II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 77 

To reauthorize the State Trade Expansion Program of the Small Business 

Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25, 2023 

Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the State Trade Expansion Program of 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 ‘‘STEP Improvement 

5 Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE TRADE EXPANSION PROGRAM. 

7 (a) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 22(l)(3) 

8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)(3)) is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (D)— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 77 IS

1 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, including 

2 a budget plan for use of funds awarded under 

3 this subsection’’ before the period at the end; 

4 and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.—The Associate Admin7 istrator shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) publish information on how 

9 to apply for a grant under this sub10 section, including specific calculations 

11 and other determinations used to 

12 award such a grant, not later than 

13 March 31 of each year; 

14 ‘‘(II) establish a deadline for the 

15 submission of applications that is not 

16 earlier than 60 days after the date on 

17 which the information is published 

18 under subclause (I) and that is not 

19 later than May 31; and 

20 ‘‘(III) announce grant recipients 

21 not later than August 31 of each 

22 year.’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION INFORMATION.—The 

25 Associate Administrator shall clearly commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S77.IS S77

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 77 IS

1 nicate to applicants and grant recipients any in2 formation about the State Trade Expansion 

3 Program, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) for each unsuccessful applicant 

5 for a grant awarded under this subsection, 

6 recommendations to improve a subsequent 

7 application for such a grant; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) for each successful applicant for 

9 such a grant, an explanation for the 

10 amount awarded, if different from the 

11 amount requested in the application. 

12 ‘‘(F) BUDGET PLAN REVISIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving 

14 a grant under this subsection may revise 

15 the budget plan of the State submitted 

16 under subparagraph (D) after the dis17 bursal of grant funds if— 

18 ‘‘(I) the revision complies with al19 lowable uses of grant funds under this 

20 subsection; and 

21 ‘‘(II) such State submits notifica22 tion of the revision to the Associate 

23 Administrator. 

24 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—If a revision under 

25 clause (i) reallocates 10 percent or more of 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 77 IS

1 the amounts described in the budget plan 

2 of the State submitted under subparagraph 

3 (D), the State may not implement the re4 vised budget plan without the approval of 

5 the Associate Administrator, unless the As6 sociate Administrator fails to approve or 

7 deny the revised plan within 20 days after 

8 receipt of such revised plan.’’. 

9 (b) SURVEY.—Section 22(l) of the Small Business 

10 Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 

12 (9) as paragraphs (8) through (10), respectively; 

13 and 

14 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(7) SURVEY.—The Associate Administrator 

17 shall conduct an annual survey of each State that 

18 received a grant under this subsection during the 

19 preceding year to solicit feedback on the program 

20 and develop best practices for grantees.’’. 

21 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Paragraph (8)(B) of section 

22 22(l) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)), as 

23 so redesignated by subsection (b), is amended— 

24 (1) in clause (i)— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 77 IS

1 (A) in subclause (III), by inserting ‘‘, in2 cluding the total number of eligible small busi3 ness concerns assisted by the program 

4 (disaggregated by socially and economically dis5 advantaged small business concerns, small busi6 ness concerns owned and controlled by women, 

7 and rural small business concerns)’’ before the 

8 semicolon at the end; 

9 (B) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (C) in subclause (V)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘description of best 

13 practices’’ and inserting ‘‘detailed descrip14 tion of best practices’’; and 

15 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

16 and inserting a semicolon; and 

17 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(VI) an analysis of the perform19 ance metrics described in clause (iii), 

20 including a determination of whether 

21 or not any goals relating to such per22 formance metrics were met, and an 

23 analysis of the survey described in 

24 paragraph (7); and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•S 77 IS

1 ‘‘(VII) a description of lessons 

2 learned by grant recipients under this 

3 subsection that may apply to other as4 sistance provided by the Administra5 tion.’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘(iii) PERFORMANCE METRICS.—An8 nually, the Associate Administrator shall 

9 collect data on eligible small business con10 cerns assisted by the program for the fol11 lowing performance metrics: 

12 ‘‘(I) Total number of such con13 cerns, disaggregated by socially and 

14 economically disadvantaged small 

15 business concerns, small business con16 cerns owned and controlled by women, 

17 and rural small business concerns. 

18 ‘‘(II) Total dollar amount of ex19 port sales by eligible small business 

20 concerns assisted by the program. 

21 ‘‘(III) Number of such concerns 

22 that have not previously participated 

23 in an activity described in paragraph 

24 (2). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•S 77 IS

1 ‘‘(IV) Number of such concerns 

2 that, because of participation in the 

3 program, have accessed a new market. 

4 ‘‘(V) Number of such concerns 

5 that, because of participation in the 

6 program, have created new jobs. 

7 ‘‘(VI) Number of such concerns 

8 participating in foreign trade missions 

9 or trade show exhibitions, 

10 disaggregated by socially and eco11 nomically disadvantaged small busi12 ness concerns, small business concerns 

13 owned and controlled by women, and 

14 rural small business concerns.’’. 

15 (d) EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE SMALL

16 BUSINESS CONCERN.—Section 22(l)(1)(A) of the Small 

17 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)(1)(A)) is amended— 

18 (1) in clause (iii)(II), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

19 end; 

20 (2) by striking clause (iv); and 

21 (3) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (iv). 

22 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Para23 graph (10) of section 22(l) of the Small Business Act (15 

24 U.S.C. 649(l)), as so redesignated by subsection (b), is 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•S 77 IS

1 amended by striking ‘‘fiscal years 2016 through 2020’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2024 through 2028’’. 

3 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Associate Ad5 ministrator for International Trade of the Small Business 

6 Administration shall submit to Congress a report on the 

7 State Trade Expansion Program established under section 

8 22(l) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)), as 

9 amended by this section, that includes a description of— 

10 (1) the process developed for review of revised 

11 budget plans submitted under subparagraph (F) of 

12 section 22(l)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 649(l)(3)), as added by this Act; 

14 (2) any changes made to streamline the applica15 tion process to remove duplicative requirements and 

16 create a more transparent process; 

17 (3) the process developed to share best prac18 tices by States described in paragraph (8)(B)(i)(V) 

19 of section 22(l) of the Small Business Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 649(l)), as so redesignated by this Act, par21 ticularly for first-time grant recipients under the 

22 State Trade Expansion Program or grant recipients 

23 that are facing problems using grant funds; and 

24 (4) the process developed to communicate, both 

25 verbally and in writing, relevant information about 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•S 77 IS

1 the State Trade Expansion Program to all grant re2 cipients in a timely manner. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB