II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3194 

To require the establishment of a small business common application and 

web portal for purposes of Federal small business assistance programs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2012 

Mrs. HAGAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To require the establishment of a small business common 

application and web portal for purposes of Federal small 

business assistance programs, 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 ‘‘Small Business Com5 mon Application Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad9 ministrator of the Small Business Administration; 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 3194 IS

1 (2) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the 

2 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic De3 velopment; 

4 (3) the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ has the same 

5 meaning as in section 105 of title 5, United States 

6 Code; 

7 (4) the term ‘‘Executive Committee’’ means the 

8 Executive Committee on a Small Business Common 

9 Application established under section 4; and 

10 (5) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

11 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Small 

12 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

13 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A SMALL BUSINESS COMMON 

14 APPLICATION AND WEB PORTAL. 

15 (a) COMMON APPLICATION AND WEB PORTAL.— 

16 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Adminis17 trator, in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall 

18 establish a small business common application and web 

19 portal. 

20 (b) COMMON APPLICATION AND WEB PORTAL.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The web portal established 

22 under subsection (a) shall allow a small business 

23 concern to submit a single common application to 

24 apply for Federal assistance provided by any Execu25 tive agency, including— 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 3194 IS

1 (A) a loan; 

2 (B) a loan guarantee; 

3 (C) a grant; 

4 (D) technical assistance; 

5 (E) counseling services; and 

6 (F) other forms of assistance provided by 

7 an Executive agency. 

8 (2) GOALS.—The small business common appli9 cation and web portal established under subsection 

10 (a) shall— 

11 (A) maximize the ability of small business 

12 concerns to use the common application and 

13 web portal to interact with Executive agencies; 

14 (B) maintain high standards for data pri15 vacy and security; 

16 (C) increase the degree and ease of infor17 mation sharing and coordination among pro18 grams serving small business concerns that are 

19 carried out by Executive agencies, including 

20 State and local offices of Executive agencies; 

21 and 

22 (D) minimize redundancy in the adminis23 tration of programs that use the common appli24 cation and web portal. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 3194 IS

1 (c) USE OF COMMON APPLICATION AND WEB POR2 TAL.—Each Executive agency that provides Federal as3 sistance to small business concerns shall amend the rules 

4 of the Executive agency to provide for use of the common 

5 application and web portal to apply for such Federal as6 sistance. 

7 (d) RULES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

8 enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation 

9 with the Executive Committee, shall issue final rules es10 tablishing the small business common application and web 

11 portal under this section. 

12 (e) MAINTENANCE AND AMENDMENT.—The Admin13 istrator shall maintain the small business common applica14 tion and web portal established under subsection (a). 

15 SEC. 4. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ON A SMALL BUSINESS 

16 COMMON APPLICATION. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

18 Economic Development Administration an Executive Com19 mittee on a Small Business Common Application, which 

20 shall— 

21 (1) make recommendations regarding the estab22 lishment of the small business common application 

23 and web portal under section 3; 

24 (2) monitor the implementation of the small 

25 business common application and web portal; and 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 3194 IS

1 (3) make periodic recommendations to the Ad2 ministrator for the improvement of the small busi3 ness common application and web portal. 

4 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Execu6 tive Committee shall consist of— 

7 (A) the Assistant Secretary; and 

8 (B) 1 senior officer or employee having 

9 policy and technical expertise appointed by each 

10 of— 

11 (i) the Administrator of the General 

12 Services Administration; 

13 (ii) the Administrator of the Small 

14 Business Administration; 

15 (iii) the Director of the National In16 stitutes of Health; 

17 (iv) the Director of the National 

18 Science Foundation; 

19 (v) the President of the Export-Im20 port Bank; 

21 (vi) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

22 (vii) the Secretary of Defense; 

23 (viii) the Secretary of Health and 

24 Human Services; 

25 (ix) the Secretary of Labor; 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 3194 IS

1 (x) the Secretary of State; 

2 (xi) the Secretary of the Treasury; 

3 and 

4 (xii) the Secretary of Veterans Af5 fairs. 

6 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Assistant Secretary 

7 shall serve as chairperson of the Executive Com8 mittee. 

9 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.—Members of 

10 the Executive Committee shall be appointed for a 

11 term of 3 years. 

12 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Executive 

13 Committee shall be filled in the same manner as the 

14 original appointment, not later than 30 days after 

15 the date on which the vacancy occurs. 

16 (c) MEETINGS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Executive Committee 

18 shall meet at the call of the chairperson of the Exec19 utive Committee. 

20 (2) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

21 the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum. 

22 (3) FIRST MEETING.—The first meeting of the 

23 Executive Committee shall take place not later than 

24 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 3194 IS

1 (4) PUBLIC MEETING.—The Executive Com2 mittee shall hold at least one public meeting before 

3 the date described in subsection (d)(1) to receive 

4 comments from small business concerns and other 

5 interested parties. 

6 (d) DUTIES.— 

7 (1) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 180 

8 days after the date of enactment of this Act, upon 

9 a vote of the majority of members of the Executive 

10 Committee then serving, the Executive Committee 

11 shall submit to the Administrator recommendations 

12 relating to the establishment of the small business 

13 common application and web portal described in sec14 tion 3. 

15 (2) TRANSMISSION TO EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.— 

16 The Executive Committee shall transmit to each Ex17 ecutive agency a complete copy of the recommenda18 tions submitted under paragraph (1). 

19 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS BY EXECUTIVE AGEN20 CIES.—Not later than 30 days after the date on 

21 which the Executive Committee transmits rec22 ommendations to the Executive agency under para23 graph (2), each Executive agency that provides Fed24 eral assistance to small business concerns shall sub25 mit to Congress recommendations, if any, for legislaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:42 May 22, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3194.IS S3194

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 3194 IS

1 tive changes necessary for the Executive agency to 

2 carry out this Act. 

3 (e) PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

4 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—The mem5 bers of the Executive Committee shall serve without 

6 compensation in addition to that received for their 

7 services as officers or employees of the United 

8 States. 

9 (2) DETAIL OF EMPLOYEES.—The Adminis10 trator may detail to the Executive Committee any 

11 employee of the Economic Development Administra12 tion, and such detail shall be without interruption or 

13 loss of civil service status or privilege. 

14 (f) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—Section 

15 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

16 App.) shall not apply with respect to the Executive Com17 mittee. 

18 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad20 ministrator such sums as may be necessary to carry out 

21 this Act. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS