106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1497

AN ACT

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to

the women’s business center program.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1497

AN ACT

To amend the Small Business Act with respect to the

women’s business center program.

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 ‘‘Women’s Business

3 Centers Sustainability Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. PRIVATE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.

5 Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656)

6 is amended—

7 (1) in subsection (a)—

8 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and

9 (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and

10 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the

11 following:

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘private nonprofit organization’

13 means an entity described in section 501(c) of the

14 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is exempt from

15 taxation under section 501(a) of such Code;’’; and

16 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘nonprofit’’

17 after ‘‘private’’.

18 SEC. 3. INCREASED MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT AND RE19 VIEW OF WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTERS.

20 Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656)

21 is amended—

22 (1) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the

23 following:

24 ‘‘(h) PROGRAM EXAMINATION.—

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administration shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) develop and implement procedures to

2 annually examine the programs and finances of

3 each women’s business center established pur4 suant to this section, pursuant to which each

5 such center shall provide to the

6 Administration—

7 ‘‘(i) an itemized cost breakdown of ac8 tual expenditures for costs incurred during

9 the preceding year; and

10 ‘‘(ii) documentation regarding the

11 amount of matching assistance from non12 Federal sources obtained and expended by

13 the center during the preceding year in

14 order to meet the requirements of sub15 section (c) and, with respect to any in-kind

16 contributions described in subsection (c)(2)

17 that were used to satisfy the requirements

18 of subsection (c), verification of the exist19 ence and valuation of those contributions;

20 and

21 ‘‘(B) analyze the results of each such ex22 amination and, based on that analysis, make a

23 determination regarding the viability of the pro24 grams and finances of each women’s business

25 center.
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1 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF CONTRACTS.—In deter2 mining whether to extend or renew a contract with

3 a women’s business center, the Administration—

4 ‘‘(A) shall consider the results of the most

5 recent examination of the center under para6 graph (1); and

7 ‘‘(B) may withhold such extension or re8 newal, if the Administration determines that—

9 ‘‘(i) the center has failed to provide

10 any information required to be provided

11 under clause (i) or (ii) of paragraph

12 (1)(A), or the information provided by the

13 center is inadequate; or

14 ‘‘(ii) the center has failed to provide

15 any information required to be provided by

16 the center for purposes of the report of the

17 Administration under subsection (j), or the

18 information provided by the center is inad19 equate.’’; and

20 (2) by striking subsection (j) and inserting the

21 following:

22 ‘‘(j) MANAGEMENT REPORT.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administration shall

24 prepare and submit to the Committees on Small

25 Business of the House of Representatives and the
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1 Senate a report on the effectiveness of all projects

2 conducted under this section.

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under

4 paragraph (1) shall include information concerning,

5 with respect to each women’s business center estab6 lished pursuant to this section—

7 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals receiving

8 assistance;

9 ‘‘(B) the number of startup business con10 cerns formed;

11 ‘‘(C) the gross receipts of assisted con12 cerns;

13 ‘‘(D) the employment increases or de14 creases of assisted concerns;

15 ‘‘(E) to the maximum extent practicable,

16 increases or decreases in profits of assisted con17 cerns;

18 ‘‘(F) documentation detailing the most re19 cent analysis undertaken under subsection

20 (h)(1)(B) and the determinations made by the

21 Administration with respect to that analysis;

22 and

23 ‘‘(G) demographic data regarding the staff

24 of the center.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER SUSTAINABILITY

2 PILOT PROGRAM.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 29 of the Small Business

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 656) is amended by adding at the end the

5 following:

6 ‘‘(l) SUSTAINABILITY PILOT PROGRAM.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a 4-

8 year pilot program under which the Administration

9 is authorized to make grants (referred to in this sec10 tion as ‘sustainability grants’) on a competitive basis

11 for an additional 5-year project under this section to

12 any private nonprofit organization (or a division

13 thereof)—

14 ‘‘(A) that has received financial assistance

15 under this section pursuant to a grant, con16 tract, or cooperative agreement; and

17 ‘‘(B) that—

18 ‘‘(i) is in the final year of a 5-year

19 project; or

20 ‘‘(ii) to the extent that amounts are

21 available for such purpose under sub22 section (k)(4)(B), has completed a project

23 financed under this section (or any prede24 cessor to this section) and continues to

25 provide assistance to women entrepreneurs.
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1 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION.—In

2 order to receive a sustainability grant, an organiza3 tion described in paragraph (1) shall submit to the

4 Administration an application, which shall include—

5 ‘‘(A) a certification that the applicant—

6 ‘‘(i) is a private nonprofit organiza7 tion;

8 ‘‘(ii) employs a full-time executive di9 rector or program manager to manage the

10 women’s business center for which a grant

11 is sought; and

12 ‘‘(iii) as a condition of receiving a sus13 tainability grant, agrees—

14 ‘‘(I) to an annual examination by

15 the Administration of the center’s

16 programs and finances; and

17 ‘‘(II) to the maximum extent

18 practicable, to remedy any problems

19 identified pursuant to that examina20 tion;

21 ‘‘(B) information demonstrating that the

22 applicant has the ability and resources to meet

23 the needs of the market to be served by the

24 women’s business center site for which a sus-
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1 tainability grant is sought, including the ability

2 to raise financial resources;

3 ‘‘(C) information relating to assistance

4 provided by the women’s business center site

5 for which a sustainability grant is sought in the

6 area in which the site is located, including—

7 ‘‘(i) the number of individuals as8 sisted;

9 ‘‘(ii) the number of hours of coun10 seling, training, and workshops provided;

11 and

12 ‘‘(iii) the number of startup business

13 concerns formed;

14 ‘‘(D) information demonstrating the effec15 tive experience of the applicant in—

16 ‘‘(i) conducting financial, manage17 ment, and marketing assistance programs,

18 as described in paragraphs (1), (2), and

19 (3) of subsection (b), designed to impart or

20 upgrade the business skills of women busi21 ness owners or potential owners;

22 ‘‘(ii) providing training and services to

23 a representative number of women who are

24 both socially and economically disadvan25 taged;
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1 ‘‘(iii) using resource partners of the

2 Administration and other entities, such as

3 universities;

4 ‘‘(iv) complying with the cooperative

5 agreement of the applicant; and

6 ‘‘(v) prudently managing finances and

7 staffing, including the manner in which the

8 performance of the applicant compared to

9 the business plan of the applicant and the

10 manner in which grants made under sub11 section (b) were used by the applicant; and

12 ‘‘(E) a 5-year plan that demonstrates the

13 ability of the women’s business center site for

14 which a sustainability grant is sought—

15 ‘‘(i) to serve women business owners

16 or potential owners in the future by im17 proving fundraising and training activities;

18 and

19 ‘‘(ii) to provide training and services

20 to a representative number of women who

21 are both socially and economically dis22 advantaged.

23 ‘‘(3) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administration

25 shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) review each application submitted

2 under paragraph (2) based on the informa3 tion provided under subparagraphs (D)

4 and (E) of that paragraph, and the criteria

5 set forth in subsection (f); and

6 ‘‘(ii) approve or disapprove applica7 tions for sustainability grants simulta8 neously with applications for grants under

9 subsection (b).

10 ‘‘(B) DATA COLLECTION.—Consistent with

11 the annual report to Congress under subsection

12 (j), each women’s business center site that re13 ceives a sustainability grant shall, to the max14 imum extent practicable, collect the information

15 relating to—

16 ‘‘(i) the number of individuals as17 sisted;

18 ‘‘(ii) the number of hours of coun19 seling and training provided and work20 shops conducted;

21 ‘‘(iii) the number of startup business

22 concerns formed;

23 ‘‘(iv) any available gross receipts of

24 assisted concerns; and
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1 ‘‘(v) the number of jobs created,

2 maintained, or lost at assisted concerns.

3 ‘‘(C) RECORD RETENTION.—The Adminis4 tration shall maintain a copy of each applica5 tion submitted under this subsection for not

6 less than 10 years.

7 ‘‘(4) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any

9 other provision of this section, as a condition of

10 receiving a sustainability grant, an organization

11 described in paragraph (1) shall agree to ob12 tain, after its application has been approved

13 under paragraph (3) and notice of award has

14 been issued, cash and in-kind contributions

15 from non-Federal sources for each year of addi16 tional program participation in an amount

17 equal to 1 non-Federal dollar for each Federal

18 dollar.

19 ‘‘(B) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—Not more

20 than 50 percent of the non-Federal assistance

21 obtained for purposes of subparagraph (A) may

22 be in the form of in-kind contributions that

23 exist only as budget line items, including such

24 contributions of office equipment and office

25 space.
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1 ‘‘(5) TIMING OF REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.—

2 In carrying out this subsection, the Administration

3 shall issue requests for proposals for women’s busi4 ness centers applying for the pilot program under

5 this subsection simultaneously with requests for pro6 posals for grants under subsection (b).’’.

7 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

8 29(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(k)) is

9 amended—

10 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the

11 following:

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be

13 appropriated, to remain available until the expiration

14 of the pilot program under subsection (l)—

15 ‘‘(A) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2000;

16 ‘‘(B) $12,800,000 for fiscal year 2001;

17 ‘‘(C) $13,700,000 for fiscal year 2002; and

18 ‘‘(D) $14,500,000 for fiscal year 2003.’’;

19 (2) in paragraph (2)—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘Amounts made’’ and in21 serting the following:

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

23 subparagraph (B), amounts made’’; and

24 (B) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Of the total amount

2 made available under this subsection for a fiscal

3 year, the following amounts shall be available

4 for costs incurred in connection with the selec5 tion of applicants for assistance under this sub6 section and with monitoring and oversight of

7 the program authorized under this subsection:

8 ‘‘(i) For fiscal year 2000, 2 percent of

9 such total amount.

10 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2001, 1.9 percent

11 of such total amount.

12 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2002, 1.9 per13 cent of such total amount.

14 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2003, 1.6 percent

15 of such total amount.’’; and

16 (3) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(4) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR SUSTAIN18 ABILITY PILOT PROGRAM.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the total amount

20 made available under this subsection for a fiscal

21 year, the following amounts shall be reserved

22 for sustainability grants under subsection (l):

23 ‘‘(i) For fiscal year 2000, 17 percent

24 of such total amount.
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1 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2001, 18.8 per2 cent of such total amount.

3 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2002, 30.2 per4 cent of such total amount.

5 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2003, 30.2 per6 cent of such total amount.

7 ‘‘(B) USE OF UNAWARDED RESERVE

8 FUNDS.—

9 ‘‘(i) SUSTAINABILITY GRANTS TO

10 OTHER CENTERS.—Of amounts reserved

11 under subparagraph (A), the Administra12 tion shall use any funds that remain avail13 able after making grants in accordance

14 with subsection (l) to make grants under

15 such subsection to women’s business center

16 sites that have completed a project fi17 nanced under this section (or any prede18 cessor to this section) and that continue to

19 provide assistance to women entrepreneurs.

20 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL GRANTS.—The Ad21 ministration shall use any funds described

22 in clause (i) that remain available after

23 making grants under such clause to make

24 grants to additional women’s business cen25 ter sites, or to increase the grants to exist-
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1 ing women’s business center sites, under

2 subsection (b).’’.

3 (c) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 30 days after the

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of

5 the Small Business Administration shall issue guidelines

6 to implement the amendments made by this section.

7 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

8 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

9 take effect on October 1, 1999.

Passed the House of Representatives October 19,

1999.

Attest:

Clerk.