II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2188 

To amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to improve the license 

application process for small business investment companies, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. HAWLEY (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 amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to 

improve the license application process for small business 

investment companies, 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 ‘‘SBIC Licensing Im5 provement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF SBIC LICENSE AP7 PLICATIONS. 

8 Section 301 of the Small Business Investment Act 

9 of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 681) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting after the first 

2 sentence the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the pre3 ceding sentence, a small business investment com4 pany may be a State development company that 

5 qualifies for assistance under title V if the develop6 ment company possesses the powers reasonably nec7 essary to perform the functions and activities con8 templated under this title.’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (c)(2)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (B)— 

11 (i) by striking clause (i) and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) if the requirements of this section 

14 are satisfied, approve the application and, 

15 not later than 10 business days after the 

16 date of that approval, issue a license for 

17 such operation to the applicant; or’’; and 

18 (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, 

19 which shall include specific reasons for the 

20 disapproval that are based on items in the 

21 application’’ after ‘‘disapproval’’; and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF DISAPPROVAL.—With re24 spect to an application that the Administrator 

25 disapproves, the applicant may submit to the 


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1 Administrator a request for a written decision 

2 regarding that disapproval. 

3 ‘‘(D) APPEALS.—An applicant that sub4 mits an application with respect to which the 

5 Administration denies may submit an appeal as 

6 follows: 

7 ‘‘(i) With respect to an application 

8 that is denied by the Investment Com9 mittee of the Office of Investment and In10 novation of the Administration or the In11 vestment Division Licensing Committee of 

12 the Administration— 

13 ‘‘(I) not later than 30 days after 

14 the date on which the applicable com15 mittee so denies the application, the 

16 applicant may submit an appeal to the 

17 Chair of the Agency Licensing Com18 mittee of the Administration (referred 

19 to in this subparagraph as the 

20 ‘Chair’); and 

21 ‘‘(II) not later than 30 days after 

22 the date on which the applicant sub23 mits an appeal under subclause (I), 

24 the Chair shall— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) issue a ruling with re2 spect to the appeal; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) notify the applicant 

4 regarding the ruling of the Chair. 

5 ‘‘(ii) With respect to an application 

6 that the Chair denies in an appeal sub7 mitted under clause (i)— 

8 ‘‘(I) not later than 30 days after 

9 the date on which the Chair submits 

10 the notification required under sub11 clause (II)(bb) of that clause, the ap12 plicant may submit to the Adminis13 trator an appeal of the ruling made by 

14 the Chair; and 

15 ‘‘(II) not later than 30 days after 

16 the date on which the applicant sub17 mits an appeal under subclause (I), 

18 the Administrator shall— 

19 ‘‘(aa) issue a final ruling 

20 with respect to the appeal; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) notify the applicant 

22 regarding the ruling of the Ad23 ministrator.’’. 

Æ 


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