II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3151 

To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish 

the Emergency Micro-enterprise Recovery Grant Pilot Program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26, 2023 

Ms. HIRONO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish the Emergency Micro-enterprise Recovery Grant Pilot Program, 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 ‘‘Micro-enterprise As5 sistance and Urgent Investment for Supporting Trade, 

6 Recovery Operations, and Neighborhood Growth Act’’ or 

7 the ‘‘MAUI STRONG Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY MICRO-ENTERPRISE RECOVERY 

2 GRANT PILOT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi6 ness Administration. 

7 (2) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe8 riod’’ means the period beginning on August 1, 

9 2023, and ending on December 31, 2024. 

10 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means an entity operating on or after August 8, 

12 2023, on the island of Maui that— 

13 (A) is a private nonprofit organization; or 

14 (B) experienced revenue loss between Au15 gust 8, 2023, and December 31, 2023, and is— 

16 (i) a small agricultural cooperative (as 

17 defined in section 3(j) of the Small Busi18 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632(j))); 

19 (ii) a business with not more than 25 

20 employees; 

21 (iii) any individual who operates 

22 under a sole proprietorship or as an inde23 pendent contractor; or 

24 (iv) a corporation— 

25 (I) all of the stock of which is 

26 owned by an employee stock ownerVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:38 Oct 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3151.IS S3151

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1 ship plan (as defined in section 

2 4975(e)(7) of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986); and 

4 (II) with not more than 100 em5 ployees. 

6 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

7 the Emergency Micro-enterprise Recovery Grant 

8 Pilot Program established under this section. 

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

11 establish the ‘‘Emergency Micro-enterprise Recovery 

12 Grant Pilot Program’’ to award grants to eligible entities 

13 during the covered period. 

14 (c) VERIFICATION.—To receive a grant under this 

15 section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Adminis16 trator an application at such time and in such manner 

17 as the Administrator may reasonably require, which shall 

18 contain a self-certification to verify that the entity submit19 ting the application is an eligible entity. 

20 (d) ORDER OF CONSIDERATION.—The Administrator 

21 shall consider an application for a grant under this section 

22 in the order in which the application is received. 

23 (e) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant provided to an 

24 eligible entity under this section may not exceed $20,000. 


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1 (f) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

2 grant under this section shall use the grant amounts to— 

3 (1) address any allowable purpose for a loan 

4 made under section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business 

5 Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)); 

6 (2) maintain payroll; 

7 (3) purchase materials or equipment; 

8 (4) make rent or mortgage payments; or 

9 (5) pay for obligations that cannot be met due 

10 to revenue losses. 

11 (g) TERMINATION.—The authority to award grants 

12 under this section shall terminate on December 31, 2024. 

13 (h) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

15 to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneur16 ship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business 

17 of the House of Representatives a report evaluating the 

18 impact of the program. 

19 (i) TAX EXEMPTION.—For purposes of the Internal 

20 Revenue Code of 1986— 

21 (1) any grant made under this section shall not 

22 be included in the gross income of the person that 

23 receives that grant; and 

24 (2) no deduction shall be denied, no tax at25 tribute shall be reduced, and no basis increase shall 


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1 be denied by reason of the exclusion from gross in2 come provided under paragraph (1) of this sub3 section. 

4 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

6 $30,000,000 to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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