II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5175 

To amend the Small Business Act to require an annual report on 

entrepreneurial development programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 1, 2022 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. COONS, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. ROSEN, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; 

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

and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to require an annual 

report on entrepreneurial development programs, and for 

other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Devel5 opment Centers Improvement Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOP7 MENT PROGRAMS. 

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

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL DE2 VELOPMENT PROGRAMS.— 

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

4 ‘‘(A) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘cov5 ered program’ means a program authorized 

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

7 29, 32, or 34. 

8 ‘‘(B) ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT

9 ACTIVITY.—The term ‘entrepreneurial develop10 ment activity’ means an activity related to the 

11 delivery of entrepreneurial development services, 

12 entrepreneurial education, or support for the 

13 development and maintenance of business train14 ing services carried out through a covered pro15 gram. 

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

17 shall include in the comprehensive annual report re18 quired under subsection (a) the following data: 

19 ‘‘(A) A list of all entrepreneurial develop20 ment activities undertaken during the fiscal 

21 year preceding the date of the report through a 

22 covered program, including— 

23 ‘‘(i) a description and operating de24 tails for each such covered program and 


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1 the activities performed under each such 

2 covered program; 

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

4 standard operating procedures for each 

5 such covered program; 

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

7 to make awards relating to the provision of 

8 entrepreneurial development activities 

9 under each such covered program; 

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

11 under each such covered program and the 

12 amount of each such award; and 

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

14 the name and location of such contractor, 

15 of an award recipient. 

16 ‘‘(B) The total amount of funding obli17 gated for a covered program and the entrepre18 neurial development activities conducted under 

19 each such covered program for the fiscal year 

20 preceding the date of the report. 

21 ‘‘(C) The names and titles of the individ22 uals responsible for carrying out a covered pro23 gram. 

24 ‘‘(D) For entrepreneurial development ac25 tivities undertaken during the fiscal year preVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 Dec 02, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5175.IS S5175

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1 ceding the date of the report through the Small 

2 Business Development Center Program estab3 lished under section 21 (in this section referred 

4 to as the ‘Program’)— 

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

6 individuals counseled or trained through 

7 the Program; 

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

9 counseling and training services provided 

10 through the Program; 

11 ‘‘(iii) to the extent practicable, the de12 mographics of participants in the Program, 

13 which shall include the gender, race, eth14 nicity, and age of each such participant; 

15 ‘‘(iv) the number of participants in 

16 the Program who are veterans; 

17 ‘‘(v) the number of new businesses 

18 started by participants in the Program; 

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

20 number of jobs supported, created, and re21 tained with assistance from the Program; 

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

23 total amount of capital secured by partici24 pants in the Program, including through 


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1 loans and equity investment from the Ad2 ministration; 

3 ‘‘(viii) the number of participants in 

4 the Program receiving financial assistance, 

5 including the type and dollar amount, 

6 under a loan program of the Administra7 tion; 

8 ‘‘(ix) an estimate of gross receipts, in9 cluding, to the extent practicable, a de10 scription of any change in revenue, of 

11 small business concerns assisted through 

12 the Program; 

13 ‘‘(x) the number of referrals of indi14 viduals to other resources and programs of 

15 the Administration; 

16 ‘‘(xi) the results of satisfaction sur17 veys of participants in the Program, in18 cluding a summary of any comments re19 ceived from those participants; and 

20 ‘‘(xii) any recommendations by the 

21 Administrator to improve the delivery of 

22 services by the Program.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. MARKETING OF SERVICES. 

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

25 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(o) NO PROHIBITION OF MARKETING OF SERV2 ICES.—An applicant receiving a grant under this section 

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

4 advertise the services of the applicant to individuals and 

5 small business concerns.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION WORKING GROUP. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP TO IM8 PROVE DATA COLLECTION.—The Administrator of the 

9 Small Business Administration shall establish a group to 

10 be known as the ‘‘Data Collection Working Group’’ con11 sisting of entrepreneurial development grant recipients, 

12 the associations and organizations representing such re13 cipients, and officials from the Small Business Adminis14 tration, to carry out a study to determine the best methods 

15 for conducting data collection activities and create or re16 vise existing systems dedicated to data collection. 

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

18 of enactment of this Act, the Data Collection Working 

19 Group shall issue a report to the Committee on Small 

20 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the 

21 Committee on Small Business of the House of Representa22 tives containing the findings and determinations made in 

23 carrying out the study required under subsection (a), in24 cluding— 


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1 (1) recommendations for revising existing data 

2 collection practices for the Small Business Develop3 ment Center Program; and 

4 (2) a proposed plan for the Administrator of 

5 the Small Business Administration to implement the 

6 recommendations described in paragraph (1). 

7 SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT; FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS 

8 AND COSPONSORSHIPS; NEGOTIATION. 

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

10 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)) is amended— 

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

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

13 ‘‘oversight’’; 

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

15 ems to the right; 

16 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘Whereas’’; 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘Program’’ after ‘‘Cen19 ter’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘national’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘(D)(i) A small business development cen24 ter that participates in a private partnership or 

25 cosponsorship, in which the Administrator or 


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1 designee of the Administrator also participates, 

2 may collect fees or other income in order to 

3 hold events related to the private partnership or 

4 cosponsorship. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Nothing in clause (i) shall be con6 strued as the Administration endorsing a pri7 vate partnership or cosponsorship described in 

8 clause (i). 

9 ‘‘(E) An association formed under sub10 paragraph (A) shall, at the request of a small 

11 business development center applicant or appli12 cants, participate in the negotiation of the coop13 erative agreement described in this paragraph 

14 between the small business development center 

15 applicant or applicants and the Administra16 tion.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. EQUITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN18 TERS. 

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

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

21 (1) by striking subclause (I) and inserting the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(v) Of the amounts made available in 

24 any fiscal year to carry out this section, 

25 not more than $600,000 may be used by 


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1 the Administration to pay expenses enu2 merated in subparagraphs (B) through (D) 

3 of section 20(a)(1).’’. 

4 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS. 

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

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

7 clause (i)— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘or telephone number’’ and in9 serting ‘‘, telephone number, or email address’’; and 

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

11 such assistance, to any State, local, or Federal agen12 cy, or to any third party’’ after ‘‘receiving assistance 

13 under this section’’. 

14 SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS TO SMALL 

15 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

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

17 Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as amended by section 3 of this Act, 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

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

21 center operating pursuant to section 29,’’; 

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

23 center operating pursuant to section 29 as a 

24 Small Business Development Center’’; and 


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

2 centers operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

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

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

5 for nonprofit institutions of higher education, and notwith6 standing any other provision of law, the Administrator 

7 may not award a grant or contract to, or enter into a coop8 erative agreement with, an entity under this section unless 

9 that entity— 

10 ‘‘(1) received a grant or contract from, or en11 tered into a cooperative agreement with, the Admin12 istrator under this section before the date of enact13 ment of this subsection; and 

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

15 cooperative agreement after such date.’’. 

16 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 

17 made by this section may not be construed as prohibiting 

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

19 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 646) from receiving a 

20 subgrant from an entity receiving a grant under section 

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

22 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FOR23 MULA GRANTS RECEIVED BY STATES. 

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

25 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)) is amended— 


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

2 and all that follows through the period at the end 

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

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

5 (2) in clause (viii)— 

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

7 $1,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘shall reserve not 

8 more than $2,000,000’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘$200,000.’’ 

11 SEC. 10. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO MATCHING FUNDS. 

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

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

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

15 good faith assertions from the applicant, and the expendi16 ture of matching funds shall not be made a prerequisite 

17 of the reimbursement of Federal funds, notwithstanding 

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

19 award.’’. 

20 SEC. 11. DUTIES OF THE ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR 

21 SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

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

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

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(C) MARKETING.—The Associate Admin2 istrator for Small Business Development Cen3 ters shall market and advertise the Small Busi4 ness Development Center Program and partici5 pants in that Program as a resource available 

6 to any Federal program providing assistance to 

7 small business concerns, including the FAST 

8 program established under section 34.’’. 

9 SEC. 12. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

10 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

11 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

12 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

13 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

14 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

15 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro16 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

17 vote on passage. 

Æ 


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