II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1663 

To amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to reauthorize the 

New Markets Venture Capital Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 19, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) 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 

reauthorize the New Markets Venture Capital 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 ‘‘Securing Equity for 

5 the Economic Development of Low Income Areas Act of 

6 2007’’ or the ‘‘SEED 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 ‘‘low-income geographic area’’ has 

5 the same meaning as in section 351 of the Small 

6 Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689), 

7 as amended by this Act; 

8 (3) the term ‘‘New Markets Venture Capital 

9 company’’ has the same meaning as in section 351 

10 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 

11 U.S.C. 689); and 

12 (4) the term ‘‘New Markets Venture Capital 

13 Program’’ means the program under part B of title 

14 III of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 

15 (15 U.S.C. 689 et seq.). 

16 SEC. 3. DIVERSIFICATION OF NEW MARKETS VENTURE 

17 CAPITAL PROGRAM. 

18 (a) SELECTION OF COMPANIES IN EACH GEO19 GRAPHIC REGION.—Section 354 of the Small Business In20 vestment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689c) is amended by 

21 adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(f) GEOGRAPHIC REQUIREMENT.—In selecting com23 panies to participate as New Markets Venture Capital 

24 companies in the program established under this part, the 

25 Administrator shall select, to the extent practicable, from 


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1 among companies submitting applications under sub2 section (b), at least 1 company from each geographic re3 gion of the Administration.’’. 

4 (b) PARTICIPATION IN NEW MARKETS VENTURE

5 CAPITAL PROGRAM.— 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATION PARTICIPATION RE7 QUIRED.—Section 353 of the Small Business Invest8 ment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689b) is amended in 

9 the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 

10 ‘‘under which the Administrator may’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘under which the Administrator shall’’. 

12 (2) SMALL MANUFACTURER PARTICIPATION

13 AGREEMENTS REQUIRED.—Section 353 of the Small 

14 Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689b) 

15 is amended— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘In accordance with this 

17 part,’’ and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this part,’’; 

19 (B) in subsection (a)(1), as so designated 

20 by this paragraph, by inserting after ‘‘section 

21 352’’ the following: ‘‘(with at least 1 such 

22 agreement to be with a company engaged pri23 marily in development of and investment in 

24 small manufacturers, to the extent prac25 ticable)’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (a)(1) 

3 shall not be construed to authorize the Administrator to 

4 decline to enter into a participation agreement with a com5 pany solely on the basis that the company is not engaged 

6 primarily in development of and investment in small man7 ufacturers.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF NEW MARKETS 

9 VENTURE CAPITAL. 

10 Title II of the Small Business Investment Act of 

11 1958 (15 U.S.C. 671) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 202. OFFICE OF NEW MARKETS VENTURE CAPITAL. 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

15 Investment Division of the Administration, the Office of 

16 New Markets Venture Capital. 

17 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Office of New Markets Ven18 ture Capital shall be headed by a Director, who shall be 

19 a career appointee in the Senior Executive Service, as 

20 those terms are defined in section 3132 of title 5, United 

21 States Code. 

22 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTOR.—The respon23 sibilities of the Director of the Office of New Markets Ven24 ture Capital include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to administer the New Markets Venture 

2 Capital Program under part B of title III; 

3 ‘‘(2) to assess, not less frequently than once 

4 every 2 years, the nature and scope of the New Mar5 kets Venture Capital Program and to advise the Ad6 ministrator on recommended changes to the pro7 gram, based on such assessment; 

8 ‘‘(3) to work to expand the number of small 

9 business concerns participating in the New Markets 

10 Venture Capital Program; and 

11 ‘‘(4) to encourage investment in small manufac12 turing.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. LOW-INCOME GEOGRAPHIC AREAS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 351 of the Small Business 

15 Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and in17 serting the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) LOW-INCOME GEOGRAPHIC AREA.—The 

19 term ‘low-income geographic area’ has the meaning 

20 given the term ‘low-income community’ in section 

21 45D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 

22 to the new markets tax credit).’’; and 

23 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

24 (8) as paragraphs (3) through (7), respectively. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDED DEFINITION TO CAP2 ITAL REQUIREMENT.—The definition of a low-income geo3 graphic area in section 351(2) of the Small Business In4 vestment Act of 1958, as amended by subsection (a), shall 

5 apply to private capital raised under section 354(d)(1) of 

6 the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 

7 689c(d)(1)) before, on, or after the date of enactment of 

8 this Act. 

9 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON TIME FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF 

10 COMPANIES. 

11 Section 354(d) of the Small Business Investment Act 

12 of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689c(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘a 

13 period of time, not to exceed 2 years,’’ and inserting ‘‘2 

14 years’’. 

15 SEC. 7. APPLICATIONS FOR NEW MARKETS VENTURE CAP16 ITAL PROGRAM. 

17 Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, the Administrator shall prescribe standard 

19 documents for an application for final approval by a New 

20 Markets Venture Capital company under section 354(e) 

21 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 

22 689c(e)). The Administrator shall ensure that such docu23 ments are designed to substantially reduce the cost burden 

24 of the application process on a company making such an 

25 application. 


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1 SEC. 8. OPERATIONAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

2 Section 358(a)(4)(A) of the Small Business Invest3 ment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689g(a)(4)(A)) is amended 

4 to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(A) NEW MARKETS VENTURE CAPITAL

6 COMPANIES.—Notwithstanding section 

7 354(d)(2), the amount of a grant made under 

8 this subsection to a New Markets Venture Cap9 ital company shall be equal to the lesser of— 

10 ‘‘(i) 10 percent of the private capital 

11 raised by the company; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) $1,000,000.’’. 

13 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 Section 368(a) of the Small Business Investment Act 

15 of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689q(a)) is amended— 

16 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

17 striking ‘‘fiscal years 2001 through 2006’’ and in18 serting ‘‘fiscal years 2007 through 2010’’; and 

19 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking 

20 ‘‘$30,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000,000’’. 

Æ 


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