I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4788 

To strengthen resources for entrepreneurs by improving the SCORE program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2016 

Ms. ADAMS (for herself and Mr. HANNA) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To strengthen resources for entrepreneurs by improving the 

SCORE 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 ‘‘SCORE for Small 

5 Business Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SCORE REAUTHORIZATION. 

7 Section 20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 

8 note) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub10 section (f); and 


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

2 ‘‘(g) SCORE PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be 

3 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the 

4 SCORE program authorized by section 8(b)(1) such sums 

5 as are necessary for the Administrator to make grants or 

6 enter into cooperative agreements in a total amount that 

7 does not exceed $10,500,000 in each of fiscal years 2017 

8 and 2018.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. SCORE PROGRAM. 

10 Section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) 

11 is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘a Serv13 ice Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)’’ and in14 serting ‘‘the SCORE program described in sub15 section (c)’’; and 

16 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(c) SCORE PROGRAM.— 

19 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection: 

20 ‘‘(A) SCORE ASSOCIATION.—The term 

21 ‘SCORE Association’ means the Service Corps 

22 of Retired Executives Association or any suc23 cessor or other organization who receives a 

24 grant from the Administrator to operate the 

25 SCORE program under paragraph (2)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(B) SCORE PROGRAM.—The term 

2 ‘SCORE program’ means the SCORE program 

3 authorized by subsection (b)(1)(B). 

4 ‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT AND VOLUNTEERS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

6 shall provide a grant to the SCORE Association 

7 to manage the SCORE program. 

8 ‘‘(B) VOLUNTEERS.—A volunteer partici9 pating in the SCORE program shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) based on the business experience 

11 and knowledge of the volunteer— 

12 ‘‘(I) provide at no cost to individ13 uals who own, or aspire to own, small 

14 business concerns personal counseling, 

15 mentoring, and coaching relating to 

16 the process of starting, expanding, 

17 managing, buying, and selling a busi18 ness; and 

19 ‘‘(II) facilitate low-cost education 

20 workshops for individuals who own, or 

21 aspire to own, small business con22 cerns; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) as appropriate, use tools, re24 sources, and expertise of other organiza25 tions to carry out the SCORE program. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PLANS AND GOALS.—The Administrator, 

2 in consultation with the SCORE Association, shall 

3 ensure that the SCORE program and each chapter 

4 of the SCORE program develop and implement 

5 plans and goals to more effectively and efficiently 

6 provide services to individuals in rural areas, eco7 nomically disadvantaged communities, and other tra8 ditionally underserved communities, including plans 

9 for electronic initiatives, web-based initiatives, chap10 ter expansion, partnerships, and the development of 

11 new skills by volunteers participating in the SCORE 

12 program. 

13 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORT.—The SCORE Associa14 tion shall submit to the Administrator an annual re15 port that contains— 

16 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals counseled 

17 or trained under the SCORE program; 

18 ‘‘(B) the number of hours of counseling 

19 provided under the SCORE program; and 

20 ‘‘(C) to the extent possible— 

21 ‘‘(i) the number of small business con22 cerns formed with assistance from the 

23 SCORE program; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the number of small business 

2 concerns expanded with assistance from 

3 the SCORE program; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) the number of jobs created with 

5 assistance from the SCORE program. 

6 ‘‘(5) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Adminis8 trator nor the SCORE Association may disclose 

9 the name, address, or telephone number of any 

10 individual or small business concern receiving 

11 assistance from the SCORE Association with12 out the consent of such individual or small busi13 ness concern, unless— 

14 ‘‘(i) the Administrator is ordered to 

15 make such a disclosure by a court in any 

16 civil or criminal enforcement action initi17 ated by a Federal or State agency; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator determines 

19 such a disclosure to be necessary for the 

20 purpose of conducting a financial audit of 

21 the SCORE program, in which case disclo22 sure shall be limited to the information 

23 necessary for the audit. 

24 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATOR USE OF INFORMA25 TION.—This paragraph shall not— 


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1 ‘‘(i) restrict the access of the Adminis2 trator to program activity data; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) prevent the Administrator from 

4 using client information to conduct client 

5 surveys. 

6 ‘‘(C) REGULATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

8 shall issue regulations to establish stand9 ards for— 

10 ‘‘(I) disclosures with respect to 

11 financial audits under subparagraph 

12 (A)(ii); and 

13 ‘‘(II) conducting client surveys, 

14 including standards for oversight of 

15 the surveys and for dissemination and 

16 use of client information. 

17 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM PRIVACY PROTEC18 TION.—The regulations issued under this 

19 subparagraph shall, to the extent prac20 ticable, provide for the maximum amount 

21 of privacy protection.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. ONLINE COMPONENT. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(c) of the Small Busi24 ness Act, as added by section 3, is further amended by 

25 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(6) ONLINE COMPONENT.—In carrying out 

2 this subsection, the SCORE Association shall make 

3 use of online counseling, including by developing and 

4 implementing webinars and an electronic mentoring 

5 platform to expand access to services provided under 

6 this subsection and to further support entre7 preneurs.’’. 

8 (b) ONLINE COMPONENT REPORT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the end of fiscal year 

10 2018, the SCORE Association shall issue a report to 

11 the Committee on Small Business of the House of 

12 Representatives and the Committee on Small Busi13 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate on the ef14 fectiveness of the online counseling and webinars re15 quired as part of the SCORE program, including— 

16 (A) how the SCORE Association deter17 mines electronic mentoring and webinar needs, 

18 develops training for electronic mentoring, es19 tablishes webinar criteria curricula, and evalu20 ates webinar and electronic mentoring results; 

21 (B) describing the internal controls that 

22 are used and a summary of the topics covered 

23 by the webinars; and 

24 (C) performance metrics, including the 

25 number of small business concerns counseled 


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1 by, the number of small business concerns cre2 ated by, the number of jobs created and re3 tained by, and the funding amounts directed to4 wards such online counseling and webinars. 

5 (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub6 section, the terms ‘‘SCORE Association’’ and 

7 ‘‘SCORE program’’ have the meaning given those 

8 terms, respectively, under section 8(c)(1) of the 

9 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c)(1)). 

10 SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF THE 

11 SCORE PROGRAM. 

12 (a) STUDY.—The SCORE Association shall carry out 

13 a study on the future role of the SCORE program and 

14 develop a strategic plan for how the SCORE program will 

15 evolve to meet the needs of America’s entrepreneurs over 

16 the course of the next 5 years, with markers and specific 

17 objectives for year 1, year 3, and year 5. 

18 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 6-month 

19 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

20 the SCORE Association shall issue a report to the Com21 mittee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Committee on small Business and Entrepreneur23 ship of the Senate containing— 

24 (1) all findings and determination made in car25 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 


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1 (2) the strategic plan developed under sub2 section (a); and 

3 (3) an explanation of how the SCORE Associa4 tion plans to achieve the strategic plan, assuming 

5 both stagnant and increased funding levels. 

6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

7 terms ‘‘SCORE Association’’ and ‘‘SCORE program’’ 

8 have the meaning given those terms, respectively, under 

9 section 8(c)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 637(c)(1)). 

11 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

12 (a) SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—The Small Business Act 

13 (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended— 

14 (1) in section 7(m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII) (15 U.S.C. 

15 636(m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII)), by striking ‘‘Service Corps 

16 of Retired Executives’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE pro17 gram’’; and 

18 (2) in section 22 (15 U.S.C. 649)— 

19 (A) in subsection (b)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 

21 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘SCORE program’’; and 

23 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 

24 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘SCORE program’’; and 


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1 (B) in subsection (c)(12), by striking 

2 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and in3 serting ‘‘SCORE program’’. 

4 (b) OTHER LAWS.— 

5 (1) Section 621 of the Children’s Health Insur6 ance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (15 

7 U.S.C. 657p) is amended— 

8 (A) in subsection (a), by striking para9 graph (4) and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) the term ‘SCORE program’ means the 

11 SCORE program authorized by section 8(b)(1)(B) 

12 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 637(b)(1)(B));’’; and 

14 (B) in subsection (b)(4)(A)(iv), by striking 

15 ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and in16 serting ‘‘SCORE program’’. 

17 (2) Section 337(d)(2)(A) of the Energy Policy 

18 and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6307(d)(2)(A)) is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Ex20 ecutives (SCORE)’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE pro21 gram’’. 

Æ 


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