I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5367 

To amend the Small Business Act to make improvements to the Small 

Business Development Center Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 

Mr. GOLDEN of Maine (for himself and Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to make improvements 

to the Small Business Development Center Program, 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 ‘‘Small Business Devel5 opment Centers Improvement Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL7 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Small Business Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended— 


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

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 49. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL6 OPMENT PROGRAMS. 

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

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

9 provision of law and except as provided in paragraph 

10 (3), the Administrator— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall only deliver entrepreneurial de12 velopment services, entrepreneurial education, 

13 or support for the development and mainte14 nance of the Regional Innovation Clusters Pro15 gram (or similar business training services) 

16 through a program of the Administration that 

17 was established before the date of the enact18 ment of this section; and 

19 ‘‘(B) may not establish a program after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act to provide 

21 such services, education, or support without ex22 plicit authority provided by an Act of Congress. 

23 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—The Administrator shall 

24 notify Congress before providing any services, edu25 cation, or support described in paragraph (1)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—This section does not apply 

2 to services provided to assist small business concerns 

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

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

5 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall in6 clude in the annual report required under section 10(a) 

7 the following information: 

8 ‘‘(1) A list of all covered activities undertaken 

9 through a program of the Administration during the 

10 fiscal year preceding the date of the report, includ11 ing— 

12 ‘‘(A) a description and operating details 

13 for each such program and the covered activi14 ties conducted under each such program; 

15 ‘‘(B) operating circulars, manuals, notices 

16 of awards, notices of funding opportunities, and 

17 standard operating procedures for each such 

18 program and the covered activities conducted 

19 under each such program; 

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

21 provide awards for covered activities conducted 

22 under each such program; 

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

24 under each such program, contractors, and ven25 dors (including organization name and location) 


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1 and the amount of awards provided during the 

2 fiscal year preceding the date of the report for 

3 such programs and activities performed under 

4 such programs; 

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

6 for each such program and the covered activi7 ties conducted under each such program for the 

8 fiscal year preceding the date of the report; and 

9 ‘‘(F) the names and titles of the individ10 uals responsible for carrying out each such pro11 gram. 

12 ‘‘(2) COVERED ACTIVITY DEFINED.—In this 

13 subsection, the term ‘covered activity’ means entre14 preneurial development services, entrepreneurial edu15 cation, or support for the development and mainte16 nance of the Regional Innovation Clusters Program 

17 (or similar business training services).’’. 

18 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (b) of section 49 of 

19 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 639), as added by this 

20 section, shall apply with respect to the first annual report 

21 required under section 10(a) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

22 639(a)) after October 1, 2023. 


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1 SEC. 3. DATA COLLECTION BY THE SMALL BUSINESS DE2 VELOPMENT CENTER ASSOCIATION, WOM3 EN’S BUSINESS CENTERS, AND SCORE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21(a)(3)(A) of the Small 

5 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)(A)) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘as provided in this section 

7 and’’ and inserting ‘‘as provided in this section,’’; 

8 and 

9 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

10 following: ‘‘, and (iv) governing data collection ac11 tivities related to applicants receiving grants under 

12 this section’’. 

13 (b) WORKING GROUP TO IMPROVE DATA COLLEC14 TION.— 

15 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of 

16 the Small Business Administration shall establish a 

17 group to be known as the ‘‘Data Collection Working 

18 Group’’ consisting of— 

19 (A) entrepreneurial development grant re20 cipients; 

21 (B) associations and organizations rep22 resenting such recipients; 

23 (C) contractors that handle data systems 

24 for women’s business centers (as described 

25 under section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 

26 U.S.C. 656)), small business development cenVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:05 Sep 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5367.IH H5367

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1 ters (as defined in section 3 of such Act (15 

2 U.S.C. 632)), and chapters of the Service Corps 

3 of Retired Executives (established under section 

4 8(b)(1)(B) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 637(b)(1)(B))); and 

6 (D) officials from the Small Business Ad7 ministration. 

8 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Data Collection 

9 Working Group shall— 

10 (A) determine the best methods for con11 ducting data collection activities for the Small 

12 Business Development Center Program, wom13 en’s business centers, and chapters of the Serv14 ice Corps of Retired Executives; and 

15 (B) develop recommendations to create or 

16 revise existing systems dedicated to data collec17 tion for the Small Business Development Cen18 ter Program, women’s business centers, and 

19 chapters of the Service Corps of Retired Execu20 tives. 

21 (3) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 

22 180-day period beginning on the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the Data Collection Working 

24 Group shall issue a report to the Committee on 

25 Small Business of the House of Representatives and 


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1 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre2 neurship of the Senate containing the findings and 

3 determinations of the Data Collection Working 

4 Group pursuant to paragraph (2), including— 

5 (A) the recommendations developed under 

6 paragraph (2)(B); and 

7 (B) a proposed plan for the Administrator 

8 of the Small Business Administration to imple9 ment such recommendations. 

10 SEC. 4. MARKETING OF SERVICES. 

11 Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

12 648), as amended by section 14, is further amended by 

13 adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(q) NO PROHIBITION OF MARKETING OF SERV15 ICES.—An applicant receiving a grant under this section 

16 may use up to 10 percent of program funds to market 

17 and advertise the services of such applicant to individuals 

18 and small business concerns.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS. 

20 Section 21(a)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

21 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(D) FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND

24 COSPONSORSHIPS.—A small business development 

25 center that participates in a private partnership or 


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1 cosponsorship, in which the Administrator or des2 ignee of the Administrator also participates, may 

3 collect fees or other income related to the operation 

4 of such private partnership or cosponsorship.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. EQUITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN6 TERS. 

7 Subclause (I) of section 21(a)(4)(C)(v) of the Small 

8 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)(v)(I)) is amended 

9 to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made 

11 available in any fiscal year to carry out this sec12 tion, not more than $600,000 may be used by 

13 the Administration to pay expenses enumerated 

14 in subparagraphs (B) through (D) of section 

15 20(a)(1).’’. 

16 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS. 

17 Section 21(a)(7)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 648(a)(7)(A)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘or telephone number’’ and in20 serting ‘‘, telephone number, or email address’’; and 

21 (2) by inserting ‘‘, or the nature or content of 

22 such assistance, to any State, local, or Federal agen23 cy, or to any third party’’ after ‘‘receiving assistance 

24 under this section’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS TO SMALL 

2 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21 of the Small Business 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as amended by this Act, is further 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘any women’s business 

8 center operating pursuant to section 29,’’; 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘or a women’s business 

10 center operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

11 (C) by striking ‘‘and women’s business 

12 centers operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(r) LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS.—Except 

15 for institutions of higher education (as defined in section 

16 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 1001), and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

18 Administrator may not award a grant or contract to, or 

19 enter into a cooperative agreement with, an entity under 

20 this section unless that entity— 

21 ‘‘(1) received a grant or contract from, or en22 tered into a cooperative agreement with, the Admin23 istrator under this section before the date of the en24 actment of this subsection; and 

25 ‘‘(2) seeks to renew such a grant, contract, or 

26 cooperative agreement after such date.’’. 


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1 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 

2 made by this section may not be construed as prohibiting 

3 a women’s business center (as described under section 29 

4 of the Small Business Act) from receiving a subgrant from 

5 an entity receiving a grant under section 21 of the Small 

6 Business Act. 

7 SEC. 9. MANAGEMENT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES. 

8 Section 21(a)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)), as amended by section 5, is further 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

12 by striking ‘‘upon, with full participation of both 

13 parties,’’ and inserting ‘‘upon with the full participa14 tion of all parties (including the association author15 ized in subparagraph (A)), and carried out’’; 

16 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and de17 velop’’ and inserting ‘‘and negotiate the development 

18 of’’; and 

19 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘Whereas’’; 

21 (B) by inserting ‘‘Program’’ after ‘‘Cen22 ter’’; 

23 (C) by striking ‘‘National’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘national’’; and 


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1 (D) by moving such subparagraph 2 ems 

2 to the left. 

3 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FOR4 MULA GRANTS RECEIVED BY STATES. 

5 Section 21(a)(4)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)) is amended— 

7 (1) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘this subpara8 graph—’’ and all that follows through the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘this subparagraph 

10 $175,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

11 2027.’’; and 

12 (2) in clause (viii)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘shall reserve not less than 

14 $1,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘shall reserve not 

15 more than $2,000,000’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘shall not exceed 

17 $100,000’’ and inserting ‘‘shall not exceed 

18 $200,000’’. 

19 SEC. 11. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO MATCHING FUNDS. 

20 Section 21(a)(4)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 

21 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following new sentence: ‘‘Such matching funds shall be 

23 evidenced by good faith assertions from the applicant, and 

24 the expenditure of matching funds shall not be made a 

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1 withstanding the final reconciliation payment for the close2 out of each award.’’. 

3 SEC. 12. CONTRACT PREREQUISITES. 

4 Section 21(a)(5)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 648(a)(5)(B)) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: ‘‘If the Associate Administrator fails to 

7 issue a determination of an approval for a contract within 

8 10 days after receipt of a request for such determination, 

9 such contract shall be deemed to be approved.’’. 

10 SEC. 13. DUTIES OF THE ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR 

11 SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

12 Section 21(h)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 648(h)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(C) MARKETING.—The Associate Admin16 istrator for Small Business Development Cen17 ters shall market and advertise the Small Busi18 ness Development Center Program and partici19 pants in such Program as a resource available 

20 to any Federal program providing assistance to 

21 small business concerns.’’. 


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1 SEC. 14. ANNUAL REPORT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL2 OPMENT ACTIVITIES. 

3 Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 section: 

6 ‘‘(p) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS AN7 NUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the first December 1 after 

8 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Adminis9 trator shall annually submit to the Committee on Small 

10 Business of the House of Representatives and the Com11 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

12 Senate a report on the entrepreneurial development activi13 ties undertaken during the fiscal year preceding the date 

14 of the report through the Small Business Development 

15 Center Program (in this subsection referred to as the 

16 ‘Program’), including— 

17 ‘‘(1) the total number of hours of counseling 

18 and training services provided through the Program; 

19 ‘‘(2) to the extent practicable, the demographics 

20 of participants in the Program, which shall include 

21 the gender, race, and age of each such participant; 

22 ‘‘(3) the number of participants in the Program 

23 who are veterans; 

24 ‘‘(4) the number of new businesses started by 

25 participants in the Program; 


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1 ‘‘(5) to the extent practicable, the number of 

2 jobs created or retained with assistance from the 

3 Program; 

4 ‘‘(6) to the extent practicable, the amount of 

5 capital secured by participants in the Program, in6 cluding through loans and equity investment; 

7 ‘‘(7) the number of participants in the Program 

8 receiving financial assistance, including the type and 

9 dollar amount, under a loan program of the Admin10 istration; 

11 ‘‘(8) an estimate of gross receipts, including (to 

12 the extent practicable) a description of any change 

13 in revenue, of small business concerns assisted 

14 through the Program; 

15 ‘‘(9) the number of referrals of individuals 

16 counseled or trained through the Program to other 

17 resources and programs of the Administration; 

18 ‘‘(10) the results of satisfaction surveys of par19 ticipants in the Program, including a summary of 

20 any comments received from such participants; and 

21 ‘‘(11) any recommendations by the Adminis22 trator or the National Small Business Development 

23 Center Advisory Board (established under subsection 


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1 (i)) to improve the delivery of services by the Pro2 gram.’’. 

Æ 


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