II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3699 

To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to reform 

and improve the HUBZone program for small business concerns, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2008 

Ms. SNOWE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to reform and improve the HUBZone program 

for small business concerns, 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 ‘‘HUBZone Improve5 ment Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
2 

•S 3699 IS

1 (1) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ mean the Small Business Administration 

3 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; 

4 (2) the terms ‘‘HUBZone’’ and ‘‘HUBZone 

5 small business concern’’ have the meanings given 

6 such terms in section 3 of the Small Business Act 

7 (15 U.S.C. 632); and 

8 (3) the term ‘‘recertification’’ means deter9 mining whether a business concern that was pre10 viously determined to be a qualified HUBZone small 

11 business concern is a qualified HUBZone small busi12 ness concern under section 3(p)(5) of the Small 

13 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(5)). 

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSE; FINDINGS. 

15 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to reform 

16 and improve the HUBZone program of the Administra17 tion. 

18 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

19 (1) The HUBZone program was established 

20 under the HUBZone Act of 1997 (Public Law 105– 

21 135; 111 Stat. 2627) to stimulate economic develop22 ment through increased employment and capital in23 vestment by providing Federal contracting pref24 erences to small business concerns in economically 

25 distressed communities or HUBZone areas. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
3 

•S 3699 IS

1 (2) According to the Government Accountability 

2 Office— 

3 (A) as of February 2008, 12,986 certified 

4 firms have participated in the HUBZone pro5 gram since its inception; and 

6 (B) in fiscal year 2007, over 4,200 

7 HUBZone small business concerns obtained ap8 proximately $8,100,000,000 in Federal con9 tracts. 

10 (3) The Government Accountability Office also 

11 identified numerous concerns with the HUBZone 

12 program, including that— 

13 (A) the Administration verifies the infor14 mation received by the Administration from 

15 HUBZone small business concerns in limited 

16 instances and has limited assurances that only 

17 eligible firms participated in the HUBZone pro18 gram; 

19 (B) by not obtaining documentation and 

20 conducting site visits on a more routine basis 

21 during the certification process, the Administra22 tion cannot be sure that only eligible firms are 

23 part of the HUBZone program; and 

24 (C) although the examination process of 

25 the Administration involves a more extensive reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:51 Nov 20, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3699.IS S3699

rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
4 

•S 3699 IS

1 view of documentation, the examination process 

2 cannot be relied upon to ensure that only eligi3 ble firms participate in the HUBZone program 

4 because the examination process involves only 5 

5 percent of firms in any given year. 

6 SEC. 4. HUBZONE IMPROVEMENTS. 

7 The Administrator shall— 

8 (1) as soon as is practicable, correct and update 

9 the map that is used by the Administration to iden10 tify HUBZones and implement procedures to ensure 

11 that the map is updated with the most recently 

12 available data on a more frequent basis; 

13 (2) develop and implement guidance for deter14 mining whether an applicant is a qualified 

15 HUBZone small business concern under section 

16 3(p)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 632(p)(5)), including more routinely and consist18 ently obtaining supporting documentation from an 

19 applicant and conducting more frequent site visits, 

20 as appropriate; 

21 (3) establish a date by which the Administrator 

22 shall eliminate the backlog of applications for recer23 tification; 

24 (4) ensure that the Administration eliminates 

25 the backlog described in paragraph (3) by the date 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
5 

•S 3699 IS

1 established under paragraph (3), using officers and 

2 employees of the Administration or by entering into 

3 a contract with a private entity; 

4 (5) establish and implement a time period for 

5 completing a recertification; and 

6 (6) develop measures and implement plans to 

7 assess the effectiveness of the HUBZone program 

8 that take into account— 

9 (A) the economic characteristics of the 

10 HUBZone; and 

11 (B) contracts being counted under multiple 

12 socioeconomic subcategories. 

13 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

14 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

16 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En17 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

18 Business of the House of Representatives a report regard19 ing the implementation of this Act. 

Æ 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS