II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3174 

To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small 

Business Administration to establish a vocational and technical entrepreneurship development program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2012 

Mr. KERRY 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 direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish 

a vocational and technical entrepreneurship development 

program. 

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 ‘‘Vocational and Tech5 nical Entrepreneurship Development Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL ENTREPRENEUR2 SHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

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

4 amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating section 45 as section 46; 

6 and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 44 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 45. VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL ENTREPRENEUR9 SHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis12 trator’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi13 ness Administration. 

14 ‘‘(2) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘Association’ 

15 means the association of small business development 

16 centers recognized under section 21(a)(3)(A). 

17 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

18 the program established under subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘(4) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN20 TER.—The term ‘small business development center’ 

21 means a small business development center described 

22 in section 21. 

23 ‘‘(5) STATE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

24 CENTER.—The term ‘State small business develop25 ment center’ means a small business development 

26 center from each State selected by the AdminisVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:11 May 15, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3174.IS S3174

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1 trator, in consultation with the Association and giv2 ing substantial weight to the Association’s rec3 ommendations, to carry out the program on a state4 wide basis in such State. 

5 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—In accordance with this sec6 tion, the Administrator shall establish a program under 

7 which the Administrator shall make grants to State small 

8 business development centers to enable such centers to 

9 provide, on a statewide basis, technical assistance to sec10 ondary schools, postsecondary vocational or technical 

11 schools, or nonprofit organizations that serve youth and 

12 young adults for the development and implementation of 

13 curricula designed to promote vocational and technical en14 trepreneurship. 

15 ‘‘(c) NO MATCHING FUNDS.—The Administrator 

16 shall not require, as a condition of receiving a grant under 

17 this section, that the applicant provide a matching 

18 amount, either in cash or in-kind contributions. 

19 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—Each State small business de20 velopment center seeking a grant under the program shall 

21 submit to the Administrator an application in such form 

22 as the Administrator may require. The application shall 

23 include information regarding the goals and objectives of 

24 the applicant for the educational programs to be assisted. 


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1 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR.—The Adminis2 trator shall make as a condition of each grant under the 

3 program, that not later than 18 months after the date of 

4 receipt of the grant, the recipient shall transmit to the 

5 Administrator a report describing how the grant funds 

6 were used. 

7 ‘‘(f) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND CON8 TRACTS.—The Administrator may enter into a cooperative 

9 agreement or contract with any State small business devel10 opment center receiving a grant under this section to pro11 vide additional assistance that furthers the purposes of 

12 this section. 

13 ‘‘(g) EVALUATION OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 

14 March 31, 2015, the Administrator shall transmit to Con15 gress a report containing an evaluation of the program. 

16 ‘‘(h) CLEARINGHOUSE.—The Association shall act as 

17 a clearinghouse of information and expertise regarding vo18 cational and technical entrepreneurship education pro19 grams. In each fiscal year in which grants are made under 

20 the program, the Administrator shall provide additional 

21 assistance to the Association to carry out the functions 

22 described in this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 $7,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2013 through 

2 2015. Such sums shall remain available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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