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Union Calendar No. 191 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4406 

[Report No. 116–240] 

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 

OCTOBER 17, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Mr. HAGEDORN, Mr. EVANS, and Mr. FITZPATRICK

OCTOBER 17, 2019 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the small 

business development centers program, and for other 

purposes. 


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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— 

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

11 and 

12 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 

13 new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 49. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL15 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

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

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

18 provision of law, the Administrator shall only deliver 

19 entrepreneurial development services, entrepreneurial 

20 education, and support for the development and 

21 maintenance of the Regional Innovation Clusters 

22 Program (or similar business training services) 

23 through a program authorized under— 

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

25 22, 29, or 32 of this Act; or 


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

2 Business Investment Act of 1958. 

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

4 to services provided to assist small business concerns 

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

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

7 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the first De8 cember 1 after the date of the enactment of this section, 

9 the Administrator shall annually submit to the Committee 

10 on Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

11 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

12 of the Senate a report on the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) All entrepreneurial development activities 

14 undertaken during the fiscal year preceding the date 

15 of the report through a program described in sub16 section (a), including— 

17 ‘‘(A) a description and operating details 

18 for each program and the activities performed 

19 under each program; 

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

21 standard operating procedures for each pro22 gram; 

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

24 award grants under such programs; 


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

2 under a program described in subsection (a), 

3 contractors, and vendors (including organiza4 tion name and location) and the amount of 

5 awards provided during the fiscal year pre6 ceding the date of the report for such programs 

7 and activities performed under such programs; 

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

9 for such programs and activities for the fiscal 

10 year preceding the date of the report; and 

11 ‘‘(F) the names and titles of the individ12 uals responsible for such programs. 

13 ‘‘(2) For entrepreneurial development activities 

14 undertaken during the fiscal year preceding the date 

15 of the report through the Small Business Develop16 ment Center Program (in this section referred to as 

17 the ‘Program’)— 

18 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals counseled 

19 or trained through the Program; 

20 ‘‘(B) the total number of hours of coun21 seling and training services provided through 

22 the Program; 

23 ‘‘(C) the demographics of participants in 

24 the Program, which shall include the gender, 

25 race, and age of each such participant; 


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

2 Program who are veterans; 

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

4 by participants in the Program; 

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

6 of jobs supported, created, or retained with as7 sistance from small business development cen8 ters; 

9 ‘‘(G) the amount of capital secured by par10 ticipants in the Program, including through 

11 loans and equity investment; 

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

13 Program receiving financial assistance, includ14 ing the type and dollar amount, under the loan 

15 programs of the Administration; 

16 ‘‘(I) an estimate of gross receipts, includ17 ing (to the extent practicable) a description of 

18 any change in revenue, of small business con19 cerns assisted through the Program; 

20 ‘‘(J) the number of referrals to other re21 sources and programs of the Administration; 

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

23 participants in the Program, including a sum24 mary of any comments received from such par25 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 two 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 fiscal 

2 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’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 191 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4406 

[Report No. 116–240] 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the 

for other purposes. small business development centers program, and 

OCTOBER 17, 2019 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS