I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2333 

To amend the Small Business Act to provide for the permanent establishment 

of the State Trade and Export Promotion Grant Program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2013 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself and Mr. REICHERT) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to provide for the permanent establishment of the State Trade and Export Promotion Grant Program, 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 ‘‘Next STEP Act of 

5 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE TRADE AND EXPORT PROMOTION GRANT 

7 PROGRAM. 

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

9 amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 47 as section 48; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 46 the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 47. STATE TRADE AND EXPORT PROMOTION GRANT 

5 PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible small business concern’ 

8 means a small business concern that— 

9 ‘‘(A) has been in business for not less than 

10 the 1-year period ending on the date on which 

11 assistance is provided using a grant under this 

12 section; 

13 ‘‘(B) is operating profitably, based on op14 erations in the United States; 

15 ‘‘(C) has demonstrated understanding of 

16 the costs associated with exporting and doing 

17 business with foreign purchasers, including the 

18 costs of freight forwarding, customs brokers, 

19 packing and shipping, as determined by the As20 sociate Administrator; and 

21 ‘‘(D) has in effect a strategic plan for ex22 porting; 

23 ‘‘(2) the term ‘program’ means the State Trade 

24 and Export Promotion Grant Program established 

25 under subsection (b); 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘small business concern owned 

2 and controlled by women’ has the meaning given 

3 that term in section 3; 

4 ‘‘(4) the term ‘socially and economically dis5 advantaged small business concern’ has the meaning 

6 given that term in section 8(a)(4)(A); and 

7 ‘‘(5) the term ‘State’ means each of the several 

8 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

9 of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the 

10 Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. 

11 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Associate 

12 Administrator for International Trade appointed under 

13 section 22(a)(2) (hereinafter in this section referred to as 

14 the ‘Associate Administrator’) shall establish a trade and 

15 export promotion program to be known as the State Trade 

16 and Export Promotion Grant Program, to make grants 

17 to States to carry out export programs that assist eligible 

18 small business concerns in— 

19 ‘‘(1) participation in a foreign trade mission; 

20 ‘‘(2) a foreign market sales trip; 

21 ‘‘(3) a subscription to services provided by the 

22 Department of Commerce; 

23 ‘‘(4) the payment of Web site translation fees; 

24 ‘‘(5) the design of international marketing 

25 media; 


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1 ‘‘(6) a trade show exhibition; 

2 ‘‘(7) participation in training workshops; or 

3 ‘‘(8) any other export initiative determined ap4 propriate by the Associate Administrator. 

5 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) JOINT REVIEW.—In carrying out the pro7 gram, the Associate Administrator may make a 

8 grant to a State to increase the number of eligible 

9 small business concerns in the State that export or 

10 to increase the value of the exports by eligible small 

11 business concerns in the State. 

12 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this 

13 section, the Associate Administrator may give pri14 ority to an application by a State that proposes a 

15 program that— 

16 ‘‘(A) focuses on eligible small business con17 cerns as part of an export promotion program; 

18 ‘‘(B) demonstrates success in promoting 

19 exports by— 

20 ‘‘(i) socially and economically dis21 advantaged small business concerns; 

22 ‘‘(ii) small business concerns owned or 

23 controlled by women; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) rural small business concerns; 


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1 ‘‘(C) promotes exports from a State that is 

2 not 1 of the 10 States with the highest percent3 age of exporters that are small business con4 cerns, based upon the latest data available from 

5 the Department of Commerce; and 

6 ‘‘(D) promotes new-to-market export op7 portunities to the People’s Republic of China 

8 for eligible small business concerns in the 

9 United States. 

10 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) SINGLE APPLICATION.—A State may 

12 not submit more than 1 application for a grant 

13 under the program in any 1 fiscal year. 

14 ‘‘(B) PROPORTION OF AMOUNTS.—The 

15 total value of grants under the program made 

16 during a fiscal year to the 10 States with the 

17 highest number of exporters that are small 

18 business concerns, based upon the latest data 

19 available from the Department of Commerce, 

20 shall be not more than 40 percent of the 

21 amounts appropriated for the program for that 

22 fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.—A State desiring a grant 

24 under the program shall submit an application at 

25 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 


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1 such information as the Associate Administrator 

2 may establish. 

3 ‘‘(d) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The Associate Adminis4 trator shall award grants under the program on a competi5 tive basis. 

6 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

7 cost of an export program carried out using a grant under 

8 the program shall be— 

9 ‘‘(1) for a State that has a high export volume, 

10 as determined by the Associate Administrator, not 

11 more than 65 percent; and 

12 ‘‘(2) for a State that does not have a high ex13 port volume, as determined by the Associate Admin14 istrator, not more than 75 percent. 

15 ‘‘(f) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share 

16 of the cost of an export program carried using a grant 

17 under the program shall be comprised of not less than 50 

18 percent cash and not more than 50 percent of indirect 

19 costs and in-kind contributions, except that no such costs 

20 or contributions may be derived from funds from any 

21 other Federal program. 

22 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Associate Adminis23 trator shall submit an annual report to the Committee on 

24 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and 


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1 the Committee on Small Business of the House of Rep2 resentatives regarding the program, which shall include— 

3 ‘‘(1) the number and amount of grants made 

4 under the program during the preceding year; 

5 ‘‘(2) a list of the States receiving a grant under 

6 the program during the preceding year, including 

7 the activities being performed with that grant; and 

8 ‘‘(3) the effect of each grant on exports by eligi9 ble small business concerns in the State receiving 

10 the grant. 

11 ‘‘(h) PUBLIC WEB SITE.—The Associate Adminis12 trator shall establish and maintain, on a publicly acces13 sible Internet Web site of the Administration— 

14 ‘‘(1) a list of each grant awarded under the 

15 program, the amount of the grant, and the identity 

16 of the grantee State; and 

17 ‘‘(2) grant management guidance for recipients 

18 including required forms, no-cost extension and car19 ryover information, and a schedule for reimburse20 ments to recipients. 

21 ‘‘(i) ENHANCED REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The 

22 Associate Administrator shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) document and maintain all analyses, eval24 uations, and rationales used to award grants under 

25 this section; 


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1 ‘‘(2) ensure that the goals of recipients of those 

2 grants are consistent with the purposes of this sec3 tion and hold them accountable for adhering to re4 porting requirements established under this section; 

5 ‘‘(3) perform reviews of quarterly reports sub6 mitted by grant recipients under this section; and 

7 ‘‘(4) in cases where grant recipients do not pro8 posed performance goals, require grant recipients to 

9 provide the Associate Administrator with revised 

10 work plans and budget estimates to meet those 

11 goals. 

12 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

14 appropriated for each of the fiscal years such sums 

15 as may be necessary to carry out this Act and the 

16 amendments made by this Act. 

17 ‘‘(2) OTHER AMOUNTS.—Amounts appropriated 

18 pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 

19 paragraph (1) shall be in addition to the amounts 

20 otherwise available to carry out this Act and the 

21 amendments made by this Act. 

22 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated 

23 pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 

24 paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available 

25 until expended.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 Section 1207 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 

3 (15 U.S.C. 649b note) is hereby repealed. 

Æ 


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