II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5634 

To establish a grant program under the Small Business Administration, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

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

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program under 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Oppor5 tunity Grants Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Administrator’’ 

8 means the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis9 tration. 


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1 (b) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTI2 TUTION.—The term ‘‘community development financial in3 stitution’’ has the meaning given the term in section 103 

4 of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory 

5 Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702). 

6 (c) COVERED LENDER.—The term ‘‘covered lender’’ 

7 means a lender authorized under section 3(a)(2)(B). 

8 (d) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘‘covered grant’’ 

9 means a grant issued by a covered lender. 

10 (e) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘eligible recipi11 ent’’ means an eligible small business concern. 

12 (f) MINORITY DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term 

13 ‘‘minority depository institution’’ has the meaning given 

14 the term in section 308 of the Financial Institutions Re15 form, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 

16 1463 note). 

17 (g) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ means any 

18 county or other political subdivision of a State, the Dis19 trict of Columbia, or a territory or possession of the 

20 United States that is designated as a rural area by the 

21 Bureau of the Census. 

22 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es25 tablish a grant program in accordance with this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:17 Jan 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5634.IS S5634

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1 section for the purpose of awarding grants to indi2 viduals or entities who meet the criteria established 

3 under paragraph (2). 

4 (2) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.— 

5 (A) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—The Adminis6 trator shall, in accordance with the limits de7 scribed in paragraph (4), award a grant to an 

8 eligible recipient if— 

9 (i) the eligible recipient is located in— 

10 (I) a low- to moderate-income 

11 community; 

12 (II) a HUBZone, as that term is 

13 defined in section 31(b) of the Small 

14 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a(b)); 

15 (III) a rural area; or 

16 (IV) any area for which a dis17 aster declaration or determination de18 scribed in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

19 or (E) of section 7(b)(2) of the Small 

20 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) 

21 has been made that has not termi22 nated more than 2 years before the 

23 date (or later, as determined by the 

24 Administrator) on which a grant is 

25 made to the small business concern 


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1 under the program, except that, in the 

2 case of a major disaster described in 

3 subsection (b)(2)(A) of such section, 

4 that period shall be 5 years; 

5 (ii) more than 50 percent of the em6 ployees of the eligible recipient reside in a 

7 low- or moderate-income community; 

8 (iii) the eligible recipient is a new 

9 business; 

10 (iv) the eligible recipient is owned and 

11 controlled by socially and economically dis12 advantaged individuals, as described in 

13 paragraphs (5) and (6)(A), respectively, of 

14 section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 

15 U.S.C. 637(a)) which the Administrator, in 

16 carrying out the program, shall presume 

17 includes Black Americans, Hispanic Ameri18 cans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific 

19 Americans, and other minorities; 

20 (v) the eligible recipient is owned and 

21 controlled by women; 

22 (vi) the eligible recipient is owned and 

23 controlled by veterans or spouses of vet24 erans; 


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1 (vii) the eligible recipient is owned 

2 and controlled by a member of an Indian 

3 Tribe individually identified (including par4 enthetically) in the most recent list pub5 lished pursuant to section 104 of the Fed6 erally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

7 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131); 

8 (viii) the eligible recipient is owned 

9 and controlled by an individual who has 

10 completed a term of imprisonment in a 

11 Federal, State, or local jail or prison; or 

12 (ix) the eligible recipient is owned and 

13 controlled by an individual with a dis14 ability, as that term is defined in section 3 

15 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 

16 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102). 

17 (B) LENDERS.—The Administrator shall, 

18 in accordance with the limits described in para19 graph (4), award a grant to a lender if the 

20 lender is— 

21 (i) a community development financial 

22 institution; 

23 (ii) a minority depository institution; 

24 (iii) a lender under the Microloan Pro25 gram established under subsection (m) of 


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1 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

2 636(m)); 

3 (iv) a development company that is 

4 certified under title V of the Small Busi5 ness Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 

6 695 et seq.); or 

7 (v) a Community Advantage Small 

8 Business Lending Company, as described 

9 in section 120.10 of title 13, Code of Fed10 eral Regulations. 

11 (3) LIMITS.— 

12 (A) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The number of 

13 grants awarded under this subsection shall not 

14 exceed 1,000,000 grants. 

15 (B) AMOUNT OF FORGIVENESS.—The 

16 amount of a grant awarded to an eligible recipi17 ent under this subsection shall not exceed 

18 $20,000. 

19 (C) NO LIMIT ON OTHER LOANS OR

20 GRANTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

21 of law, small business concerns receiving a cov22 ered grant under this Act shall not be prohib23 ited from receiving another loan or grant. 

24 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.— 

25 The Administrator shall establish a grant program to proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:17 Jan 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5634.IS S5634

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1 vide management and technical assistance to covered lend2 ers making grants under this Act. 

3 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall promul4 gate regulations related to the grant programs under this 

5 section not later than 180 days after the date of enact6 ment of this Act. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

9 necessary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2025. 

10 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS. 

11 (a) DATA COLLECTION.—With respect to each cov12 ered grant under this Act, the Administrator shall collect 

13 data on the eligible recipient of the covered grant, which 

14 shall include the gender, race, ethnicity, sex, age, Tribal 

15 affiliation, socioeconomic status, and disability status of 

16 each eligible recipient. 

17 (b) PUBLICATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

19 make publicly available on the website of the Small 

20 Business Administration, in a disaggregated format, 

21 the data collected under subsection (a), which shall 

22 be updated not later than 7 days after the date on 

23 which a covered grant is approved. 

24 (2) PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS.—In publishing 

25 the data under paragraph (1), the Administrator 


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1 shall take all necessary steps to protect the privacy 

2 of any individual whose personally identifiable infor3 mation is included in that data. 

Æ 


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