I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1838 

To amend the Small Business Act to modify certain provisions relating 

to women’s business centers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 1, 2009 

Ms. FALLIN (for herself, Ms. CLARKE, and Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small 

Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to modify certain provisions relating to women’s business centers, 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. NOTIFICATION OF GRANTS; PUBLICATION OF 

4 GRANT AMOUNTS. 

5 Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656) 

6 is amended by adding the following new subsection at the 

7 end thereof: 

8 ‘‘(o) NOTIFICATION OF GRANTS; PUBLICATION OF

9 GRANT AMOUNTS.—The Administrator shall disburse 


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1 funds to a women’s business center not later than one 

2 month after the center’s application is approved under this 

3 section. At the end of each fiscal year the Administrator 

4 (acting through the Office of Women’s Business owner5 ship) shall publish on the Administration’s website a re6 port setting forth the total amount of the grants made 

7 under this Act to each women’s business center in the fis8 cal year for which the report is issued, the total amount 

9 of such grants made in each prior fiscal year to each such 

10 center, and the total amount of private matching funds 

11 provided by each such center over the lifetime of the cen12 ter.’’. 

13 SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS. 

14 Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

15 656), as amended, is further amended by adding the fol16 lowing new subsection at the end thereof: 

17 ‘‘(p) COMMUNICATIONS.—The Administrator shall 

18 establish, by rule, a standardized process to communicate 

19 with women’s business centers regarding program admin20 istration matters, including reimbursement, regulatory 

21 matters, and programmatic changes. The Administrator 

22 shall notify each women’s business center of the oppor23 tunity for notice and comment on the proposed rule.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. FUNDING. 

2 (a) FORMULA.—Section 29(b) of the Small Business 

3 Act (15 U.S.C. 656(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

6 provide financial assistance to private nonprofit or7 ganizations to conduct projects for the benefit of 

8 small business concerns owned and controlled by 

9 women. The projects shall provide— 

10 ‘‘(A) financial assistance, including train11 ing and counseling in how to apply for and se12 cure business credit and investment capital, 

13 preparing and presenting financial statements, 

14 and managing cash flow and other financial op15 erations of a business concern; 

16 ‘‘(B) management assistance, including 

17 training and counseling in how to plan, orga18 nize, staff, direct, and control each major activ19 ity and function of a small business concern; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(C) marketing assistance, including train22 ing and counseling in identifying and seg23 menting domestic and international market op24 portunities, preparing and executing marketing 

25 plans, developing pricing strategies, locating 

26 contract opportunities, negotiating contracts, 


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1 and utilizing varying public relations and adver2 tising techniques. 

3 ‘‘(2) TIERS.—The Administrator shall provide 

4 assistance under paragraph (1) in 3 tiers of assist5 ance as follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) The first tier shall be to conduct a 5- 

7 year project in a situation where a project has 

8 not previously been conducted. Such a project 

9 shall be in a total amount of not more than 

10 $150,000 per year. 

11 ‘‘(B) The second tier shall be to conduct a 

12 3-year project in a situation where a first-tier 

13 project is being completed. Such a project shall 

14 be in a total amount of not more than 

15 $100,000 per year. 

16 ‘‘(C) The third tier shall be to conduct a 

17 3-year project in a situation where a second-tier 

18 project is being completed. Such a project shall 

19 be in a total amount of not more than 

20 $100,000 per year. Third-tier grants shall be 

21 renewable subject to established eligibility cri22 teria as well as criteria in subsection (b)(4). 

23 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts 

24 made available for assistance under this subsection, 

25 the Administrator shall allocate— 


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1 ‘‘(A) at least 40 percent for first-tier 

2 projects under paragraph (2)(A); 

3 ‘‘(B) 20 percent for second-tier projects 

4 under paragraph (2)(B); and 

5 ‘‘(C) the remainder for third-tier projects 

6 under paragraph (2)(C). 

7 ‘‘(4) BENCHMARKS FOR THIRD-TIER

8 PROJECTS.—In awarding third-tier projects under 

9 paragraph (2)(C), the Administrator shall use 

10 benchmarks based on socio-economic factors in the 

11 community and on the performance of the applicant. 

12 The benchmarks shall include— 

13 ‘‘(A) the total number of women served by 

14 the project; 

15 ‘‘(B) the proportion of low income women 

16 and socio-economic distribution of clients served 

17 by the project; 

18 ‘‘(C) the proportion of individuals in the 

19 community that are socially or economically dis20 advantaged (based on median income); 

21 ‘‘(D) the future fund-raising and service 

22 coordination plans; 

23 ‘‘(E) the diversity of services provided; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) geographic distribution within and 

2 across the 10 regions of the Small Business Ad3 ministration.’’. 

4 (b) MATCHING.—Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sec5 tion 29(c)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 656(c)(1)) are amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(A) For the first and second years of the 

8 project, 1 non-Federal dollar for each 2 Federal 

9 dollars. 

10 ‘‘(B) Each year after the second year of 

11 the project— 

12 ‘‘(i) 1 non-Federal dollar for each 

13 Federal dollar; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) if the center is in a community 

15 at least 50 percent of the population of 

16 which is below the median income for the 

17 State or United States territory in which 

18 the center is located, 1 non-Federal dollar 

19 for each 2 Federal dollars.’’. 

20 (c) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 20 of the Small Busi21 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is amended by inserting 

22 the following new subsection after subsection (e): 

23 ‘‘(f) WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTERS.—There is au24 thorized to be appropriated for purposes of grants under 

25 section 29 to women’s business centers not more than 


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1 $20,000,000 in fiscal year 2010 and not more than 

2 $22,000,000 in fiscal year 2011.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. PERFORMANCE AND PLANNING. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 29(h)(1) of the Small 

5 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(h)(1)) is amended by strik6 ing the ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (A), redesig7 nating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (D), and in8 serting the following new subparagraphs after subpara9 graph (A): 

10 ‘‘(B) establish performance measures, tak11 ing into account the demographic differences of 

12 populations served by women’s business centers, 

13 which measures shall include— 

14 ‘‘(i) outcome-based measures of the 

15 amount of job creation or economic activity 

16 generated in the local community as a re17 sult of efforts made and services provided 

18 by each women’s business center, and 

19 ‘‘(ii) service-based measures of the 

20 amount of services provided to individuals 

21 and small business concerns served by each 

22 women’s business center; 

23 ‘‘(C) require each women’s business center 

24 to submit an annual plan for the next year that 

25 includes the center’s funding sources and 


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1 amounts, strategies for increasing outreach to 

2 women-owned businesses, strategies for increas3 ing job growth in the community, and other 

4 content as determined by the Administrator; 

5 and’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 29(h)(1) of 

7 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(h)(1)), as amend8 ed, is further amended by adding the following at the end 

9 thereof: 

10 ‘‘The Administrator’s evaluation of each women’s 

11 business center as required by this subsection shall 

12 be in part based on the performance measures under 

13 subparagraphs (B) and (C). These measures and the 

14 Administrator’s evaluations thereof shall be made 

15 publicly available.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. NATIONAL WOMEN’S BUSINESS COUNCIL. 

17 The Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 is 

18 amended as follows: 

19 (1) In section 409(a) (15 U.S.C. 7109(a)), add 

20 the following at the end thereof: ‘‘Such studies shall 

21 include a study on the impact of the 2008–2009 fi22 nancial markets crisis on women-owned businesses, 

23 and a study of the use of the Small Business Admin24 istration’s programs by women-owned businesses.’’. 


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1 (2) In section 410(a) (15 U.S.C. 7110(a)), 

2 strike out ‘‘2001 through 2003’’ and insert ‘‘2010 

3 and 2011’’. 

Æ 


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