I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2499 

To amend the Small Business Act to expand and improve the assistance 

provided by Small Business Development Centers to Colonias. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mr. CUELLAR (for himself, Mr. REYES, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. 

CLARKE, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. FARR, Mr. 

THOMPSON of California, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, and Mr. BRADY of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small 

Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to expand and improve 

the assistance provided by Small Business Development 

Centers to Colonias. 

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 ‘‘SBDC Colonias Out5 reach Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Colonias are found in Texas, New Mexico, 

2 Arizona and California and are composed of families 

3 with very low incomes and usually lack basic services 

4 such as clean and abundant water, roads, sewer sys5 tems, schools, and law enforcement. 

6 (2) Across the Southwest there are approxi7 mately 3,000 Colonias with nearly three quarters of 

8 a million people living in these communities. 

9 (3) Improving the living situation within 

10 Colonias is not limited to fixing basic infrastructure 

11 but must also include spurring economic growth. 

12 (4) Studies have found that the unemployment 

13 rate in Colonias was upwards of 60 percent. 

14 (5) The average yearly salary of people living in 

15 these communities is less than $10,000, well below 

16 the Nation’s poverty line. 

17 (6) Many Colonias residents cannot find year18 round work due to the seasonal nature of their pri19 mary occupations—fieldwork represents 29.5 percent 

20 of their jobs, construction work 24.4 percent, and 

21 factory work, 14.9 percent. 

22 (7) The Small Business Development Center 

23 program has been proven to be a cost effective solu24 tion to providing the resources and technical assistVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:03 May 29, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2499.IH H2499

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1 ance needed to grow existing businesses and to start 

2 new enterprises. 

3 (8) Business counseling and technical assist4 ance is critical in Colonias where similar services are 

5 in short supply and are costly. 

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol7 lowing: 

8 (1) To stimulate economic development in 

9 Colonias. 

10 (2) To assist in the creation of new small busi11 nesses located in Colonias and expand existing ones. 

12 (3) To provide management, technical, and re13 search assistance to entrepreneurs located in 

14 Colonias. 

15 (4) To ensure that residents of Colonias have 

16 full access to existing business counseling and tech17 nical assistance available through the Small Busi18 ness Development Center program. 

19 SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER ASSIST20 ANCE TO COLONIAS. 

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

22 648(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(8) ADDITIONAL GRANT TO ASSIST INDIVID24 UALS RESIDING IN COLONIAS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any applicant in an 

2 eligible State that is funded by the Administra3 tion as a Small Business Development Center 

4 may apply for an additional grant to be used 

5 solely to provide services described in subsection 

6 (c)(3) to assist with outreach, development, and 

7 enhancement of small business startups and ex8 pansions within Colonias. 

9 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE STATES.—For purposes of 

10 subparagraph (A), an eligible State is a State 

11 along the United States-Mexico border that has 

12 individuals residing in Colonias. 

13 ‘‘(C) GRANT APPLICATIONS.—An applicant 

14 for a grant under subparagraph (A) shall sub15 mit to the Administration an application that is 

16 in such form as the Administration may re17 quire. The application shall include information 

18 regarding the applicant’s goals and objectives 

19 for the services to be provided using the grant, 

20 including— 

21 ‘‘(i) the capability of the applicant to 

22 provide training and services to individuals 

23 residing in Colonias; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the location of the Small Busi2 ness Development Center site proposed by 

3 the applicant; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) the required amount of grant 

5 funding needed by the applicant to imple6 ment the program. 

7 ‘‘(D) APPLICABILITY OF GRANT REQUIRE8 MENTS.—An applicant for a grant under sub9 paragraph (A) shall comply with all of the re10 quirements of this section, except that the 

11 matching funds requirements under paragraph 

12 (4)(A) shall not apply. 

13 ‘‘(E) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—No 

14 applicant may receive more than $300,000 in 

15 grants under this paragraph for one fiscal year. 

16 ‘‘(F) REGULATIONS.—After providing no17 tice and an opportunity for comment and after 

18 consulting with the Association recognized by 

19 the Administration pursuant to paragraph 

20 (3)(A) (but not later than 180 days after the 

21 date of enactment of this paragraph), the Ad22 ministration shall issue final regulations to 

23 carry out this paragraph, including regulations 

24 that establish— 


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1 ‘‘(i) standards relating to educational, 

2 technical, and support services to be pro3 vided by Small Business Development Cen4 ters receiving assistance under this para5 graph; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) standards relating to any work 

7 plan that the Administration may require a 

8 Small Business Development Center receiv9 ing assistance under this paragraph to de10 velop. 

11 ‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(i) The term ‘Colonias’ means a 

13 community that— 

14 ‘‘(I) is located within 150 miles 

15 of the United States-Mexico border; 

16 ‘‘(II) is a city or town with a 

17 population of less than 10,000, ac18 cording to the latest United States 

19 Census, or is unincorporated; 

20 ‘‘(III) has a majority population 

21 composed of individuals and families 

22 of low and very low income; and 

23 ‘‘(IV) generally lacks a basic 

24 physical infrastructure. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘basic physical infra2 structure’ means safe, sanitary, and sound 

3 housing, as well as basic services such as 

4 potable water, adequate sewage systems, 

5 drainage, paved streets and utilities. 

6 ‘‘(H) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA7 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

8 to carry out this paragraph $7,000,000 for each 

9 of fiscal years 2008 through 2010. 

10 ‘‘(I) FUNDING LIMITATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN

12 LIMITATIONS.—Funding under this para13 graph shall be in addition to the dollar 

14 program limitations specified in paragraph 

15 (4). 

16 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON USE OF

17 FUNDS.—The Administration may carry 

18 out this paragraph only with amounts ap19 propriated in advance specifically to carry 

20 out this paragraph.’’. 

Æ 


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