparagraph (C); 

6 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘Referral Agent’ has 

7 the meaning given the term in section 

8 103.1(f) of title 13, Code of Federal Regu9 lations, or any successor regulation; 

10 ‘‘(vii) the term ‘rural area’ means any 

11 county that the Bureau of the Census has 

12 defined as mostly rural or completely rural 

13 in the most recent decennial census; and 

14 ‘‘(viii) the term ‘small business con15 cern in an underserved market’ means a 

16 small business concern— 

17 ‘‘(I) that is located in— 

18 ‘‘(aa) a low- to moderate-in19 come community; 

20 ‘‘(bb) a HUBZone, as that 

21 term is defined in section 31(b); 

22 ‘‘(cc) a rural area; or 

23 ‘‘(dd) any area for which a 

24 disaster declaration or determina25 tion described in subparagraph 


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1 (A), (B), (C), or (E) of sub2 section (b)(2) has been made 

3 that has not terminated more 

4 than 2 years before the date (or 

5 later, as determined by the Ad6 ministrator) on which a loan is 

7 made to the small business con8 cern under the program, except 

9 that, in the case of a major dis10 aster described in subsection 

11 (b)(2)(A), that period shall be 5 

12 years; 

13 ‘‘(II) for which more than 50 

14 percent of the employees reside in a 

15 low- or moderate-income community; 

16 ‘‘(III) that is a new business; 

17 ‘‘(IV) owned and controlled by 

18 socially and economically disadvan19 taged individuals, as described in 

20 paragraphs (5) and (6)(A) of section 

21 8(a), respectively, which the Adminis22 trator, in carrying out the program, 

23 shall presume includes Black Ameri24 cans, Hispanic Americans, Native 


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1 Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, 

2 and other minorities; 

3 ‘‘(V) owned and controlled by 

4 women; 

5 ‘‘(VI) owned and controlled by 

6 veterans or spouses of veterans; 

7 ‘‘(VII) owned and controlled by a 

8 member of an Indian Tribe individ9 ually identified (including parentheti10 cally) in the most recent list published 

11 pursuant to section 104 of the Feder12 ally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act 

13 of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131); 

14 ‘‘(VIII) owned and controlled by 

15 an individual who has completed a 

16 term of imprisonment in a Federal, 

17 State, or local jail or prison; 

18 ‘‘(IX) owned and controlled by an 

19 individual with a disability, as that 

20 term is defined in section 3 of the 

21 Americans with Disabilities Act of 

22 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102); or 

23 ‘‘(X) as otherwise determined by 

24 the Administrator. 


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1 ‘‘(C) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab2 lished a Community Advantage Loan Program 

3 under which the Administration may guarantee 

4 loans made by covered institutions under this 

5 subsection, with an emphasis on loans made to 

6 small business concerns in underserved mar7 kets. 

8 ‘‘(D) PROGRAM LEVELS.—In fiscal year 

9 2023 and each fiscal year thereafter, not more 

10 than 10 percent of the number of loans guaran11 teed under this subsection may be guaranteed 

12 under the program. 

13 ‘‘(E) GRANDFATHERING OF EXISTING

14 LENDERS.—Any covered institution that ac15 tively participated in the Community Advantage 

16 Pilot Program of the Administration and is in 

17 good standing, as determined by the Adminis18 tration, on the day before the date of enactment 

19 of this paragraph— 

20 ‘‘(i) shall retain designation in the 

21 program; 

22 ‘‘(ii) shall not be required to submit 

23 an application to participate in the pro24 gram; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) for the purpose of determining 

2 the loan loss reserve amount of the covered 

3 institution, shall have participation in the 

4 Community Advantage Pilot Program in5 cluded in the calculation under subpara6 graph (J). 

7 ‘‘(F) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE LOANS TO

8 UNDERSERVED MARKETS.—Not less than 70 

9 percent of loans made by a covered institution 

10 under the program shall consist of loans made 

11 to small business concerns in underserved mar12 kets. 

13 ‘‘(G) MAXIMUM LOAN AMOUNT.—The max14 imum loan amount for a loan guaranteed under 

15 the program is $350,000. 

16 ‘‘(H) INTEREST RATES.—The maximum 

17 allowable interest rate prescribed by the Admin18 istration on any financing made on a deferred 

19 basis pursuant to the program shall not exceed 

20 the maximum allowable interest rate under sec21 tions 120.213 and 120.214 of title 13, Code of 

22 Federal Regulations, or any successor regula23 tions. 

24 ‘‘(I) REFINANCING OF COMMUNITY ADVAN25 TAGE PROGRAM LOANS.—A loan guaranteed 


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•S 5220 IS

1 under the program or guaranteed under the 

2 Community Advantage Pilot Program of the 

3 Administration may be refinanced into another 

4 7(a) loan made by lender that does not partici5 pate in the program. 

6 ‘‘(J) LOAN LOSS RESERVE REQUIRE7 MENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) LOAN LOSS RESERVE ACCOUNT

9 FOR COVERED INSTITUTIONS.—A covered 

10 institution— 

11 ‘‘(I) with not more than 5 years 

12 of participation in the program shall 

13 maintain a loan loss reserve account 

14 with an amount equal to 5 percent of 

15 the outstanding amount of the 

16 unguaranteed portion of the loan 

17 portfolio of the covered institution 

18 under the program; and 

19 ‘‘(II) with more than 5 years of 

20 participation in the program shall 

21 maintain a loan loss reserve account 

22 with an amount equal to the average 

23 repurchase rate of the covered institu24 tion over the preceding 36-month pe25 riod. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL LOAN LOSS RE2 SERVE AMOUNT FOR SELLING LOANS ON

3 THE SECONDARY MARKET.—In addition to 

4 the amount required in the loan loss re5 serve account under clause (i), a covered 

6 institution that sells a program loan on the 

7 secondary market shall be required to 

8 maintain the following additional amounts 

9 in the loan loss reserve account: 

10 ‘‘(I) An amount equal to 2 per11 cent of the guaranteed portion of each 

12 program loan sold on the secondary 

13 market for lenders with less than 5 

14 years experience selling program loans 

15 on the secondary market. 

16 ‘‘(II) An amount equal to the av17 erage repurchase rate for loans sold 

18 by the lender on the secondary market 

19 over the preceding 36 months for 

20 lenders with more than 5 years experi21 ence selling program loans on the sec22 ondary market. 

23 ‘‘(iii) RECALCULATION.—The loan 

24 loss reserve required under clauses (i) and 


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1 (ii) shall be recalculated on October 1 of 

2 each year. 

3 ‘‘(K) TRAINING.—The Administration— 

4 ‘‘(i) shall provide accessible upfront 

5 and ongoing training for covered institu6 tions making loans under the program to 

7 support program compliance and improve 

8 the interface between the covered institu9 tions and the Administration, which shall 

10 include— 

11 ‘‘(I) guidance for following the 

12 regulations of the Administration; and 

13 ‘‘(II) guidance specific to mis14 sion-oriented lending that is intended 

15 to help lenders effectively reach and 

16 support underserved small business 

17 concerns, including management and 

18 technical assistance delivery; 

19 ‘‘(ii) shall ensure that the training de20 scribed in clause (i) is provided for free or 

21 at a low cost; 

22 ‘‘(iii) may enter into a contract to 

23 provide the training described in clause (i) 

24 with an organization with expertise in 

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1 marily specializing in mission-oriented 

2 lending, and lending to underserved mar3 kets; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) shall provide training for the 

5 employees and contractors of the Adminis6 tration that regularly engage with covered 

7 institutions or borrowers in the program. 

8 ‘‘(L) COMMUNITY ADVANTAGE OUTREACH

9 AND EDUCATION.—The Administrator— 

10 ‘‘(i) shall develop and implement a 

11 program to promote to, conduct outreach 

12 to, and educate prospective covered institu13 tions about the program, with a focus on 

14 women- and minority-owned covered insti15 tutions; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) may enter into a contract with 1 

17 or more nonprofit organizations experi18 enced in working with and training mis19 sion-driven lenders to provide the outreach 

20 and education described in clause (i). 

21 ‘‘(M) COMMUNITY ADVANTAGE NETWORK

22 PARTNER PARTICIPATION.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A covered institu24 tion that uses a Community Advantage 

25 Network Partner shall abide by policies 


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1 and procedures of the Administration con2 cerning the use of Referral Agent fees per3 mitted by the Administration and disclo4 sure of those fees. 

5 ‘‘(ii) PAYMENT OF FEES.—Notwith6 standing any other provision of law, all 

7 fees described in clause (i) shall be paid by 

8 the covered institution to the Community 

9 Advantage Network Partner upon dis10 bursement of the applicable program loan. 

11 ‘‘(N) DELEGATED AUTHORITY.—A covered 

12 institution is not eligible to receive delegated 

13 authority from the Administration under the 

14 program until the covered institution has ap15 proved and fully disbursed not less than 10 

16 loans under the program and the Administra17 tion had evaluated the ability of the covered in18 stitution to fulfill program requirements. 

19 ‘‘(O) REPORTING.— 

20 ‘‘(i) WEEKLY REPORTS.— 

21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Admin22 istration shall report on the website of 

23 the Administration, as part of the 

24 weekly reports on lending approvals 

25 under this subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) on and after the date 

2 of enactment of this paragraph, 

3 the number and dollar amount of 

4 loans guaranteed under the Com5 munity Advantage Pilot Program 

6 of the Administration; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) on and after the date 

8 on which the Administration be9 gins to approve loans under the 

10 program, the number and dollar 

11 amount of loans guaranteed 

12 under the program. 

13 ‘‘(II) SEPARATE ACCOUNTING.— 

14 The number and dollar amount of 

15 loans reported in a weekly report 

16 under subclause (I) for loans guaran17 teed under the Community Advantage 

18 Pilot Program of the Administration 

19 and under the program shall include a 

20 breakdown by the categories of race, 

21 ethnicity, and gender of the owners of 

22 the small business concerns, by wheth23 er the small business concern is a new 

24 or existing small business concern, 

25 and by whether the small business 


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•S 5220 IS

1 concern is located in an urban or 

2 rural area, and broken down by— 

3 ‘‘(aa) loans of not more than 

4 $50,000; 

5 ‘‘(bb) loans of more than 

6 $50,000 and not more than 

7 $150,000; 

8 ‘‘(cc) loans of more than 

9 $150,000 and not more than 

10 $250,000; and 

11 ‘‘(dd) loans of more than 

12 $250,000 and not more than 

13 $350,000. 

14 ‘‘(ii) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

15 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For each fis16 cal year in which the program is in ef17 fect, the Administration shall submit 

18 to the Committee on Small Business 

19 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

20 and the Committee on Small Business 

21 of the House of Representatives, and 

22 make publicly available on the inter23 net, information about loans provided 

24 under the program and under the 


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1 Community Advantage Pilot Program 

2 of the Administration. 

3 ‘‘(II) CONTENTS.—Each report 

4 submitted and made publicly available 

5 under subclause (I) shall include— 

6 ‘‘(aa) the number and dollar 

7 amounts of loans provided to 

8 small business concerns under 

9 the program, including a break10 down by— 

11 ‘‘(AA) the gender of the 

12 owners of the small business 

13 concern; 

14 ‘‘(BB) the race and 

15 ethnicity of the owners of 

16 the small business concern, 

17 disaggregated in a manner 

18 that captures all the racial 

19 groups specified in the 

20 American Community Sur21 vey conducted by the Bu22 reau of the Census; 

23 ‘‘(CC) whether the 

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1 cated in an urban or rural 

2 area; and 

3 ‘‘(DD) whether the 

4 small business concern is an 

5 existing business or a new 

6 business, as provided in the 

7 weekly reports on lending 

8 approvals under this sub9 section; 

10 ‘‘(bb) the proportion of loans 

11 described in item (aa) compared 

12 to— 

13 ‘‘(AA) other 7(a) loans 

14 of any amount; 

15 ‘‘(BB) other 7(a) loans 

16 of similar amounts; 

17 ‘‘(CC) express loans 

18 provided under paragraph 

19 (31) of similar amounts; and 

20 ‘‘(DD) other 7(a) loans 

21 of similar amounts provided 

22 to small business concerns 

23 in underserved markets; 

24 ‘‘(cc) a comparison of the 

25 number and dollar amounts of 


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1 loans provided to small business 

2 concerns under the program and 

3 under each category of loans de4 scribed in item (aa), broken down 

5 by— 

6 ‘‘(AA) loans of not 

7 more than $50,000; 

8 ‘‘(BB) loans of more 

9 than $50,000 and not more 

10 than $150,000; 

11 ‘‘(CC) loans of more 

12 than $150,000 and not more 

13 than $250,000; and 

14 ‘‘(DD) loans of more 

15 than $250,000 and not more 

16 than $350,000; 

17 ‘‘(dd) the number and dollar 

18 amounts of loans provided to 

19 small business concerns under 

20 the program by State, and the 

21 jobs created or retained within 

22 each State; 

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1 tage Pilot Program of the Ad2 ministration, including— 

3 ‘‘(AA) the name, loca4 tion, and contact informa5 tion, such as the website and 

6 telephone number, of each 

7 covered institution; and 

8 ‘‘(BB) a breakdown by 

9 the number and dollar 

10 amount of the loans ap11 proved for small business 

12 concerns; and 

13 ‘‘(ff) the benchmarks estab14 lished by the Community Advan15 tage Working Group under sub16 paragraph (O)(i). 

17 ‘‘(III) TIMING.—An annual re18 port required under this clause 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(aa) be submitted and 

21 made publicly available not later 

22 than December 1 of each year; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(bb) cover the lending ac25 tivity for the fiscal year that 


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1 ended on September 30 of that 

2 same year. 

3 ‘‘(P) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 5 

4 years after the date of enactment of this para5 graph, the Comptroller General of the United 

6 States shall submit to the Administrator, the 

7 Committee on Small Business and Entrepre8 neurship of the Senate, and the Committee on 

9 Small Business of the House of Representatives 

10 a report— 

11 ‘‘(i) assessing— 

12 ‘‘(I) the extent to which the pro13 gram fulfills the requirements of this 

14 paragraph; and 

15 ‘‘(II) the performance of covered 

16 institutions participating in the pro17 gram; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) providing recommendations on 

19 the administration of the program and the 

20 findings under subclauses (I) and (II) of 

21 clause (i). 

22 ‘‘(Q) COMMUNITY ADVANTAGE WORKING

23 GROUP.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

25 days after the date of enactment of this 


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1 paragraph, the Administrator shall estab2 lish a Community Advantage Working 

3 Group, which shall— 

4 ‘‘(I) include— 

5 ‘‘(aa) a geographically di6 verse representation of members 

7 from among covered institutions 

8 participating in the program; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) representatives from 

10 the Office of Capital Access of 

11 the Administration, including the 

12 Office of Credit Risk Manage13 ment, the Office of Financial As14 sistance, and the Office of Eco15 nomic Opportunity; 

16 ‘‘(II) develop recommendations 

17 on how the Administration can effec18 tively manage, support, and promote 

19 the program and the mission of the 

20 program; 

21 ‘‘(III) establish metrics of suc22 cess and benchmarks that reflect the 

23 mission and population served by cov24 ered institutions under the program, 

25 which the Administration shall use to 


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1 evaluate the performance of those cov2 ered institutions; 

3 ‘‘(IV) establish criteria assessing 

4 the business support services and 

5 technical assistance needs of bor6 rowers and methods to assess lender 

7 expertise to provide necessary services 

8 and assistance; and 

9 ‘‘(V) institute regular and sus10 tainable systems of communication be11 tween the Administration and covered 

12 institutions participating in the pro13 gram. 

14 ‘‘(ii) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of enactment of this para16 graph, the Administrator shall submit to 

17 the Committee on Small Business and En18 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Com19 mittee on Small Business of the House of 

20 Representatives a report that includes— 

21 ‘‘(I) the recommendations of the 

22 Community Advantage Working 

23 Group established under clause (i); 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) a recommended plan and 

2 timeline for implementation of those 

3 recommendations. 

4 ‘‘(R) REGULATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

6 180 days after the date of enactment of 

7 this paragraph, the Administrator shall 

8 promulgate regulations governing the pro9 gram, including metrics for lender per10 formance, metrics of success and bench11 marks of the program, and criteria for ap12 propriate management and technical as13 sistance. 

14 ‘‘(ii) UPDATES.—The Administrator 

15 shall consult the report issued under sub16 paragraph (P) and, not later than 180 

17 days after submission of the report, pro18 mulgate any necessary changes to existing 

19 regulations of the Administration based on 

20 the recommendations contained in the re21 port. 

22 ‘‘(S) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA23 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

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1 reach and education described in subparagraph 

2 (L).’’. 

3 (b) PARTICIPATION.—Section 7(a)(2) of the Small 

4 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(2)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), in the matter pre6 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘and (F)’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘(F), and (G)’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(G) PARTICIPATION IN THE COMMUNITY

10 ADVANTAGE LOAN PROGRAM.—In an agreement 

11 to participate in a loan on a deferred basis 

12 under paragraph (38), the participation by the 

13 Administration shall be— 

14 ‘‘(i) 80 percent of the balance of the 

15 financing outstanding at the time of the 

16 disbursement of the loan, if that balance is 

17 more than $150,000 and not more than 

18 $350,000; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) 90 percent of the balance of the 

20 financing outstanding at the time of the 

21 disbursement of the loan, if that balance is 

22 not more than $150,000.’’. 


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1 TITLE VI—STEP IMPROVEMENT 

2 ACT OF 2022 

3 SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘STEP Improvement 

5 Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 602. STATE TRADE EXPANSION PROGRAM. 

7 (a) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 22(l)(3) 

8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)(3)) is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (D)— 

11 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, including 

12 a budget plan for use of funds awarded under 

13 this subsection’’ before the period at the end; 

14 and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.—The Associate Admin17 istrator shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) publish information on how 

19 to apply for a grant under this sub20 section, including specific calculations 

21 and other determinations used to 

22 award such a grant, not later than 

23 March 31 of each year; 

24 ‘‘(II) establish a deadline for the 

25 submission of applications that is not 


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1 earlier than 60 days after the date on 

2 which the information is published 

3 under subclause (I) and that is not 

4 later than May 31; and 

5 ‘‘(III) announce grant recipients 

6 not later than August 31 of each 

7 year.’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION INFORMATION.—The 

10 Associate Administrator shall clearly commu11 nicate to applicants and grant recipients any in12 formation about State Trade Expansion Pro13 gram, including— 

14 ‘‘(i) for each unsuccessful applicant 

15 for a grant awarded under this subsection, 

16 recommendations to improve a subsequent 

17 application for such a grant; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) for each successful applicant for 

19 such a grant, an explanation for the 

20 amount awarded, if different from the 

21 amount requested in the application. 

22 ‘‘(F) BUDGET PLAN REVISIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving 

24 a grant under this subsection may revise 

25 the budget plan of the State submitted 


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1 under subparagraph (D) after the dis2 bursal of grant funds if— 

3 ‘‘(I) the revision complies with al4 lowable uses of grant funds under this 

5 subsection; and 

6 ‘‘(II) such State submits notifica7 tion of the revision to the Associate 

8 Administrator. 

9 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—If a revision under 

10 clause (i) reallocates 10 percent or more of 

11 the amounts described in the budget plan 

12 of the State submitted under subparagraph 

13 (D), the State may not implement the re14 vised budget plan without the approval of 

15 the Associate Administrator, unless the As16 sociate Administrator fails to approve or 

17 deny the revised plan within 20 days after 

18 receipt of such revised plan.’’. 

19 (b) SURVEY.—Section 22(l) of the Small Business 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 

22 (9) as paragraphs (8) through (10), respectively; 

23 and 

24 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(7) SURVEY.—The Associate Administrator 

2 shall conduct an annual survey of each State that 

3 received a grant under this subsection during the 

4 preceding year to solicit feedback on the program 

5 and develop best practices for grantees.’’. 

6 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Paragraph (8)(B) of section 

7 22(l) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)), as 

8 redesignated by subsection (b), is amended— 

9 (1) in clause (i)— 

10 (A) in subclause (III), by inserting ‘‘, in11 cluding the total number of eligible small busi12 ness concerns assisted by the program 

13 (disaggregated by socially and economically dis14 advantaged small business concerns, small busi15 ness concerns owned and controlled by women, 

16 and rural small business concerns)’’ before the 

17 semicolon at the end; 

18 (B) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

19 the end; 

20 (C) in subclause (V)— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘description of best 

22 practices’’ and inserting ‘‘detailed descrip23 tion of best practices’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

25 and inserting a semicolon; and 


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1 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(VI) an analysis of the perform3 ance metrics described in clause (iii), 

4 including a determination of whether 

5 or not any goals relating to such per6 formance metrics were met, and an 

7 analysis of the survey described in 

8 paragraph (7); and 

9 ‘‘(VII) a description of lessons 

10 learned by grant recipients under this 

11 subsection that may apply to other as12 sistance provided by the Administra13 tion.’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(iii) PERFORMANCE METRICS.—An16 nually, the Associate Administrator shall 

17 collect data on eligible small business con18 cerns assisted by the program for the fol19 lowing performance metrics: 

20 ‘‘(I) Total number of such con21 cerns, disaggregated by socially and 

22 economically disadvantaged small 

23 business concerns, small business con24 cerns owned and controlled by women, 

25 and rural small business concerns. 


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1 ‘‘(II) Total dollar amount of ex2 port sales by eligible small business 

3 concerns assisted by the program. 

4 ‘‘(III) Number of such concerns 

5 that have not previously participated 

6 in an activity described in paragraph 

7 (2). 

8 ‘‘(IV) Number of such concerns 

9 that, because of participation in the 

10 program, have accessed a new market. 

11 ‘‘(V) Number of such concerns 

12 that, because of participation in the 

13 program, have created new jobs. 

14 ‘‘(VI) Number of such concerns 

15 participating in foreign trade missions 

16 or trade show exhibitions, 

17 disaggregated by socially and eco18 nomically disadvantaged small busi19 ness concerns, small business concerns 

20 owned and controlled by women, and 

21 rural small business concerns.’’. 

22 (d) EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE SMALL

23 BUSINESS CONCERN.—Section 22(l)(1)(A) of the Small 

24 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)(1)(A)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (iii)(II), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) by striking clause (iv); and 

4 (3) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (iv). 

5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Para6 graph (10) of section 22(l) of the Small Business Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 649(l)), as redesignated by subsection (b), is 

8 amended by striking ‘‘fiscal years 2016 through 2020’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2023 through 2026’’. 

10 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Associate Ad12 ministrator for International Trade of the Administration 

13 shall submit to Congress a report on the State Trade Ex14 pansion Program established under section 22(l) of the 

15 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)) that includes a de16 scription of— 

17 (1) the process developed for review of revised 

18 budget plans submitted under subparagraph (F) of 

19 section 22(l)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 649(l)(3)), as added by this title; 

21 (2) any changes made to streamline the applica22 tion process to remove duplicative requirements and 

23 create a more transparent process; 

24 (3) the process developed to share best prac25 tices by States described in paragraph (8)(B)(i)(V) 


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1 of section 22(l) of the Small Business Act (15 

2 U.S.C. 649(l)), as redesignated by this title, particu3 larly for first-time grant recipients under the State 

4 Trade Expansion Program or grant recipients that 

5 are facing problems using grant funds; and 

6 (4) the process developed to communicate, both 

7 verbally and in writing, relevant information about 

8 the State Trade Expansion Program to all grant re9 cipients in a timely manner. 

10 TITLE VII—VETERANS 

11 PROGRAMS 

12 SEC. 701. VETERAN FEDERAL PROCUREMENT ENTREPRE13 NEURSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32 of the Small Business 

15 Act (15 U.S.C. 657b) is amended by striking subsection 

16 (f) and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(f) VETERAN FEDERAL PROCUREMENT ENTREPRE18 NEURSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM.—The Administrator, act19 ing through the Associate Administrator, shall make 

20 grants to, or enter into a cooperative agreement with, not 

21 more than 1 nonprofit entity to operate a Federal procure22 ment entrepreneurship training program to provide assist23 ance to small business concerns owned and controlled by 

24 veterans regarding how to increase the likelihood of being 

25 awarded contracts with the Federal Government— 


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1 ‘‘(1) which shall be made to or entered into 

2 with a nonprofit entity that has a track record of 

3 successfully providing educational and job training 

4 services to targeted veteran populations from diverse 

5 locations; 

6 ‘‘(2) under which the nonprofit entity may, at 

7 the discretion of the Administrator, be required to 

8 match any Federal funds received for the program 

9 with State, local, or private sector funds; and 

10 ‘‘(3) under which the nonprofit entity shall use 

11 a diverse group of professional service experts, such 

12 as Federal, State, and local contracting experts and 

13 private sector industry experts with first-hand expe14 rience in Federal Government contracting, to provide 

15 instruction to small business concerns owned and 

16 controlled by veterans.’’. 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administration, 

19 $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027 

20 to carry out section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 

21 U.S.C. 657b), as amended by subsection (a). 

22 SEC. 702. BOOTS TO BUSINESS PROGRAM. 

23 Section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

24 657b) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(h) BOOTS TO BUSINESS PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) COVERED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this 

2 subsection, the term ‘covered individual’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces, in4 cluding the National Guard or Reserves; 

5 ‘‘(B) an individual who is participating in 

6 the Transition Assistance Program established 

7 under section 1144 of title 10, United States 

8 Code; 

9 ‘‘(C) an individual who— 

10 ‘‘(i) served on active duty in any 

11 branch of the Armed Forces, including the 

12 National Guard or Reserves; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) was discharged or released from 

14 such service under conditions other than 

15 dishonorable; and 

16 ‘‘(D) a spouse or dependent of an indi17 vidual described in subparagraph (A), (B), or 

18 (C). 

19 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—During the period be20 ginning on the date of enactment of this subsection 

21 and ending on September 30, 2027, the Adminis22 trator shall carry out a program to be known as the 

23 ‘Boots to Business Program’ to provide entrepre24 neurship training to covered individuals. 


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1 ‘‘(3) GOALS.—The goals of the Boots to Busi2 ness Program are to— 

3 ‘‘(A) provide assistance and in-depth train4 ing to covered individuals interested in business 

5 ownership; and 

6 ‘‘(B) provide covered individuals with the 

7 tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to identify 

8 a business opportunity, draft a business plan, 

9 identify sources of capital, connect with local 

10 resources for small business concerns, and start 

11 up a small business concern. 

12 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Boots to Busi14 ness Program may include— 

15 ‘‘(i) a presentation providing exposure 

16 to the considerations involved in self-em17 ployment and ownership of a small busi18 ness concern; 

19 ‘‘(ii) an online, self-study course fo20 cused on the basic skills of entrepreneur21 ship, the language of business, and the 

22 considerations involved in self-employment 

23 and ownership of a small business concern; 

24 ‘‘(iii) an in-person classroom instruc25 tion component providing an introduction 


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1 to the foundations of self-employment and 

2 ownership of a small business concern; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) in-depth training delivered 

4 through online instruction, including an 

5 online course that leads to the creation of 

6 a business plan. 

7 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATION.—The Adminis8 trator may— 

9 ‘‘(i) collaborate with public and pri10 vate entities to develop course curricula for 

11 the Boots to Business Program; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) modify program components in 

13 coordination with entities participating in a 

14 Warriors in Transition program, as defined 

15 in section 738(e) of the National Defense 

16 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 

17 (10 U.S.C. 1071 note). 

18 ‘‘(C) USE OF RESOURCE PARTNERS AND

19 DISTRICT OFFICES.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(I) ensure that Veteran Busi23 ness Outreach Centers regularly par24 ticipate, on a nationwide basis, in the 

25 Boots to Business Program; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) to the maximum extent 

2 practicable, use district offices of the 

3 Administration and a variety of other 

4 resource partners and entities in ad5 ministering the Boots to Business 

6 Program. 

7 ‘‘(ii) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying 

8 out clause (i), the Administrator may make 

9 grants to Veteran Business Outreach Cen10 ters, other resource partners, or other enti11 ties to carry out components of the Boots 

12 to Business Program. 

13 ‘‘(D) AVAILABILITY TO DEPARTMENT OF

14 DEFENSE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.— 

15 The Administrator shall make available to the 

16 Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 

17 Labor information regarding the Boots to Busi18 ness Program, including all course materials 

19 and outreach materials related to the Boots to 

20 Business Program, for inclusion on the websites 

21 of the Department of Defense and the Depart22 ment of Labor relating to the Transition Assist23 ance Program, in the Transition Assistance 

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1 rials available for distribution from the Sec2 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Labor. 

3 ‘‘(E) AVAILABILITY TO DEPARTMENT OF

4 VETERANS AFFAIRS.—In consultation with the 

5 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Adminis6 trator shall make available for distribution and 

7 display on the website of the Department of 

8 Veterans Affairs and at local facilities of the 

9 Department of Veterans Affairs outreach mate10 rials regarding the Boots to Business Program, 

11 which shall, at a minimum— 

12 ‘‘(i) describe the Boots to Business 

13 Program and the services provided; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) include eligibility requirements 

15 for participating in the Boots to Business 

16 Program. 

17 ‘‘(F) AVAILABILITY TO OTHER PARTICI18 PATING AGENCIES.—The Administrator shall 

19 ensure information regarding the Boots to 

20 Business program, including all course mate21 rials and outreach materials related to the 

22 Boots to Business Program, is made available 

23 to other participating agencies in the Transition 

24 Assistance Program and upon request of other 

25 agencies. 


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1 ‘‘(5) COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCEDURES.— 

2 The Administration shall use relevant competitive 

3 bidding procedures with respect to any contract or 

4 cooperative agreement executed by the Administra5 tion under the Boots to Business Program. 

6 ‘‘(6) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE OF FUNDING OP7 PORTUNITY.—Not later than 30 days before the 

8 deadline for submitting applications for any funding 

9 opportunity under the Boots to Business Program, 

10 the Administration shall publish a notice of the 

11 funding opportunity. 

12 ‘‘(7) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this subsection, and not 

14 less frequently than annually thereafter, the Admin15 istrator shall submit to the Committee on Small 

16 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and 

17 the Committee on Small Business of the House of 

18 Representatives a report on the performance and ef19 fectiveness of the Boots to Business Program, 

20 which— 

21 ‘‘(A) may be included as part of another 

22 report submitted to such committees by the Ad23 ministrator related to the Office of Veterans 

24 Business Development; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) shall summarize available information 

2 relating to— 

3 ‘‘(i) grants awarded under paragraph 

4 (4)(C); 

5 ‘‘(ii) the total cost of the Boots to 

6 Business Program; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the number of program partici8 pants using each component of the Boots 

9 to Business Program; 

10 ‘‘(iv) the completion rates for each 

11 component of the Boots to Business Pro12 gram; 

13 ‘‘(v) to the extent possible— 

14 ‘‘(I) the demographics of pro15 gram participants, to include gender, 

16 age, race, ethnicity, and relationship 

17 to military; 

18 ‘‘(II) the number of program 

19 participants that connect with a dis20 trict office of the Administration, a 

21 Veteran Business Outreach Center, or 

22 another resource partner of the Ad23 ministration; 


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1 ‘‘(III) the number of program 

2 participants that start a small busi3 ness concern; 

4 ‘‘(IV) the results of the Boots to 

5 Business and Boots to Business 

6 Reboot course quality surveys con7 ducted by the Office of Veterans Busi8 ness Development before and after at9 tending each of those courses, includ10 ing a summary of any comments re11 ceived from program participants; 

12 ‘‘(V) the results of the Boots to 

13 Business Program outcome surveys 

14 conducted by the Office of Veterans 

15 Business Development, including a 

16 summary of any comments received 

17 from program participants; and 

18 ‘‘(VI) the results of other ger19 mane participant satisfaction surveys; 

20 ‘‘(C) an evaluation of the overall effective21 ness of the Boots to Business Program based 

22 on each geographic region covered by the Ad23 ministration during the most recent fiscal year; 

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1 ness Program, as identified by the Adminis2 trator; 

3 ‘‘(E) any recommendations of the Adminis4 trator for improvement of the Boots to Busi5 ness Program, which may include expansion of 

6 the types of individuals who are covered individ7 uals; 

8 ‘‘(F) an explanation of how the Boots to 

9 Business Program has been integrated with 

10 other transition programs and related resources 

11 of the Administration and other Federal agen12 cies; and 

13 ‘‘(G) any additional information the Ad14 ministrator determines necessary.’’. 

15 TITLE VIII—SURETY BOND 

16 PROGRAM 

17 SEC. 801. EXPANDING SURETY BOND PROGRAM. 

18 Part B of title IV of the Small Business Investment 

19 Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 694a et seq.) is amended— 

20 (1) in section 411(a) (15 U.S.C. 694b(a))— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

23 ‘‘$6,500,000’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘$10,000,000’’; and 


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1 (ii) by amending subparagraph (B) to 

2 read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(B) The Administrator may guarantee a 

4 surety under subparagraph (A) for a total work 

5 order or contract entered into by a Federal 

6 agency in an amount that does not exceed 

7 $20,000,000.’’; and 

8 (2) in section 412 (15 U.S.C. 694c)— 

9 (A) in subsection (a), in the third sentence, 

10 by striking ‘‘, excluding administrative ex11 penses,’’; 

12 (B) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub13 section (c); and 

14 (C) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(b) Not more than 5 percent of the amount that 

17 is in the fund described in subsection (a) at the beginning 

18 of each fiscal year may be obligated during that fiscal year 

19 to cover costs incurred by the Administration in connec20 tion with the management and administration of this part, 

21 including information technology and systems, personnel 

22 costs, outreach activities, and contracts related thereto.’’. 


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1 TITLE IX—SBIC EMERGING 

2 MANAGERS PROGRAM 

3 SEC. 901. BROADENING INVESTMENT BY THE SBIC PRO4 GRAM. 

5 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that the Office of Innovation and Investment should 

7 market to, engage with, and provide enhanced onboarding 

8 support to applicants for small business investment com9 pany licenses, with a priority to reach those companies 

10 that are managed by— 

11 (1) women; 

12 (2) socially disadvantaged individuals, as de13 scribed in section 8(a)(5) of the Small Business Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(5)); 

15 (3) economically disadvantaged individuals, as 

16 described in section 8(a)(6)(A) of the Small Busi17 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(6)(A)); 

18 (4) veterans, as defined in section 101 of title 

19 38, United States Code; or 

20 (5) individuals in rural or low-income areas, as 

21 determined by the Administrator using the most re22 cently available data from the Bureau of the Census. 

23 (b) AMENDMENT.—Part A of title III of the Small 

24 Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) 

25 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 321. EMERGING MANAGERS PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) COVERED INVESTMENTS.—The term ‘cov4 ered investments’ means investments in— 

5 ‘‘(A) infrastructure, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) roads, bridges, and mass transit; 

7 ‘‘(ii) water supply and sewer; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the electrical grid; 

9 ‘‘(iv) broadband and telecommuni10 cations; 

11 ‘‘(v) clean energy; or 

12 ‘‘(vi) child care and elder care; 

13 ‘‘(B) manufacturing; 

14 ‘‘(C) low-income communities, as defined 

15 in section 45D(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 

16 of 1986; 

17 ‘‘(D) HUBZones, as defined in section 

18 31(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

19 657a(b)); 

20 ‘‘(E) small business concerns owned and 

21 controlled by a member of an Indian Tribe indi22 vidually identified (including parenthetically) in 

23 the most recent list published pursuant to sec24 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 

25 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131); 


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1 ‘‘(F) small business concerns owned and 

2 controlled by an individual with a disability, as 

3 defined in section 3 of the Americans with Dis4 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102); 

5 ‘‘(G) small business concerns owned and 

6 controlled by a veteran, as defined in section 3 

7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632); or 

8 ‘‘(H) industries identified by the Adminis9 trator. 

10 ‘‘(2) EMERGING MANAGER COMPANY.—The 

11 term ‘emerging manager company’ means an invest12 ment management firm that is focused on investing 

13 private equity and that meets not less than 2 of the 

14 following criteria: 

15 ‘‘(A) The partners of the firm have— 

16 ‘‘(i) an investment track record of less 

17 than 10 years of combined investment ex18 perience; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) a documented record of success20 ful business experience. 

21 ‘‘(B) The firm has a focus on underserved 

22 markets. 

23 ‘‘(C) The firm is not less than 50 percent 

24 owned, managed, or controlled by— 

25 ‘‘(i) women; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) socially disadvantaged individ2 uals, as described in section 8(a)(5) of the 

3 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(5)); 

4 ‘‘(iii) economically disadvantaged indi5 viduals, as described in section 8(a)(6)(A) 

6 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 637(a)(6)(A)); 

8 ‘‘(iv) veterans, as defined in section 

9 101 of title 38, United States Code; 

10 ‘‘(v) individuals in rural or low-income 

11 areas, as determined by the Administrator 

12 using the most recently available data from 

13 the Bureau of the Census; or 

14 ‘‘(vi) individuals with disabilities, as 

15 defined in section 49 of the Small Business 

16 Act. 

17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es18 tablish an emerging managers program pursuant to which 

19 managers with substantial experience in operating small 

20 business investment companies— 

21 ‘‘(1) may enter into a written agreement ap22 proved by the Administrator to provide guidance and 

23 assistance to an applicant for a license for a small 

24 business investment company license that is to be 

25 managed by an emerging manager company; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) may hold a minority financial interest in 

2 the small business investment company described in 

3 paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(c) LICENSING.—An applicant described in sub5 section (b) shall apply for a license under section 301(c) 

6 and shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) have private capital not to exceed 

8 $100,000,000; 

9 ‘‘(2) be managed by not less than two individ10 uals; 

11 ‘‘(3) be a second generation fund or earlier; and 

12 ‘‘(4) focus its investment strategy on covered 

13 investments. 

14 ‘‘(d) WAIVER OF MAXIMUM LEVERAGE.—The ap15 proval of a written agreement under subsection (b) by the 

16 Administrator shall operate as a waiver of the require17 ments of section 303(b)(2)(B) to the extent that such sec18 tion would otherwise apply. 

19 ‘‘(e) INCREASED LEVERAGE MAXIMUM.—An existing 

20 small business investment company that enters into a 

21 written agreement under subsection (b) may receive an in22 crease in the maximum leverage cap of the company under 

23 section 303(b)(2)— 


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1 ‘‘(1) under subparagraph (A) of such section, 

2 with respect to a single license, by not more than 

3 $17,500,000; and 

4 ‘‘(2) under subparagraph (B) of such section, 

5 with respect to multiple licenses under common con6 trol, by not more than $35,000,000.’’. 

7 TITLE X—NEW START ACT OF 

8 2022 

9 SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE. 

10 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Necessary Entrepre11 neurship Workshops via the SBA to Transform and Assist 

12 Re-entry Training Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘NEW START 

13 Act of 2022’’. 

14 SEC. 1002. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress finds that— 

16 (1) according to the Department of Justice, 

17 every year, over 600,000 individuals are released 

18 from prison and return home to their communities, 

19 and almost 77 percent of those individuals will re20 offend within 5 years; 

21 (2) according to the Brookings Institute, an es22 timated 48.5 percent of formerly incarcerated indi23 viduals will remain unemployed or earn a negligible 

24 income for a period of 1 year post-incarceration, in25 creasing the risk for recidivism; 


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1 (3) according to the Florida State University 

2 Institute for Justice Research and Development, for3 merly incarcerated individuals see a reduction in 

4 earnings of 25 percent since criminal records make 

5 it difficult to find stable employment; 

6 (4) self-employment can provide economic sta7 bility for those who are otherwise locked out of the 

8 labor market; and 

9 (5) according to a paper entitled ‘‘Entrepre10 neurship as a Response to Labor Market Discrimi11 nation for Formerly Incarcerated People’’— 

12 (A) the average individual without a crimi13 nal record has a 7.09 percent likelihood of be14 coming an entrepreneur, but justice-impacted 

15 individuals were found to be more than 50 per16 cent likely to choose entrepreneurship with a 

17 12.69 percent likelihood of becoming an entre18 preneur; 

19 (B) entrepreneurship reduces the likelihood 

20 of recidivism by 5.3 percent, which was a 32.5 

21 percent decrease from average recidivism rates 

22 for regular employees who have been previously 

23 incarcerated; and 

24 (C) formerly incarcerated individuals who 

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1 nually than formerly incarcerated employees 

2 and that the income gap between formerly in3 carcerated entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs 

4 with no criminal record was 38 percent lower 

5 than the income gap between formerly incarcer6 ated employees and employees with no criminal 

7 record. 

8 SEC. 1003. PILOT PROGRAM. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this title: 

10 (1) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

11 individual’’ means an individual who— 

12 (A) completed a term of imprisonment in 

13 Federal, State, or local jail or prison; and 

14 (B) meets the offense eligibility require15 ments set forth in any applicable policy notice 

16 or other guidance issued by the Administration 

17 for the program established under section 7(m) 

18 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)). 

19 (2) INTERMEDIARY; MICROLOAN.—The terms 

20 ‘‘intermediary’’ and ‘‘microloan’’ have the meanings 

21 given those terms in section 7(m)(11) of the Small 

22 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)(11)). 

23 (3) MICROLOAN INTERMEDIARY.—The term 

24 ‘‘microloan intermediary’’ means an intermediary 

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1 lished under section 7(m) of the Small Business Act 

2 (15 U.S.C. 636(m)). 

3 (4) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro4 gram’’ means the pilot program established under 

5 subsection (b). 

6 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

8 establish a pilot program to award grants to organizations 

9 over a 5-year period to create or support existing entrepre10 neurship development programs to provide assistance to 

11 covered individuals. 

12 (c) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator 

13 shall— 

14 (1) award grants under the pilot program to or15 ganizations, or partnerships of organizations, which 

16 shall each receive a grant in an amount greater than 

17 $100,000 and less than $500,000 annually over the 

18 5-year period in which the pilot program is in exist19 ence; and 

20 (2) allocate grants under the pilot program to 

21 ensure that the recipients are geographically varied 

22 throughout the United States. 

23 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—An applicant for a grant under 

24 the pilot program may form partnerships with other orga25 nizations for the purposes of the application submitted 


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1 under subsection (e) and for conducting entrepreneurial 

2 development programming. 

3 (e) APPLICATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An organization or partner5 ship of organizations desiring a grant under the 

6 pilot program shall submit an application to the Ad7 ministrator in such form, in such manner, and con8 taining such information as the Administrator may 

9 reasonably require. 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 

11 under paragraph (1) shall— 

12 (A) demonstrate that the applicant is a 

13 microloan intemediary or an organization that 

14 administers the Community Advantage Pilot 

15 Program of the Administration, or has a part16 nership with such an intermediary or organiza17 tion, that may provide microloans to qualified 

18 covered individuals, or, to the extent that the 

19 applicant is a national organization in multiple 

20 different markets, that a separate microloan 

21 intermediary may be used in each such market; 

22 (B) demonstrate strong community ties, 

23 including those with the covered individual com24 munity, local businesses, and political leaders; 


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1 (C) demonstrate an ability to provide a full 

2 range of entrepreneurial development program3 ming on an ongoing basis; 

4 (D) include a plan for reaching covered in5 dividuals, including by identifying particular 

6 target populations within the community; 

7 (E) clearly define entrepreneurial develop8 ment capabilities, including coordination with 

9 existing local resource partners of the Adminis10 tration for additional training as necessary; 

11 (F) present an entrepreneurship develop12 ment curriculum, which may be a nationally 

13 recognized model or based upon such a model; 

14 (G) include a list of each partner organiza15 tion; and 

16 (H) include a comprehensive plan for the 

17 use of grant funds, including estimates for ad18 ministrative and outreach costs of running and 

19 evaluating the entrepreneurship development 

20 program. 

21 (f) PRIORITY.—In determining whether to award a 

22 grant under the pilot program, the Administrator may 

23 give priority to applicants based on— 

24 (1) whether the application includes a commit25 ment from an existing or new non-Federal funding 


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1 source to meet the matching requirement under sub2 section (g); 

3 (2) whether the application takes into account 

4 local economies and markets as a part of the edu5 cational component of the entrepreneurship develop6 ment program; 

7 (3) the ability or plan of the applicant to pro8 vide entrepreneurial development services concurrent 

9 with employment or job training services; and 

10 (4) whether the applicant has a history of effec11 tively providing entrepreneurial training or access to 

12 capital to covered individuals. 

13 (g) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of a grant 

15 provided under the pilot program, the Administrator 

16 shall require the recipient of the grant to contribute 

17 an amount equal to 25 percent of the amount of the 

18 grant, obtained solely from existing or new non-Fed19 eral sources. 

20 (2) FORM.—In addition to cash or other direct 

21 funding, the contribution required under paragraph 

22 (1) may include indirect costs or in-kind contribu23 tions paid for under non-Federal programs. 

24 (h) RESPONSIBILITIES.—A recipient of a grant under 

25 the pilot program shall, to the maximum extent possible, 


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1 connect covered individuals to a range of Federal re2 sources, including— 

3 (1) the program established under section 7(m) 

4 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)); 

5 (2) the Community Advantage Pilot Program of 

6 the Administration; 

7 (3) small business development centers, as de8 fined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 632); 

10 (4) women’s business centers described in sec11 tion 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656); 

12 (5) chapters of the Service Corps of Retired Ex13 ecutives established under section 8(b)(1)(B) of the 

14 Small Business Act ((15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)); 

15 (6) Veteran Business Outreach Centers de16 scribed in section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 657b); and 

18 (7) business centers established by the Minority 

19 Business Development Agency. 

20 (i) REPORTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

22 the date on which the Administrator establishes the 

23 pilot program, and every year thereafter until the 

24 pilot program terminates, the Administrator shall 


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1 submit to Congress a report on the activities of the 

2 pilot program, including— 

3 (A) a list of each grantee organization and 

4 each partner organization; 

5 (B) the characteristics of covered individ6 uals assisted under the entrepreneurship devel7 opment programs, including race and ethnicity, 

8 gender, age, marital status, parental status, 

9 employment status, income, banking and credit 

10 history, and prior business experience; 

11 (C) the participation and attendance rates 

12 for all components of the entrepreneurship de13 velopment programs; 

14 (D) the program retention rate; 

15 (E) to the greatest extent practicable, the 

16 most common reasons why participants do not 

17 complete the program; 

18 (F) the percentage of participants who re19 main non-justice involved during the calendar 

20 year of the program; 

21 (G) the level of the covered individuals’ un22 derstanding of business concepts and principles; 

23 (H) the level of the covered individuals’ 

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1 cluding the results of an industry-recognized be2 havioral assessment; 

3 (I) the covered individuals’ progress made 

4 toward establishing a business; 

5 (J) the experiences and perceptions of the 

6 covered individuals; 

7 (K) the number and dollar amount of loans 

8 made to covered individuals; 

9 (L) the number and dollar amount of loans 

10 made or guaranteed by the Administration to 

11 covered individuals; and 

12 (M) such additional information as the Ad13 ministrator may require. 

14 (2) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date on which the pilot program terminates, the 

16 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub17 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a re18 port that evaluates— 

19 (A) the services that grant recipients pro20 vided to covered individuals assisted under en21 trepreneurship development programs; 

22 (B) oversight of the pilot program by the 

23 Administrator, including policies and proce24 dures for monitoring the compliance by grant 

25 recipients with pilot program requirements and 


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1 an assessment of the effectiveness of the pilot 

2 program; and 

3 (C) the overall performance of the pilot 

4 program and the impacts of the pilot program 

5 on grant recipients. 

6 (j) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 

7 may be construed to affect the program established under 

8 section 7(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 636(m)), including— 

10 (1) the requirements of that program; 

11 (2) the manner in which that program is car12 ried out; or 

13 (3) the use or availability of any amounts that 

14 have been made available to carry out that program. 

15 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

17 such sums as are necessary to carry out the pilot program. 

18 (l) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall termi19 nate on the date that is 5 years after the date on which 

20 the Administrator establishes the pilot program. 

21 TITLE XI—UPLIFT ACT OF 2022 

22 SEC. 1101. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Ushering Progress by 

24 Leveraging Innovation and Future Technology Act of 

25 2022’’ or the ‘‘UPLIFT Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 1102. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Studies have found that incubators, accel4 erators, and other similar models are effective at in5 creasing revenues, the number of employees, and the 

6 likelihood that the business venture will be success7 ful for participants. 

8 (2) According to the Kauffman Foundation— 

9 (A) minority-owned and women-owned 

businesses are 1 10 ⁄2 as likely to employ people 

11 than nonminority-owned and men-owned busi12 nesses; and 

13 (B) if minorities started businesses at the 

14 same rate as nonminorities, approximately 

15 9,500,000 jobs would be added to the economy 

16 of the United States. 

17 (3) The Kauffman Foundation also found that 

18 the percentage of startups in rural communities has 

19 dropped from 20 percent in the 1980s to 12.2 per20 cent. 

21 (4) According to the Martin Prosperity Insti22 tute, less than 1 percent of all venture capital fund23 ing goes to businesses located in rural areas. 

24 (5) According to PitchBook, around 2 percent 

25 of all venture capital funding goes to businesses with 

26 women founders. 


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1 (6) According to Crunchbase, less than 3 per2 cent of all venture capital funding goes to businesses 

3 with Black and Hispanic founders. 

4 (7) Historically Black colleges and universities, 

5 minority-serving institutions, and community col6 leges are anchor institutions that serve populations 

7 that tend to be underrepresented in entrepreneur8 ship, particularly in high-growth sectors. 

9 SEC. 1103. PURPOSES. 

10 The purposes of the Innovation Centers Program es11 tablished under section 49 of the Small Business Act, as 

12 added by this title, are to— 

13 (1) spur economic growth in underserved com14 munities by creating good paying jobs and pathways 

15 to prosperity; 

16 (2) increase prospects for success for small 

17 business concerns in underserved communities, 

18 which often suffer from higher business failure rates 

19 than the national average; 

20 (3) help create a pipeline for small business 

21 concerns in underserved and rural markets into 

22 high-growth sectors, where they are generally under23 represented; 

24 (4) help address the multi-decade decline in the 

25 rate of new business creation; 


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1 (5) close the gaps that underserved small busi2 ness concerns often have in terms of revenue and 

3 number of employees, which represent lost oppor4 tunity for the economy of the United States; and 

5 (6) encourage collaboration between the Admin6 istration and institutions of higher learning that 

7 serve low-income and minority communities. 

8 SEC. 1104. INNOVATION CENTERS PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Small Business Act (15 

10 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 

12 note) as section 50; and 

13 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 

14 657u) the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 49. INNOVATION CENTERS PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) ACCELERATOR.—The term ‘accelerator’ 

18 means an organization— 

19 ‘‘(A) that— 

20 ‘‘(i) works with a startup or growing 

21 small business concern for a predetermined 

22 period; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) provides mentorship and instruc24 tion to scale businesses; and 

25 ‘‘(B) that may— 


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1 ‘‘(i) provide, but is not exclusively de2 signed to provide, seed investment in ex3 change for a small amount of equity; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) offer startup capital or the op5 portunity to raise capital from outside in6 vestors. 

7 ‘‘(2) FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED AREA OF ECO8 NOMIC DISTRESS.—The term ‘federally recognized 

9 area of economic distress’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) a HUBZone, as that term is defined 

11 in section 31(b); or 

12 ‘‘(B) an area that has been designated 

13 as— 

14 ‘‘(i) an empowerment zone under sec15 tion 1391 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

16 1986; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a Promise Zone by the Secretary 

18 of Housing and Urban Development; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) a low-income neighborhood or 

20 moderate-income neighborhood for pur21 poses of the Community Reinvestment Act 

22 of 1977 (12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.). 

23 ‘‘(3) GROWING; NEWLY ESTABLISHED; START24 UP.—The terms ‘growing’, ‘newly established’, and 

25 ‘startup’, with respect to a small business concern, 


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1 mean growing, newly established, and startup, re2 spectively, within the meaning given those terms 

3 under section 7(m). 

4 ‘‘(4) INCUBATOR.—The term ‘incubator’ means 

5 an organization— 

6 ‘‘(A) that— 

7 ‘‘(i) tends to work with startup and 

8 newly established small business concerns; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) provides mentorship to startup 

11 and newly established small business con12 cerns; and 

13 ‘‘(B) that may— 

14 ‘‘(i) provide a co-working environment 

15 or a month-to-month lease program; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) work with a startup or newly es17 tablished small business concern for a pre18 determined period or an open-ended pe19 riod. 

20 ‘‘(5) INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.—The 

21 term ‘individuals with a disability’ means more than 

22 1 individual with a disability, as defined in section 

23 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

24 U.S.C. 12102). 


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1 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en2 tity’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) an institution described in any of 

4 paragraphs (1) through (7) of section 371(a) of 

5 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6 1067q(a)); or 

7 ‘‘(B) a junior or community college, as de8 fined in section 312(f) of the Higher Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 

10 ‘‘(7) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ has 

11 the meaning given the term in section 7(m)(11). 

12 ‘‘(8) SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN13 TAGED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘socially and eco14 nomically disadvantaged individual’ means a socially 

15 and economically disadvantaged individual within the 

16 meaning given that term in section 8(d)(3)(C). 

17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of enactment of the UPLIFT Act of 2022, the 

19 Administrator shall develop and begin implementing a pro20 gram (to be known as the ‘Innovation Centers Program’) 

21 to enter into cooperative agreements with eligible entities 

22 under this section. 

23 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may— 


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1 ‘‘(A) enter into cooperative agreements to 

2 provide financial assistance to eligible entities 

3 to conduct 5-year projects for the benefit of 

4 startup, newly established, or growing small 

5 business concerns; and 

6 ‘‘(B) renew a cooperative agreement en7 tered into under this section for additional 3- 

8 year periods, in accordance with paragraph (3). 

9 ‘‘(2) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—A project con10 ducted under a cooperative agreement under this 

11 section shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) include operating as an accelerator, 

13 an incubator, or any other small business inno14 vation-focused project as the Administrator ap15 proves; 

16 ‘‘(B) be carried out in such locations as to 

17 provide maximum accessibility and benefits to 

18 the small business concerns that the project is 

19 intended to serve; 

20 ‘‘(C) have a full-time staff, including a 

21 full-time director who shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) have the authority to make ex23 penditures under the budget of the project; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) manage the activities carried out 

2 under the project; 

3 ‘‘(D) include the joint provision of pro4 grams and services by the eligible entity and 

5 the Administration, which— 

6 ‘‘(i) shall be jointly developed, nego7 tiated, and agreed upon, with full partici8 pation of both parties, pursuant to an exe9 cuted cooperative agreement between the 

10 eligible entity and the Administration; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) shall include— 

12 ‘‘(I) one-to-one individual coun13 seling, as described in section 

14 21(c)(3)(A); and 

15 ‘‘(II) a formal, structured 

16 mentorship program; 

17 ‘‘(E) incorporate continuous upgrades and 

18 modifications to the services and programs of19 fered under the project, as needed to meet the 

20 changing and evolving needs of the business 

21 community; 

22 ‘‘(F) involve working with underserved 

23 groups, which include— 

24 ‘‘(i) women; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) socially and economically dis2 advantaged individuals; 

3 ‘‘(iii) veterans; 

4 ‘‘(iv) individuals with disabilities; or 

5 ‘‘(v) startup, newly established, or 

6 growing small business concerns located in 

7 rural areas; 

8 ‘‘(G) not impose or otherwise collect a fee 

9 or other compensation in connection with par10 ticipation in the programs and services de11 scribed in subparagraph (D)(ii); and 

12 ‘‘(H) ensure that small business concerns 

13 participating in the project have access, includ14 ing through resource partners, to information 

15 concerning Federal, State, and local regulations 

16 that affect small business concerns. 

17 ‘‘(3) CONTINUED FUNDING.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

19 enters into an initial cooperative agreement or 

20 a renewal of a cooperative under paragraph (1) 

21 may submit an application for a 3-year renewal 

22 of the cooperative agreement at such time, in 

23 such manner, and accompanied by such infor24 mation as the Administrator may establish. 


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1 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION AND APPROVAL CRI2 TERIA.— 

3 ‘‘(i) CRITERIA.—The Administrator 

4 shall develop and publish criteria for the 

5 consideration and approval of applications 

6 for renewals by eligible entities under this 

7 paragraph, which shall take into account 

8 the structure and the stated goals of the 

9 project. 

10 ‘‘(ii) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 

11 60 days after the date of the deadline to 

12 submit applications for each fiscal year, 

13 the Administrator shall approve or deny 

14 any application under this paragraph and 

15 notify the applicant for each such applica16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(C) PRIORITY.—In allocating funds made 

18 available for cooperative agreements under this 

19 section, the Administrator shall give applica20 tions under this paragraph priority over first21 time applications for cooperative agreements 

22 under paragraph (1)(A). 

23 ‘‘(4) LIMIT ON USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts re24 ceived by an eligible entity under a cooperative 

25 agreement under this section may not be used to 


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1 provide capital to a participant in the project carried 

2 out under the cooperative agreement. 

3 ‘‘(5) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.— 

4 ‘‘(A) SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS.—The 

5 authority of the Administrator to enter into co6 operative agreements under this section shall be 

7 in effect for each fiscal year only to the extent 

8 and in the amounts as are provided in advance 

9 in appropriations Acts. 

10 ‘‘(B) SUSPENSION, TERMINATION, AND

11 FAILURE TO RENEW OR EXTEND.—After the 

12 Administrator has entered into a cooperative 

13 agreement with an eligible entity under this sec14 tion, the Administrator may not suspend, termi15 nate, or fail to renew or extend the cooperative 

16 agreement unless the Administrator provides 

17 the eligible entity with written notification set18 ting forth the reasons for that action and af19 fords the eligible entity an opportunity for a 

20 hearing, appeal, or other administrative pro21 ceeding under chapter 5 of title 5, United 

22 States Code. 

23 ‘‘(d) CRITERIA.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) establish and rank in terms of rel2 ative importance the criteria the Administrator 

3 shall use in awarding cooperative agreements 

4 under this section, which shall include— 

5 ‘‘(i) whether the proposed project will 

6 be located in— 

7 ‘‘(I) a federally recognized area 

8 of economic distress; 

9 ‘‘(II) a rural area; or 

10 ‘‘(III) an area lacking sufficient 

11 entrepreneurial development re12 sources, as determined by the Admin13 istrator; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) whether the proposed project 

15 demonstrates a commitment to partner 

16 with core stakeholders working with small 

17 business concerns in the relevant area, in18 cluding— 

19 ‘‘(I) investment and lending orga20 nizations; 

21 ‘‘(II) nongovernmental organiza22 tions; 

23 ‘‘(III) programs of State and 

24 local governments that are concerned 

25 with aiding small business concerns; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) Federal agencies; and 

2 ‘‘(V) for-profit organizations with 

3 an expertise in small business innova4 tion; 

5 ‘‘(B) make publicly available, including on 

6 the website of the Administration, and state in 

7 each solicitation for applications for cooperative 

8 agreements under this section, the selection cri9 teria and ranking established under subpara10 graph (A); and 

11 ‘‘(C) evaluate and rank applicants for co12 operative agreements under this section in ac13 cordance with the selection criteria and ranking 

14 established under subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The criteria established 

16 under paragraph (1)(A)— 

17 ‘‘(A) for eligible entities that have in oper18 ation an accelerator, incubator, or other small 

19 business innovation-focused project, shall in20 clude the record of the eligible entity in assist21 ing growing, newly established, and startup 

22 small business concerns, including, for each of 

23 the 3 full years before the date on which the eli24 gible entity applies for a cooperative agreement 

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1 bator, or other small business innovation-fo2 cused project has been in operation for less 

3 than 3 years, for the most recent full year the 

4 accelerator, incubator, or other small business 

5 innovation-focused project was in operation— 

6 ‘‘(i) the number and retention rate of 

7 growing, newly established, and startup 

8 business concerns in the program of the el9 igible entity; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the average period of participa11 tion by growing, newly established, and 

12 startup small business concerns in the pro13 gram of the eligible entity; 

14 ‘‘(iii) the total and median capital 

15 raised by growing, newly established, and 

16 startup small business concerns partici17 pating in the program of the eligible entity; 

18 ‘‘(iv) the number of investments or 

19 loans received by growing, newly estab20 lished, and startup small business concerns 

21 participating in the program of the eligible 

22 entity; and 

23 ‘‘(v) the total and median number of 

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1 ticipating in the program of the eligible en2 tity; and 

3 ‘‘(B) for all eligible entities— 

4 ‘‘(i) shall include whether the eligible 

5 entity— 

6 ‘‘(I) indicates the structure and 

7 goals of the project; 

8 ‘‘(II) demonstrates ties to the 

9 business community; 

10 ‘‘(III) identifies the resources 

11 available for the project; 

12 ‘‘(IV) describes the capabilities of 

13 the project, including coordination 

14 with local resource partners and local 

15 or national lending partners of the 

16 Administration; 

17 ‘‘(V) addresses the unique busi18 ness and economic challenges faced by 

19 the community in which the eligible 

20 entity is located and businesses in 

21 that community; or 

22 ‘‘(VI) provides a proposed budget 

23 and plan for use of funds; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) may include any other criteria 

2 determined appropriate by the Adminis3 trator. 

4 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM EXAMINATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) develop and implement an annual 

7 programmatic and financial examination of 

8 each project conducted under this section, 

9 under which each eligible entity entering into a 

10 cooperative agreement under this section shall 

11 provide to the Administrator— 

12 ‘‘(i) an itemized cost breakdown of ac13 tual expenditures for costs incurred during 

14 the preceding year; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) documentation regarding— 

16 ‘‘(I) the amount of matching as17 sistance from non-Federal sources ob18 tained and expended by the eligible 

19 entity during the preceding year in 

20 order to meet the matching require21 ment under subsection (i); and 

22 ‘‘(II) with respect to any in-kind 

23 contributions that were used to satisfy 

24 the matching requirement under sub25 section (i), verification of the existence 


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1 and valuation of those contributions; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) analyze the results of each examina4 tion conducted under subparagraph (A) and, 

5 based on that analysis, make a determination 

6 regarding the programmatic and financial via7 bility of each eligible entity. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUED FUNDING.— 

9 In determining whether to continue or renew a coop10 erative agreement under this section, the Adminis11 trator— 

12 ‘‘(A) shall consider the results of the most 

13 recent examination of the project under para14 graph (1); and 

15 ‘‘(B) may terminate or not renew a cooper16 ative agreement, if the Administrator deter17 mines that the eligible entity has failed to pro18 vide any information required to be provided 

19 (including information provided for purposes of 

20 the annual report by the Administrator under 

21 subsection (m)) or the information provided by 

22 the eligible entity is inadequate. 

23 ‘‘(f) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

24 Administrator— 


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1 ‘‘(1) shall provide in person or online training 

2 and technical assistance to each eligible entity enter3 ing into a cooperative agreement under this section 

4 at the beginning of the participation of the eligible 

5 entity in the Innovation Centers Program in order to 

6 build the capacity of the eligible entity and ensure 

7 compliance with procedures established by the Ad8 ministrator; 

9 ‘‘(2) shall ensure that the training and tech10 nical assistance described in paragraph (1) is pro11 vided at no cost or at a low cost; and 

12 ‘‘(3) may enter into a contract to provide the 

13 training or technical assistance described in para14 graph (1) with 1 or more organizations with exper15 tise in the entrepreneurial development programs of 

16 the Administration, innovation, and entrepreneurial 

17 development. 

18 ‘‘(g) COORDINATION.—In carrying out a project 

19 under this section, an eligible entity may coordinate 

20 with— 

21 ‘‘(1) resource and lending partners of the Ad22 ministration; 

23 ‘‘(2) programs of State and local governments 

24 that are concerned with aiding small business con25 cerns; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) other Federal agencies, including to pro2 vide services to and assist small business concerns in 

3 participating in the SBIR and STTR programs, as 

4 defined in section 9(e). 

5 ‘‘(h) FUNDING LIMIT.—The amount of financial as6 sistance provided to an eligible entity under a cooperative 

7 agreement entered into under this section shall be not 

8 more than $400,000 during each year. 

9 ‘‘(i) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity shall con11 tribute toward the cost of the project carried out 

12 under a cooperative agreement under this section an 

13 amount equal to 50 percent of the amount received 

14 under the cooperative agreement. 

15 ‘‘(2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—Not more than 

16 50 percent of the contribution of an eligible entity 

17 under paragraph (1) may be in the form of in-kind 

18 contributions. 

19 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator 

21 determines that an eligible entity is unable to 

22 meet the contribution requirement under para23 graph (1), the Administrator may reduce the 

24 required contribution. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PRESUMPTION.—An eligible entity 

2 shall be presumed to be unable to meet the con3 tribution requirement under paragraph (1) if 

4 the eligible entity has— 

5 ‘‘(i) long-term debt in an amount that 

6 is less than $10,000,000; 

7 ‘‘(ii) an invested market endowment 

8 in an amount that is less than 

9 $15,000,000; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) total net liquid assets in an 

11 amount that is less than $15,000,000. 

12 ‘‘(4) FAILURE TO OBTAIN NON-FEDERAL FUND13 ING.—If an eligible entity fails to obtain the re14 quired non-Federal contribution during any project, 

15 or the reduced non-Federal contribution, as deter16 mined by the Administrator— 

17 ‘‘(A) the eligible entity shall not be eligible 

18 thereafter for any other project for which the 

19 eligible entity is or may be funded by the Ad20 ministration; and 

21 ‘‘(B) before approving assistance for the 

22 eligible entity for any other project, the Admin23 istrator shall specifically determine whether the 

24 Administrator believes that the eligible entity 

25 will be able to obtain the requisite non-Federal 


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1 funding and enter a written finding setting the 

2 forth the reasons for making that determina3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The dem5 onstrated inability of an eligible entity to meet the 

6 contribution requirement under paragraph (1) shall 

7 not disqualify the eligible entity from entering into 

8 a cooperative agreement under this section. 

9 ‘‘(j) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may 

11 enter into a contract with a Federal department or 

12 agency to provide specific assistance to startup, 

13 newly established, or growing small business con14 cerns. 

15 ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE.—Performance of a con16 tract entered into under paragraph (1) may not 

17 hinder the applicable eligible entity in carrying out 

18 the terms of the cooperative agreement under this 

19 section. 

20 ‘‘(3) EXEMPTION FROM MATCHING REQUIRE21 MENT.—A contract entered into under paragraph 

22 (1) shall not be subject to the matching requirement 

23 under subsection (i). 

24 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL PROVISION.—Notwith25 standing any other provision of law, a contract for 


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1 assistance under paragraph (1) shall not be applied 

2 to any contracting goal for a Federal department or 

3 agency under section 15(g) with respect to small 

4 business concerns, small business concerns owned 

5 and controlled by women, or small business concerns 

6 owned and controlled by socially and economically 

7 disadvantaged individuals. 

8 ‘‘(k) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may not 

10 disclose the name, address, or telephone number of 

11 any individual or small business concern receiving 

12 assistance under this section without the consent of 

13 that individual or small business concern, unless— 

14 ‘‘(A) the Administrator is ordered to make 

15 such a disclosure by a court in any civil or 

16 criminal enforcement action initiated by a Fed17 eral or State agency; or 

18 ‘‘(B) the Administrator considers such a 

19 disclosure to be necessary for the purpose of 

20 conducting a financial audit of an eligible enti21 ty, except that a disclosure under this subpara22 graph shall be limited to the information nec23 essary for that financial audit. 

24 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION USE OF INFORMATION.— 

25 This subsection shall not— 


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1 ‘‘(A) restrict Administration access to pro2 gram activity data; or 

3 ‘‘(B) prevent the Administration from 

4 using client information (other than the infor5 mation described in subparagraph (A)) to con6 duct client surveys. 

7 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall 

8 issue regulations to establish standards for requiring 

9 disclosures during a financial audit under paragraph 

10 (1)(B). 

11 ‘‘(l) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Adminis12 trator shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) publish information about the program 

14 under this section online, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) on the website of the Administration; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) on the social media of the Adminis18 tration; and 

19 ‘‘(2) request that the resource and lending part20 ners of the Administration and the district offices of 

21 the Administration publicize the program. 

22 ‘‘(m) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after the date on which the Administrator establishes the 

24 program under this section, and annually thereafter, the 


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1 Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 

2 activities under the program, including— 

3 ‘‘(1) the number of startup, newly established, 

4 and growing small business concerns participating in 

5 the project carried out by each eligible entity under 

6 a cooperative agreement under this section (referred 

7 to in this as ‘participants’), including a breakdown 

8 of the owners of the participants by race, gender, 

9 veteran status, and urban versus rural location; 

10 ‘‘(2) the retention rate for participants; 

11 ‘‘(3) the total and median amount of capital 

12 accessed by participants, including the type of cap13 ital accessed; 

14 ‘‘(4) the total and median number of employees 

15 of participants; 

16 ‘‘(5) the number and median wage of jobs cre17 ated by participants; 

18 ‘‘(6) the number of jobs sustained by partici19 pants; and 

20 ‘‘(7) information regarding such other metrics 

21 as the Administrator determines appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(n) FUNDING.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

25 as may be necessary to carry out this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 

2 amount made available to carry out this section for 

3 any fiscal year, not more than 10 percent may be 

4 used by the Administrator for administrative ex5 penses.’’. 

6 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall promul7 gate regulations to carry out section 49 of the Small Busi8 ness Act, as added by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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