II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1402 

To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business 

Development, to establish a grant program to create or expand programs 

at minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities that promote minority business ownership and entrepreneurship, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2023 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

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

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Under Secretary of 

Commerce for Minority Business Development, to establish a grant program to create or expand programs at 

minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities that promote minority business 

ownership and entrepreneurship, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Minority Entrepre3 neurship Grant Program Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi8 ness Administration. 

9 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Mi10 nority Entrepreneurship Advisory Board established 

11 under section 4(a). 

12 (3) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI13 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 

14 university’’ means a part B institution, as that term 

15 is defined in section 322 of the Higher Education 

16 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

17 (4) MINORITY.—The term ‘‘minority’’ includes 

18 an individual who is— 

19 (A) Black or African American; 

20 (B) Hispanic or Latino; 

21 (C) Native or Indigenous American; 

22 (D) Asian; 

23 (E) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Is24 lander; 

25 (F) Native Alaskan; or 


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1 (G) a member of a group that the Minority 

2 Business Development Agency of the Depart3 ment of Commerce determines under part 1400 

4 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, as in 

5 effect on November 23, 1984, is a socially dis6 advantaged group eligible to receive assistance. 

7 (5) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

8 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means any of 

9 the following: 

10 (A) A Hispanic-serving institution, as that 

11 term is defined in section 502(a) of the Higher 

12 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)). 

13 (B) A Tribal College or University, as that 

14 term is defined in section 316(b) of the Higher 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)). 

16 (C) An Alaska Native-serving institution, 

17 as that term is defined in section 317(b) of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 1059d(b)). 

20 (D) A Native Hawaiian-serving institution, 

21 as that term is defined in section 317(b) of the 

22 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

23 1059d(b)). 

24 (E) A Predominantly Black Institution, as 

25 that term is defined in section 318(b) of the 


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1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 1059e(b)). 

3 (F) A Native American-serving, nontribal 

4 institution, as that term is defined in section 

5 319(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 1059f(b)). 

7 (G) An Asian American and Native Amer8 ican Pacific Islander-serving institution, as that 

9 term is defined in section 320(b) of the Higher 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059g(b)). 

11 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

12 the grant program established under section 3(a). 

13 (7) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

14 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given the 

15 term in section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 632(a)). 

17 (8) STUDENT ENTREPRENEUR.—The term 

18 ‘‘student entrepreneur’’ means a student who is— 

19 (A) a minority; 

20 (B) enrolled at a minority-serving institu21 tion or a historically Black college or university; 

22 and 

23 (C) seeking to establish or develop a busi24 ness. 


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1 (9) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

2 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

3 for Minority Business Development. 

4 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 

7 consultation with the Under Secretary, shall establish a 

8 grant program within the Small Business Administration, 

9 the purpose of which shall be to create or expand pro10 grams at minority-serving institutions and historically 

11 Black colleges and universities that foster, promote, and 

12 increase opportunities for minority business ownership. 

13 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—A minority-serving in14 stitution or a historically Black college or university seek15 ing a grant under the Program shall submit to the Admin16 istrator an application that contains a description of— 

17 (1) the need for the grant funds to promote mi18 nority entrepreneurship and business ownership 

19 among student entrepreneurs enrolled at the minor20 ity-serving institution or the historically Black col21 lege or university; 

22 (2) how the grant funds will be used to carry 

23 out the activities described in paragraph (1); 

24 (3) how the programs created or expanded with 

25 the grant funds will provide support to student enVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402

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1 trepreneurs enrolled at the minority-serving institu2 tion or historically Black college or university who— 

3 (A) seek support for an established busi4 ness; or 

5 (B) need assistance in establishing a busi6 ness; and 

7 (4) how the minority-serving institution or his8 torically Black college or university will create or ex9 pand programs or initiatives that— 

10 (A) increase minority business ownership; 

11 and 

12 (B) expand business resources to student 

13 entrepreneurs enrolled at the minority-serving 

14 institution or historically Black college or uni15 versity. 

16 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A grant made to a minor17 ity-serving institution or a historically Black college or 

18 university under the Program shall be not less than 

19 $250,000. 

20 (d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—With a grant received 

21 under the Program, a minority-serving institution or a his22 torically Black college or university shall support the cre23 ation or expansion of programs or initiatives that offer 

24 business development resources that support student enVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402

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1 trepreneurs enrolled at the minority-serving institution or 

2 historically Black college or university, such as— 

3 (1) free legal, accounting, human resources, in4 formation technology, marketing, training, coun5 seling, networking, and technical assistance; and 

6 (2) access to capital resources, such as the 

7 costs associated with forming a new business enter8 prise. 

9 (e) MSI SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT.—A minority10 serving institution or historically Black college or univer11 sity to which a grant is made under the Program shall, 

12 each year, submit to the Administrator a mid-year and 

13 year-end report, each of which shall contain, for the period 

14 covered by the report, the number of— 

15 (1) student entrepreneurs trained, assisted, and 

16 counseled with the grant funds; 

17 (2) businesses created through the expenditure 

18 of the grant funds, including, with respect to each 

19 such business— 

20 (A) the name of the business; 

21 (B) a description of the business; and 

22 (C) the amount of grant funds expended in 

23 creating the business; 

24 (3) student entrepreneurs referred to other re25 sources of the Small Business Administration; and 


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1 (4) student entrepreneurs participating in pro2 grams created or expanded through the expenditure 

3 of the grant funds, which, to the extent possible, 

4 shall be disaggregated by sex, race, and ethnicity. 

5 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

6 months after the date on which the first grant is made 

7 under the Program, and annually thereafter, the Adminis8 trator shall submit to Congress a report that contains in9 formation regarding the minority-serving institutions and 

10 historically Black colleges or universities to which grants 

11 were made under the Program for the period covered by 

12 the report, which shall include— 

13 (1) the name of each such minority-serving in14 stitution and historically Black college or university 

15 and the amount of each such grant; 

16 (2) the number of student entrepreneurs 

17 trained, assisted, and counseled with Program grant 

18 funds— 

19 (A) at each minority-serving institution 

20 and historically Black college or university to 

21 which a grant was made under the Program; 

22 and 

23 (B) in total under the Program; 

24 (3) the number of businesses created through 

25 the expenditure of Program grant funds— 


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1 (A) with respect to each minority-serving 

2 institution and historically Black college or uni3 versity to which a grant was made under the 

4 Program; and 

5 (B) in total under the Program; 

6 (4) the number of student entrepreneurs re7 ferred to resources of the Small Business Adminis8 tration— 

9 (A) at each minority-serving institution 

10 and historically Black college or university to 

11 which a grant was made under the Program; 

12 and 

13 (B) in total under the Program; 

14 (5) the number of student entrepreneurs par15 ticipating in programs created or expanded through 

16 the expenditure of Program grant funds at each mi17 nority-serving institution and historically Black col18 lege or university to which a grant was made under 

19 the Program, and in total under the Program, 

20 which, to the extent possible, shall be disaggregated 

21 by sex, race, and ethnicity; and 

22 (6) a statement regarding whether any amounts 

23 made available to carry out this section remain un24 expended, as of the date on which the report is sub25 mitted. 


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1 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

3 $50,000,000 to carry out this section. 

4 SEC. 4. ADVISORY BOARD. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es7 tablish a Minority Entrepreneurship Advisory Board to 

8 develop recommendations regarding how minority-serving 

9 institutions and historically Black colleges and universities 

10 can better serve minority businesses and entrepreneurs. 

11 (b) MEMBERSHIP OF BOARD.—The members of the 

12 Board shall be— 

13 (1) appointed by the Administrator; and 

14 (2) individuals with— 

15 (A) outstanding qualifications; 

16 (B) knowledge regarding the needs of 

17 small business concerns that are owned by mi18 norities; and 

19 (C) experience— 

20 (i) working with startups; or 

21 (ii) in providing consultation to small 

22 business concerns. 

23 (c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402

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1 ministrator shall submit to Congress the recommendations 

2 developed by the Board under subsection (a). 

3 (d) INAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM4 MITTEE REQUIREMENTS.—Chapter 10 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, shall not apply with respect to the Board or 

6 the activities of the Board. 

Æ 


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