II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 957 

To increase access to capital for veteran entrepreneurs to help create jobs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 15, 2015 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. KING, and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To increase access to capital for veteran entrepreneurs to 

help create jobs. 

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 ‘‘Veterans Entrepre5 neurship Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad9 ministrator of the Small Business Administration; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘reserve component’’ means a re2 serve component of the Armed Forces named in sec3 tion 10101 of title 10, United States Code; 

4 (3) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

5 meaning given the term under section 3(a) of the 

6 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)); 

7 (4) the term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given 

8 the term under section 3(q)(4) of the Small Busi9 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q)(4)); 

10 (5) the term ‘‘Veterans Business Outreach Cen11 ter’’ means a veterans business outreach center de12 scribed in section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 657b); and 

14 (6) the term ‘‘women’s business center’’ means 

15 a women’s business center described in section 29 of 

16 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656). 

17 SEC. 3. PERMANENT SBA EXPRESS LOAN GUARANTEE FEE 

18 WAIVER FOR VETERANS. 

19 Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

20 636(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (18)(A), by striking ‘‘With re22 spect’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in para23 graph (31), with respect’’; and 

24 (2) in paragraph (31), by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(G) GUARANTEE FEE WAIVER FOR VET2 ERANS.— 

3 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this subpara4 graph, the term ‘veteran or spouse of a 

5 veteran’ means— 

6 ‘‘(I) a veteran, as defined in sec7 tion 3(q)(4); 

8 ‘‘(II) a member of the Armed 

9 Forces serving on active duty who is 

10 eligible to participate in the Transi11 tion Assistance Program established 

12 under section 1144 of title 10, United 

13 States Code; 

14 ‘‘(III) a member of a reserve 

15 component of the Armed Forces 

16 named in section 10101 of title 10, 

17 United States Code; 

18 ‘‘(IV) the spouse of an individual 

19 described in subclause (I), (II), or 

20 (III); or 

21 ‘‘(V) the surviving spouse of an 

22 individual described in subclause (I), 

23 (II), or (III) who died while serving 

24 on active duty or as a result of a serv25 ice-connected (as defined in section 


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1 101 of title 38, United States Code) 

2 disability. 

3 ‘‘(ii) GUARANTEE FEE WAIVER.—The 

4 Administrator may not assess a guarantee 

5 fee under paragraph (18) in connection 

6 with a loan made under this paragraph to 

7 a veteran or spouse of a veteran on or 

8 after October 1, 2015.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. REPORT ON FINANCIAL PLANNING AND COUN10 SELING FOR OWNERS OF SMALL BUSINESS 

11 CONCERNS IN THE NATIONAL GUARD AND 

12 RESERVES. 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress 

15 a report assessing the feasibility of providing financial 

16 planning and counseling to owners of small business con17 cerns who are members of a reserve component prior to 

18 deployment. 

19 SEC. 5. REPORT ON ACCESSIBILITY AND OUTREACH TO FE20 MALE VETERANS BY THE SMALL BUSINESS 

21 ADMINISTRATION. 

22 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress 

24 a report assessing the level of outreach to and consultation 


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1 with female veterans by women’s business centers and 

2 Veterans Business Outreach Centers. 

3 SEC. 6. REPORT ON THE MILITARY RESERVISTS ECONOMIC 

4 INJURY DISASTER LOAN PROGRAM. 

5 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress 

7 a report on the Military Reservists Economic Injury Dis8 aster Loan Program (in this section referred to as the 

9 ‘‘program’’) authorized under section 7(b)(3) of the Small 

10 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(3)), which shall include— 

11 (1) a discussion of the outreach efforts of the 

12 Small Business Administration to increase participa13 tion in the program; 

14 (2) the number of loans made under the pro15 gram; 

16 (3) an analysis of the effectiveness of the pro17 gram; and 

18 (4) recommendations for improving the pro19 gram. 

Æ 


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