IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4406 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 22, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Devel3 opment Centers Improvement Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL5 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

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

7 amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating section 49 as section 50; 

9 and 

10 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 

11 new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 49. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL13 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

14 ‘‘(a) EXPANDED SUPPORT FOR ENTREPRENEURS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

16 provision of law, the Administrator shall only deliver 

17 entrepreneurial development services, entrepreneurial 

18 education, and support for the development and 

19 maintenance of the Regional Innovation Clusters 

20 Program (or similar business training services) 

21 through a program authorized under— 

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

23 22, 29, or 32 of this Act; or 

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

25 Business Investment Act of 1958. 


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

2 to services provided to assist small business concerns 

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

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

5 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the first De6 cember 1 after the date of the enactment of this section, 

7 the Administrator shall annually submit to the Committee 

8 on Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

9 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

10 of the Senate a report on the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) All entrepreneurial development activities 

12 undertaken during the fiscal year preceding the date 

13 of the report through a program described in sub14 section (a), including— 

15 ‘‘(A) a description and operating details 

16 for each program and the activities performed 

17 under each program; 

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

19 standard operating procedures for each pro20 gram; 

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

22 award grants under such programs; 

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

24 under a program described in subsection (a), 

25 contractors, and vendors (including organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4406.RFS H4406

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1 tion name and location) and the amount of 

2 awards provided during the fiscal year pre3 ceding the date of the report for such programs 

4 and activities performed under such programs; 

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

6 for such programs and activities for the fiscal 

7 year preceding the date of the report; and 

8 ‘‘(F) the names and titles of the individ9 uals responsible for such programs. 

10 ‘‘(2) For entrepreneurial development activities 

11 undertaken during the fiscal year preceding the date 

12 of the report through the Small Business Develop13 ment Center Program (in this section referred to as 

14 the ‘Program’)— 

15 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals counseled 

16 or trained through the Program; 

17 ‘‘(B) the total number of hours of coun18 seling and training services provided through 

19 the Program; 

20 ‘‘(C) the demographics of participants in 

21 the Program, which shall include the gender, 

22 race, and age of each such participant; 

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

24 Program who are veterans; 


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

2 by participants in the Program; 

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

4 of jobs supported, created, or retained with as5 sistance from small business development cen6 ters; 

7 ‘‘(G) the amount of capital secured by par8 ticipants in the Program, including through 

9 loans and equity investment; 

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

11 Program receiving financial assistance, includ12 ing the type and dollar amount, under the loan 

13 programs of the Administration; 

14 ‘‘(I) an estimate of gross receipts, includ15 ing (to the extent practicable) a description of 

16 any change in revenue, of small business con17 cerns assisted through the Program; 

18 ‘‘(J) the number of referrals to other re19 sources and programs of the Administration; 

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

21 participants in the Program, including a sum22 mary of any comments received from such par23 ticipants; and 


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1 ‘‘(L) any recommendations by the Admin2 istrator to improve the delivery of services by 

3 the Program.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. MARKETING OF SERVICES. 

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

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(o) NO PROHIBITION OF MARKETING OF SERV8 ICES.—An applicant receiving a grant under this section 

9 may market and advertise the services of such applicant 

10 to individuals and small business concerns.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION BY THE SMALL BUSINESS DE12 VELOPMENT CENTER ASSOCIATION. 

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

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

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

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

17 and 

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

19 following: ‘‘, and (iv) governing data collection ac20 tivities related to applicants receiving grants under 

21 this section’’. 

22 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION.—Sec23 tion 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as 

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

25 adding at the end the following: 


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

2 Administrator shall annually submit to the Committee on 

3 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 

4 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

5 the Senate a report on any data collection activities related 

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

7 (c) WORKING GROUP TO IMPROVE DATA COLLEC8 TION.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT AND STUDY.—The Admin10 istrator of the Small Business Administration shall 

11 establish a group to be known as the ‘‘Data Collec12 tion Working Group’’ consisting of entrepreneurial 

13 development grant recipients, the associations and 

14 organizations representing such recipients, and offi15 cials from the Small Business Administration, to 

16 carry out a study to determine the best methods for 

17 conducting data collection activities and create or re18 vise existing systems dedicated to data collection. 

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

20 180-day period beginning on the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Data Collection Working 

22 Group shall issue a report to the Committee on 

23 Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

24 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre25 neurship of the Senate containing the findings and 


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1 determinations made in carrying out the study re2 quired under paragraph (1), including— 

3 (A) recommendations for revising existing 

4 data collection practices for the Small Business 

5 Development Center Program; and 

6 (B) a proposed plan for the Administrator 

7 of the Small Business Administration to imple8 ment such recommendations. 

9 SEC. 5. FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO10 SPONSORSHIPS. 

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

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

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(D) FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO15 SPONSORSHIPS.—A small business development center 

16 that participates in a private partnership or cosponsor17 ship, in which the Administrator or designee of the Admin18 istrator also participates, may collect fees or other income 

19 related to the operation of such private partnership or co20 sponsorship.’’. 

21 SEC. 6. EQUITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN22 TERS. 

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

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

25 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Of the 

2 amounts made available in any fiscal 

3 year to carry out this section, not 

4 more than $600,000 may be used by 

5 the Administration to pay expenses 

6 enumerated in subparagraphs (B) 

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

8 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS. 

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

10 U.S.C. 648(a)(7)(A)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘or telephone number’’ and in12 serting ‘‘, telephone number, or email address’’; and 

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

14 such assistance, to any State, local, or Federal agen15 cy, or to any third party’’ after ‘‘receiving assistance 

16 under this section’’. 

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

18 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

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

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

21 amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

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

24 center operating pursuant to section 29,’’; 


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

2 center operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

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

4 centers operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

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

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

7 for not-for-profit institutions of higher education, and not8 withstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator 

9 may not award a grant or contract to, or enter into a coop10 erative agreement with, an entity under this section unless 

11 that entity— 

12 ‘‘(1) received a grant or contract from, or en13 tered into a cooperative agreement with, the Admin14 istrator under this section before the date of the en15 actment of this subsection; and 

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

17 cooperative agreement after such date.’’. 

18 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 

19 made by this section may not be construed as prohibiting 

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

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

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

23 Business Act. 


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1 SEC. 9. MANAGEMENT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES. 

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

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

4 amended— 

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

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

7 parties,’’ and inserting ‘‘upon with the full participa8 tion of all parties (including the association author9 ized in subparagraph (A)), and carried out’’; 

10 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and de11 velop’’ and inserting ‘‘and negotiate the development 

12 of’’; and 

13 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘Whereas’’; 

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘Program’’ after ‘‘Cen16 ter’’; 

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

18 ‘‘national’’; and 

19 (D) by moving such subparagraph 2 ems 

20 to the left. 

21 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

23 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)) is amended— 

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

25 and all that follows through the period at the end 


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1 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph $175,000,000 for each 

2 of fiscal years 2020 through 2023.’’; and 

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

4 not less than $1,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘shall re5 serve not more than $2,000,000’’. 

6 SEC. 11. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

7 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

8 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

9 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

10 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

11 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

12 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro13 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

14 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 21, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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