I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1702 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the small business development 

centers program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2017 

Mr. EVANS (for himself and Mrs. RADEWAGEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the small 

business development centers 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 subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business 

5 Development Centers Improvement Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL7 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

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

9 amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 47 as section 48; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 46 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 47. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL6 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

7 ‘‘(a) EXPANDED SUPPORT FOR ENTREPRENEURS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, the Administrator shall only use 

10 the programs authorized in sections 7(j), 7(m), 8(a), 

11 8(b)(1), 21, 22, 29, and 32 of this Act, and sections 

12 358 and 389 of the Small Business Investment Act 

13 to deliver entrepreneurial development services, en14 trepreneurial education, support for the development 

15 and maintenance of clusters, or business training. 

16 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—This section shall not apply 

17 to services provided to assist small business concerns 

18 owned by an Indian tribe (as such term is defined 

19 in section 8(a)(13)). 

20 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the first De21 cember 1 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

22 the Administrator shall annually report to the Committee 

23 on Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

24 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

25 of the Senate on all entrepreneurial development activities 


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1 undertaken in the current fiscal year. This report shall 

2 include— 

3 ‘‘(1) a description and operating details for 

4 each program and activity; 

5 ‘‘(2) operating circulars, manuals, and standard 

6 operating procedures for each program and activity; 

7 ‘‘(3) a description of the process used to award 

8 grants under each program and activity; 

9 ‘‘(4) a list of all awardees, contractors, and ven10 dors (including organization name and location) and 

11 the amount of awards for the current fiscal year for 

12 each program and activity; 

13 ‘‘(5) the amount of funding obligated for the 

14 current fiscal year for each program and activity; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(6) the names and titles for those individuals 

17 responsible for each program and activity.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. MARKETING OF SERVICES. 

19 Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) 

20 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(o) NO PROHIBITION OF MARKETING OF SERV22 ICES.—The Administrator shall not prohibit applicants re23 ceiving grants under this section from marketing and ad24 vertising their services to individuals and small business 

25 concerns.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21(a)(3)(A) of the Small 

3 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)(A)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘as provided in this section 

5 and’’ and inserting ‘‘as provided in this section,’’; 

6 and 

7 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

8 following: ‘‘, and (iv) governing data collection ac9 tivities related to applicants receiving grants under 

10 this section’’. 

11 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION.—Sec12 tion 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as 

13 amended by section 3 of this Act, is further amended by 

14 adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(p) ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION.—The 

16 Administrator shall report annually to the Committee on 

17 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 

18 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

19 the Senate on any data collection activities related to the 

20 Small Business Development Center program.’’. 

21 (c) WORKING GROUP TO IMPROVE DATA COLLEC22 TION.— 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT AND STUDY.—The Admin24 istrator of the Small Business Administration shall 

25 establish a Data Collection Working Group con26 sisting of members from entrepreneurial developVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Mar 28, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1702.IH H1702

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1 ment grant recipients associations and organizations 

2 and Administration officials, to carry out a study to 

3 determine the best way to capture data collection 

4 and create or revise existing systems dedicated to 

5 data collection. 

6 (2) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 

7 180-day period beginning on the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the Data Collection Working 

9 Group shall issue a report to the Committee on 

10 Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

11 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre12 neurship of the Senate containing the findings and 

13 determinations made in carrying out the study re14 quired under paragraph (1), including— 

15 (A) recommendations for revising existing 

16 data collection practices; and 

17 (B) a proposed plan for the Small Busi18 ness Administration to implement such rec19 ommendations. 

20 SEC. 5. FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO21 SPONSORSHIPS. 

22 Section 21(a)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)(C)), as amended by section 4, is further 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(D) FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO2 SPONSORSHIPS.—Participation in private partnerships 

3 and cosponsorships with the Administration shall not limit 

4 small business development centers from collecting fees or 

5 other income related to the operation of such private part6 nerships and cosponsorships.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. EQUITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN8 TERS. 

9 Subclause (I) of section 21(a)(4)(C)(v) of the Small 

10 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)(v)) is amended to 

11 read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Of the 

13 amounts made available in any fiscal 

14 year to carry out this section not 

15 more than $600,000 may be used by 

16 the Administration to pay expenses 

17 enumerated in subparagraphs (B) 

18 through (D) of section 20(a)(1).’’. 

19 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS. 

20 Section 21(a)(7)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 

21 U.S.C. 648(a)(7)(A)) is amended by inserting after 

22 ‘‘under this section’’ the following: ‘‘to any State, local or 

23 Federal agency, or third party’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS TO SMALL 

2 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21 of the Small Business 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as amended by section 4, is further 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘any wom7 en’s business center operating pursuant to section 

8 29,’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(q) LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS.—Except 

11 for not-for-profit institutions of higher education, and not12 withstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator 

13 may not award grants (including contracts and coopera14 tive agreements) under this section to any entity other 

15 than those that received grants (including contracts and 

16 cooperative agreements) under this section prior to the 

17 date of the enactment of this subsection, and that seek 

18 to renew such grants (including contracts and cooperative 

19 agreements) after such date.’’. 

20 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 

21 made by this section may not be construed as prohibiting 

22 a women’s business center from receiving a subgrant from 

23 an entity receiving a grant under section 21 of the Small 

24 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648). 

Æ 


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