I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6445 

To amend the Small Business Act to require an annual report on 

entrepreneurial development programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 20, 2022 

Mr. GOLDEN (for himself and Mr. HAGEDORN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition 

to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to require an annual 

report on entrepreneurial development programs, 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 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOP2 MENT PROGRAMS. 

3 Section 10 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 639) 

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

6 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL DE7 VELOPMENT PROGRAMS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Administrator 

9 shall include in the comprehensive annual report re10 quired under subsection (a) the following data: 

11 ‘‘(A) A list of all entrepreneurial develop12 ment activities undertaken during the fiscal 

13 year preceding the date of the report through a 

14 covered program, including— 

15 ‘‘(i) a description and operating de16 tails for each such covered program and 

17 the activities performed under each such 

18 covered program; 

19 ‘‘(ii) operating circulars, manuals, and 

20 standard operating procedures for each 

21 such covered program; 

22 ‘‘(iii) a description of the process used 

23 to make awards relating to the provision of 

24 entrepreneurial development activities 

25 under each such covered program; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) a list of all recipients of awards 

2 under each such covered program and the 

3 amount of each such award; and 

4 ‘‘(v) a list of contractors, including 

5 the name and location of such contractor, 

6 of an award recipient. 

7 ‘‘(B) The total amount of funding obli8 gated for a covered program and the entrepre9 neurial development activities conducted under 

10 each such covered program for the fiscal year 

11 preceding the date of the report. 

12 ‘‘(C) The names and titles of the individ13 uals responsible for carrying out a covered pro14 gram. 

15 ‘‘(D) For entrepreneurial development ac16 tivities undertaken during the fiscal year pre17 ceding the date of the report through the Small 

18 Business Development Center Program estab19 lished under section 21 (in this section referred 

20 to as the ‘Program’)— 

21 ‘‘(i) the number of individuals coun22 seled or trained through the Program; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the total number of hours of 

24 counseling and training services provided 

25 through the Program; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the demographics of participants 

2 in the Program, which shall include the 

3 gender, race, and age of each such partici4 pant; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the number of participants in 

6 the Program who are veterans; 

7 ‘‘(v) the number of new businesses 

8 started by participants in the Program; 

9 ‘‘(vi) to the extent practicable, the 

10 number of jobs supported, created, or re11 tained with assistance from the Program; 

12 ‘‘(vii) the amount of capital secured 

13 by participants in the Program, including 

14 through loans and equity investment; 

15 ‘‘(viii) the number of participants in 

16 the Program receiving financial assistance, 

17 including the type and dollar amount, 

18 under a loan program of the Administra19 tion; 

20 ‘‘(ix) an estimate of gross receipts, in21 cluding (to the extent practicable) a de22 scription of any change in revenue, of 

23 small business concerns assisted through 

24 the Program; 


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1 ‘‘(x) the number of referrals of indi2 viduals to other resources and programs of 

3 the Administration; 

4 ‘‘(xi) the results of satisfaction sur5 veys of participants in the Program, in6 cluding a summary of any comments re7 ceived from such participants; and 

8 ‘‘(xii) any recommendations by the 

9 Administrator to improve the delivery of 

10 services by the Program. 

11 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 ‘‘(A) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘cov13 ered program’ means a program authorized 

14 under section 7(j), 7(m), 8(a), 8(b)(1), 21, 22, 

15 29, 32, or 34 of this Act. 

16 ‘‘(B) ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT

17 ACTIVITY.—The term ‘entrepreneurial develop18 ment activity’ means an activity related to the 

19 delivery of entrepreneurial development services, 

20 entrepreneurial education, or support for the 

21 development and maintenance of business train22 ing services carried out through a covered pro23 gram.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. MARKETING OF SERVICES. 

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

3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(o) NO PROHIBITION OF MARKETING OF SERV5 ICES.—An applicant receiving a grant under this section 

6 may use up to 10 percent of their budget to market and 

7 advertise the services of such applicant to individuals and 

8 small business concerns.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION BY THE SMALL BUSINESS DE10 VELOPMENT CENTER ASSOCIATION. 

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

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

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

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

15 and 

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

17 following: ‘‘, and (iv) governing data collection ac18 tivities related to applicants receiving grants under 

19 this section’’. 

20 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION.—Sec21 tion 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as 

22 amended by section 3 of this Act, is further amended by 

23 adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(p) ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION.—The 

25 Administrator shall annually submit to the Committee on 

26 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

2 the Senate a report on any data collection activities related 

3 to the Small Business Development Center Program.’’. 

4 (c) WORKING GROUP TO IMPROVE DATA COLLEC5 TION.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT AND STUDY.—The Admin7 istrator of the Small Business Administration shall 

8 establish a group to be known as the ‘‘Data Collec9 tion Working Group’’ consisting of entrepreneurial 

10 development grant recipients, the associations and 

11 organizations representing such recipients, and offi12 cials from the Small Business Administration, to 

13 carry out a study to determine the best methods for 

14 conducting data collection activities and create or re15 vise existing systems dedicated to data collection. 

16 (2) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 

17 180-day period beginning on the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Data Collection Working 

19 Group shall issue a report to the Committee on 

20 Small Business of the House of Representatives and 

21 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre22 neurship of the Senate containing the findings and 

23 determinations made in carrying out the study re24 quired under paragraph (1), including— 


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1 (A) recommendations for revising existing 

2 data collection practices for the Small Business 

3 Development Center Program; and 

4 (B) a proposed plan for the Administrator 

5 of the Small Business Administration to imple6 ment such recommendations. 

7 SEC. 5. FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO8 SPONSORSHIPS. 

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

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

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(D) FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND

13 COSPONSORSHIPS.—A small business development 

14 center that participates in a private partnership or 

15 cosponsorship, in which the Administrator or des16 ignee of the Administrator also participates, may 

17 collect fees or other income related to the operation 

18 of such private partnership or cosponsorship.’’. 

19 SEC. 6. EQUITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN20 TERS. 

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

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

23 to read as follows: 

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

25 available in any fiscal year to carry out this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Jan 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6445.IH H6445

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1 tion, not more than $600,000 may be used by 

2 the Administration to pay expenses enumerated 

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

4 20(a)(1).’’. 

5 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS. 

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

7 U.S.C. 648(a)(7)(A)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘or telephone number’’ and in9 serting ‘‘, telephone number, or email address’’; and 

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

11 such assistance, to any State, local, or Federal agen12 cy, or to any third party’’ after ‘‘receiving assistance 

13 under this section’’. 

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

15 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

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

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

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

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

21 center operating pursuant to section 29,’’; 

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

23 center operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 

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

25 centers operating pursuant to section 29’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(q) LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS.—Except 

3 for not-for-profit institutions of higher education, and not4 withstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator 

5 may not award a grant or contract to, or enter into a coop6 erative agreement with, an entity under this section unless 

7 that entity— 

8 ‘‘(1) received a grant or contract from, or en9 tered into a cooperative agreement with, the Admin10 istrator under this section before the date of the en11 actment of this subsection; and 

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

13 cooperative agreement after such date.’’. 

14 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 

15 made by this section may not be construed as prohibiting 

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

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

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

19 Business Act. 

20 SEC. 9. MANAGEMENT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES. 

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

22 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)), as amended by section 4, is further 

23 amended— 

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

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


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1 parties,’’ and inserting ‘‘upon with the full participa2 tion of all parties (including the association author3 ized in subparagraph (A)), and carried out’’; 

4 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and de5 velop’’ and inserting ‘‘and negotiate the development 

6 of’’; and 

7 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘Whereas’’; 

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘Program’’ after ‘‘Cen10 ter’’; 

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

12 ‘‘national’’; and 

13 (D) by moving such subparagraph 2 ems 

14 to the left. 

15 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FOR16 MULA GRANTS RECEIVED BY STATES. 

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

18 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)) is amended— 

19 (1) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘subparagraph’’ 

20 and all that follows through the period at the end 

21 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph $175,000,000 for each 

22 of fiscal years 2022 through 2025.’’; and 

23 (2) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘shall reserve 

24 not less than $1,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘shall re25 serve not more than $2,000,000’’. 


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1 SEC. 11. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO MATCHING FUNDS. 

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

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

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

5 evidenced by good faith assertions from the applicant, and 

6 the expenditure of matching funds shall not be made a 

7 prerequisite of the reimbursement of Federal funds, not8 withstanding the final reconciliation payment for the close9 out of each award.’’. 

10 SEC. 12. CONTRACT PREREQUISITES. 

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

12 U.S.C. 648(a)(5)(B)) is amended by striking the second 

13 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘Each contract shall 

14 be deemed approved under subparagraph (A) unless the 

15 Associate Administrator certifies in writing within 15 

16 business days after award of the contract that the contract 

17 will not provide assistance to small business concerns and 

18 that performance of the contract will hinder the small 

19 business development center in carrying out the terms of 

20 the grant received by the small business development cen21 ter under this section.’’. 

22 SEC. 13. DUTIES OF THE ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR 

23 SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

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

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

26 following new subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(C) MARKETING.—The Associate Admin2 istrator for Small Business Development Cen3 ters shall market and advertise the Small Busi4 ness Development Center Program and partici5 pants in such Program as a resource available 

6 to any Federal program providing assistance to 

7 small business concerns, including the FAST 

8 program established under section 34.’’. 

9 SEC. 14. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

10 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

11 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

12 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

13 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

14 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

15 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro16 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

17 vote on passage. 

Æ 


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