I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4406 

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

centers program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. GOLDEN (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 2019’’. 

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 49 as section 50; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 49. 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 deliver 

10 entrepreneurial development services, entrepreneurial 

11 education, and support for the development and 

12 maintenance of the Regional Innovation Clusters 

13 Program (or similar business training services) 

14 through a program authorized under— 

15 ‘‘(A) section 7(j), 7(m), 8(a), 8(b)(1), 21, 

16 22, 29, or 32 of this Act; or 

17 ‘‘(B) sections 358 or 389 of the Small 

18 Business Investment Act of 1958. 

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

20 to services provided to assist small business concerns 

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

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

23 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the first De24 cember 1 after the date of the enactment of this section, 

25 the Administrator shall annually submit to the Committee 


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1 on Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

2 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

3 of the Senate a report on the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) All entrepreneurial development activities 

5 undertaken during the fiscal year preceding the date 

6 of the report through a program described in sub7 section (a), including— 

8 ‘‘(A) a description and operating details 

9 for each program and the activities performed 

10 under each program; 

11 ‘‘(B) operating circulars, manuals, and 

12 standard operating procedures for each pro13 gram; 

14 ‘‘(C) a description of the process used to 

15 award grants under such programs; 

16 ‘‘(D) a list of all recipients of awards 

17 under a program described in subsection (a), 

18 contractors, and vendors (including organiza19 tion name and location) and the amount of 

20 awards provided during the fiscal year pre21 ceding the date of the report for such programs 

22 and activities performed under such programs; 

23 ‘‘(E) the total amount of funding obligated 

24 for such programs and activities for the fiscal 

25 year preceding the date of the report; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) the names and titles of the individ2 uals responsible for such programs. 

3 ‘‘(2) For entrepreneurial development activities 

4 undertaken during the fiscal year preceding the date 

5 of the report through the Small Business Develop6 ment Center Program (in this section referred to as 

7 the ‘Program’)— 

8 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals counseled 

9 or trained through the Program; 

10 ‘‘(B) the total number of hours of coun11 seling and training services provided through 

12 the Program; 

13 ‘‘(C) the demographics of participants in 

14 the Program, which shall include the gender, 

15 race, and age of each such participant; 

16 ‘‘(D) the number of participants in the 

17 Program who are veterans; 

18 ‘‘(E) the number of new businesses started 

19 by participants in the Program; 

20 ‘‘(F) to the extent practicable, the number 

21 of jobs supported, created, or retained with as22 sistance from small business development cen23 ters; 


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1 ‘‘(G) the amount of capital secured by par2 ticipants in the Program, including through 

3 loans and equity investment; 

4 ‘‘(H) the number of participants in the 

5 Program receiving financial assistance, includ6 ing the type and dollar amount, under the loan 

7 programs of the Administration; 

8 ‘‘(I) an estimate of gross receipts, includ9 ing (to the extent practicable) a description of 

10 any change in revenue, of small business con11 cerns assisted through the Program; 

12 ‘‘(J) the number of referrals to other re13 sources and programs of the Administration; 

14 ‘‘(K) the results of satisfaction surveys of 

15 participants in the Program, including a sum16 mary of any comments received from such par17 ticipants; and 

18 ‘‘(L) any recommendations by the Admin19 istrator to improve the delivery of services by 

20 the Program.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. MARKETING OF SERVICES. 

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

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(o) NO PROHIBITION OF MARKETING OF SERV25 ICES.—An applicant receiving a grant under this section 


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1 may market and advertise the services of such applicant 

2 to individuals and small business concerns.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION BY THE SMALL BUSINESS DE4 VELOPMENT CENTER ASSOCIATION. 

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

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

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

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

9 and 

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

11 following: ‘‘, and (iv) governing data collection ac12 tivities related to applicants receiving grants under 

13 this section’’. 

14 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION.—Sec15 tion 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as 

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

17 adding at the end the following: 

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

19 Administrator shall annually submit to the Committee on 

20 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 

21 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

22 the Senate a report on any data collection activities related 

23 to the Small Business Development Center Program.’’. 

24 (c) WORKING GROUP TO IMPROVE DATA COLLEC25 TION.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT AND STUDY.—The Admin2 istrator of the Small Business Administration shall 

3 establish a group to be known as the ‘‘Data Collec4 tion Working Group’’ consisting of entrepreneurial 

5 development grant recipients, the associations and 

6 organizations representing such recipients, and offi7 cials from the Small Business Administration, to 

8 carry out a study to determine the best methods for 

9 conducting data collection activities and create or re10 vise existing systems dedicated to data collection. 

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

12 180-day period beginning on the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Data Collection Working 

14 Group shall issue a report to the Committee on 

15 Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

16 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre17 neurship of the Senate containing the findings and 

18 determinations made in carrying out the study re19 quired under paragraph (1), including— 

20 (A) recommendations for revising existing 

21 data collection practices for the Small Business 

22 Development Center Program; and 

23 (B) a proposed plan for the Administrator 

24 of the Small Business Administration to imple25 ment such recommendations. 


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1 SEC. 5. FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO2 SPONSORSHIPS. 

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

4 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(D) FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO7 SPONSORSHIPS.—A small business development center 

8 that participates in a private partnership or cosponsor9 ship, in which the Administrator or designee of the Admin10 istrator also participates, may collect fees or other income 

11 related to the operation of such private partnership or co12 sponsorship.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. EQUITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN14 TERS. 

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

16 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)(v)(I)) is amended 

17 to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Of the 

19 amounts made available in any fiscal 

20 year to carry out this section, not 

21 more than $600,000 may be used by 

22 the Administration to pay expenses 

23 enumerated in subparagraphs (B) 

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


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1 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS. 

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

3 U.S.C. 648(a)(7)(A)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘or telephone number’’ and in5 serting ‘‘, telephone number, or email address’’; and 

6 (2) by inserting ‘‘, or the nature or content of 

7 such assistance, to any State, local, or Federal agen8 cy, or to any third party’’ after ‘‘receiving assistance 

9 under this section’’. 

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

11 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

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

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

14 amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘any women’s business 

17 center operating pursuant to section 29,’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘or a women’s business 

19 center operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘and women’s business 

21 centers operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

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

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

24 for not-for-profit institutions of higher education, and not25 withstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator 

26 may not award a grant or contract to, or enter into a coopVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4406.IH H4406

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1 erative agreement with, an entity under this section unless 

2 that entity— 

3 ‘‘(1) received a grant or contract from, or en4 tered into a cooperative agreement with, the Admin5 istrator under this section before the date of the en6 actment of this subsection; and 

7 ‘‘(2) seeks to renew such a grant, contract, or 

8 cooperative agreement after such date.’’. 

9 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 

10 made by this section may not be construed as prohibiting 

11 a women’s business center (as described under section 29 

12 of the Small Business Act) from receiving a subgrant from 

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

14 Business Act. 

15 SEC. 9. MANAGEMENT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES. 

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

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

18 amended— 

19 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

20 by striking ‘‘upon, with full participation of both 

21 parties,’’ and inserting ‘‘upon with the full participa22 tion of all parties (including the association author23 ized in subparagraph (A)), and carried out’’; 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and de2 velop’’ and inserting ‘‘and negotiate the development 

3 of’’; and 

4 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘Whereas’’; 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘Program’’ after ‘‘Cen7 ter’’; 

8 (C) by striking ‘‘National’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘national’’; and 

10 (D) by moving such subparagraph two ems 

11 to the left. 

12 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 Section 21(a)(4)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)) is amended— 

15 (1) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘subparagraph’’ 

16 and all that follows through the period at the end 

17 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph $175,000,000 for fiscal 

18 years 2020 through 2023’’; and 

19 (2) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘shall reserve 

20 not less than $1,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘shall re21 serve not more than $2,000,000’’. 

Æ 


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