II 

Calendar No. 197 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 929 

To improve the HUBZone program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2017 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Reported by Mr. RISCH, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To improve the HUBZone program. 

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 ‘‘Invest in Rural Small 

5 Business Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY FOR RESIDENCY IN HUBZONES. 

7 Section 3(p)(5)(A)(i)(I) of the Small Business Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(5)(A)(i)(I)) is amended by striking ‘‘35 


sradovich on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 929 RS

1 percent’’ each place that term appears and inserting ‘‘33 

2 percent’’. 

3 SEC. 3. ENABLING LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO MAXIMIZE 

4 ECONOMIC POTENTIAL. 

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

6 amended— 

7 (1) in section 3(p)(1) (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(1))— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

9 at the end; 

10 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

11 subparagraph (G); and 

12 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(F) another qualified area designated by 

15 the Administrator under section 31(d); or’’; and 

16 (2) in section 31 (15 U.S.C. 657a)— 

17 (A) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub18 section (e); and 

19 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(d) OTHER QUALIFIED AREAS.— 

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

23 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered area’ means an 

24 area in a State— 


sradovich on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 929 RS

1 ‘‘(i) that is located outside of an ur2 banized area, as determined by the Bureau 

3 of the Census; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) with a population of not more 

5 than 50,000; 

6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘governor’ means the chief 

7 executive of a State; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the term ‘State’ means each of the 

9 several States, the District of Columbia, the 

10 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is11 lands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the North12 ern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. 

13 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION.—A governor may petition 

14 the Administrator to designate one or more covered 

15 areas as a HUBZone if the average unemployment 

16 rate of each covered area for which the designation 

17 is sought is not less than 120 percent of the average 

18 unemployment rate of the United States or of the 

19 State in which the covered area is located, whichever 

20 is less, based on the most recent data available from 

21 the American Community Survey conducted by the 

22 Bureau of the Census. 

23 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—In reviewing a petition sub24 mitted by a governor under paragraph (2), the Ad25 ministrator may consider— 


sradovich on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 929 RS

1 ‘‘(A) the potential for job creation and in2 vestment; 

3 ‘‘(B) the demonstrated interest of small 

4 business concerns in the covered area to partici5 pate in the HUBZone program established 

6 under this section 31; and 

7 ‘‘(C) the consideration by State and local 

8 government officials of a HUBZone as part of 

9 an economic development strategy. 

10 ‘‘(4) PETITION.—With respect to a petition 

11 submitted by a governor to the Administrator under 

12 paragraph (2)— 

13 ‘‘(A) the governor may submit not more 

14 than 1 petition in a fiscal year unless the Ad15 ministrator determines that an additional peti16 tion from the State of the governor is appro17 priate; 

18 ‘‘(B) the governor may not submit a peti19 tion for more than 10 percent of the total num20 ber of covered areas in the State of the gov21 ernor; and 

22 ‘‘(C) if the Administrator grants the peti23 tion and designates one or more covered areas 

24 as a HUBZone, the governor shall, not less fre25 quently than annually, submit data to the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 02, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S929.RS S929

sradovich on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 929 RS

1 ministrator certifying that each covered area 

2 designated by the Administrator continues to 

3 meet the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of 

4 paragraph (1)(A). 

5 ‘‘(5) PROCESS.—The Administrator shall estab6 lish procedures— 

7 ‘‘(A) to ensure that the Administration ac8 cepts petitions under paragraph (2) from all 

9 States each fiscal year; and 

10 ‘‘(B) to provide technical assistance, before 

11 the filing of a petition under paragraph (2), to 

12 a governor who is interested in filing such a pe13 tition.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. ENSURING TIMELY CONSIDERATION OF HUBZONE 

15 APPLICATIONS. 

16 Section 3(p)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 632(p)(5)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(C) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—Not 

19 later than 60 days after the date on which the 

20 Administrator receives an application from a 

21 small business concern to be certified as a 

22 qualified HUBZone small business concern 

23 under subparagraph (A)(i), the Administrator 

24 shall approve or deny the application.’’. 


sradovich on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 197 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 929 

A BILL 

To improve the HUBZone program. 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Reported with amendments 


sradovich on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS