II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3528 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish the position of Coordinator 

for Disabled Small Business Concerns within the Office of Diversity, 

Inclusion and Civil Rights of the Small Business Administration, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 

and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish the position 

of Coordinator for Disabled Small Business Concerns 

within the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights 

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 ‘‘Supporting Disabled 

5 Entrepreneurs Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COORDINATOR FOR DISABLED SMALL BUSINESS 

2 CONCERNS. 

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

4 amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 

6 note) as section 50; and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 

8 657u) the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 49. ASSISTANCE FOR DISABLED SMALL BUSINESS 

10 CONCERNS. 

11 ‘‘(a) COORDINATOR FOR DISABLED SMALL BUSINESS

12 CONCERNS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

14 within the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil 

15 Rights of the Administration the position of Coordi16 nator for Disabled Small Business Concerns (re17 ferred to in this section as the ‘Coordinator’), the 

18 occupant of which shall be responsible for the plan19 ning, coordination, implementation, evaluation, and 

20 improvement of the efforts of the Administrator to 

21 enhance support for disabled small business concerns 

22 across capital, counseling, and contracting programs. 

23 ‘‘(2) COORDINATOR.— 

24 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 180 

25 days after the date of enactment of the Sup26 porting Disabled Entrepreneurs Act, the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 Jan 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3528.IS S3528

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1 ministrator shall designate to serve as Coordi2 nator an individual who— 

3 ‘‘(i) may be, as of the date of that 

4 designation, an employee of the Adminis5 tration; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) has— 

7 ‘‘(I) demonstrated experience 

8 working with and knowledge of dis9 abled small business concerns; and 

10 ‘‘(II) experience providing access 

11 to capital, contracting opportunities, 

12 or counseling to disabled small busi13 ness concerns. 

14 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Coordinator shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) create and implement strategies 

16 and programs that support the activities, 

17 development, and growth of disabled small 

18 business concerns; 

19 ‘‘(ii) facilitate outreach to disabled 

20 small business concerns through the enti21 ties described in clauses (i) through (iii) of 

22 subparagraph (C); 

23 ‘‘(iii) develop technical support and 

24 training programs for disabled small busi25 ness concerns that the entities described in 


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1 clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph 

2 (C) may use when conducting the outreach 

3 described in clause (ii) of this subpara4 graph; 

5 ‘‘(iv) establish partnerships within the 

6 Administration and with relevant Federal 

7 agencies to advance the goal of supporting 

8 the economic success of disabled small 

9 business concerns; 

10 ‘‘(v) review the effectiveness and im11 pact of Administration programs for dis12 abled small business concerns; 

13 ‘‘(vi) when appropriate, advocate on 

14 behalf of disabled small business concerns 

15 within the Administration; 

16 ‘‘(vii) not less frequently than once 

17 every 6 months beginning 1 year after the 

18 date of enactment of the Supporting Dis19 abled Entrepreneurs Act, hold public meet20 ings with relevant stakeholders to assess 

21 the effectiveness of the strategies and pro22 grams of the Administration designed to 

23 support disabled small business concerns 

24 and any gaps in those programs of the Ad25 ministration; and 


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1 ‘‘(viii) not later than 2 years after the 

2 date of enactment of the Supporting Dis3 abled Entrepreneurs Act, submit to Con4 gress a report that describes the major ac5 tivities of the Coordinator, contains rec6 ommendations for congressional action to 

7 further support disabled small business 

8 concerns, and addresses the potential for 

9 growth within the areas in which the Coor10 dinator operates. 

11 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the 

12 duties under this paragraph, the Coordinator 

13 shall consult with— 

14 ‘‘(i) district offices of the Administra15 tion; 

16 ‘‘(ii) regional offices of the Adminis17 tration; 

18 ‘‘(iii) resource partners of the Admin19 istration, including small business develop20 ment centers, women’s business centers de21 scribed in section 29, chapters of the Serv22 ice Corps of Retired Executives described 

23 in section 8(a)(1)(A), and Veteran Busi24 ness Outreach Centers described in section 

25 32; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) other relevant Federal agencies, 

2 including the National Council on Dis3 ability, Department of Health and Human 

4 Services, the Department of Justice, the 

5 Department of Labor, the Department of 

6 Veterans Affairs, the Department of Edu7 cation, the Social Security Administration, 

8 the Access Board, and the Minority Busi9 ness Development Agency. 

10 ‘‘(b) REPORTING.—To the extent possible, the Ad11 ministration shall publicly report, including in weekly re12 ports on lending approvals, data on services provided to 

13 disabled small business concerns across programs of the 

14 Administration. 

15 ‘‘(c) DATA COLLECTION.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date of enactment of the Supporting Disabled Entre17 preneurs Act, the Administrator shall collect data across 

18 programs of the Administration regarding the disability 

19 status of small business concerns, on a voluntary basis, 

20 through program intake forms.’’. 

Æ 


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