II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2126 

To require the Small Business Administration to report on assistance provided 

to historically Black colleges or universities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small 

Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To require the Small Business Administration to report on 

assistance provided to historically Black colleges or universities, 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 ‘‘Promoting Robust Op5 portunities for Minority Institutions and Strengthening 

6 Entrepreneurship Act’’ or the ‘‘PROMISE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act— 


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

3 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘historically Black college or uni5 versity’’ means a part B institution, as defined in 

6 section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1061); and 

8 (3) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

9 has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the 

10 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

11 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SMALL BUSI12 NESS ADMINISTRATION ON HISTORICALLY 

13 BLACK COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES. 

14 (a) ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT PRO15 GRAMS.—The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) in section 21 (15 U.S.C. 648), by adding at 

18 the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(o) REPORT ON CENTERS AT HISTORICALLY BLACK

20 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection— 

22 ‘‘(A) the term ‘historically Black college or 

23 university’ means a part B institution, as de24 fined in section 322 of the Higher Education 

25 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘lead small business develop2 ment center’ means a small business develop3 ment center described in section 21 that admin4 isters and operates a network of small business 

5 development centers. 

6 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Administrator shall annu7 ally prepare a report— 

8 ‘‘(A) which the Administrator shall make 

9 publicly available; and 

10 ‘‘(B) that includes— 

11 ‘‘(i) the number of small business de12 velopment centers and lead small business 

13 development centers that are located at 

14 historically Black colleges or universities; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the number of women’s business 

16 centers and Veteran Business Outreach 

17 Centers that have partnerships with his18 torically Black colleges or universities; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the number of hours of training 

20 and education provided by a program over21 seen by the Office of Entrepreneurial De22 velopment of the Administration to stu23 dents and graduates of historically Black 

24 colleges or universities; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) each strategic alliance memo2 randum entered into between the Adminis3 tration and a historically Black college or 

4 university; 

5 ‘‘(v) the steps taken to ensure that 

6 each memorandum described in clause (iv) 

7 is upheld; 

8 ‘‘(vi) the steps taken to partner the 

9 resources provided by the Service Corps of 

10 Retired Executives program authorized by 

11 section 8(b)(1) with students and grad12 uates of historically Black colleges or uni13 versities; 

14 ‘‘(vii) for that year, the plan of the 

15 Administration prepared in accordance 

16 with section 2(c) of Executive Order 13779 

17 (82 Fed. Reg. 12499; relating to pro18 moting excellence and innovation at his19 torically Black colleges and universities); 

20 ‘‘(viii) the steps taken by the Adminis21 tration to ensure that the plan described in 

22 clause (vii) is carried out; and 

23 ‘‘(ix) the process by which a histori24 cally Black college or university may apply 

25 for a grant awarded by a small business 


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1 development center, women’s business cen2 ter, or Veteran Business Outreach Cen3 ter.’’; and 

4 (2) in section 29(j)(2) (15 U.S.C. 656(j)(2))— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

6 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (F), by striking the 

8 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(G) the number of historically Black col11 leges or universities (as defined in section 

12 21(o)(1)) served by the women’s business cen13 ter, and the hours of training provided to stu14 dents and graduates of historically Black col15 leges or universities.’’. 

16 (b) SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMS

17 AT HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVER18 SITIES.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact19 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the 

20 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

21 the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the 

22 House of Representatives a report that examines the num23 ber and scope of programs of the Administration at his24 torically Black colleges or universities, as compared with 

25 other institutions of higher education. 


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1 SEC. 4. PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL 

2 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AT HISTORI3 CALLY BLACK COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES. 

4 The Administrator shall— 

5 (1) on an annual basis, provide to each histori6 cally Black college or university a list of each intern7 ship or employment opportunity available at the Ad8 ministration; 

9 (2) actively promote the programs and re10 sources of the Administration that would be helpful 

11 for entrepreneurs who are students at, or graduates 

12 of, historically Black colleges or universities; 

13 (3) work to ensure that the Strategic Alliance 

14 Memorandums between the Administration and his15 torically Black colleges or universities are enforced 

16 by developing and executing a strategic plan that ac17 complishes the goals set forth in those memoran18 dums; 

19 (4) conduct outreach to historically Black col20 leges or universities to provide awareness with re21 spect to resources, services, and opportunities pro22 vided by the Administration; and 

23 (5) in order to enhance transparency, when de24 scribing the efforts of the Administration to 

25 strengthen the capacity of historically Black colleges 

26 or universities to participate in applicable Federal 


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1 programs and initiatives in each plan prepared 

2 under section 2(c) of Executive Order 13779 (82 

3 Fed. Reg. 12499; relating to promoting excellence 

4 and innovation at historically Black colleges and uni5 versities), provide rationales for those efforts. 

Æ 


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