I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4944 
To require the Small Business Administration to issue licenses under the 
Small Business Investment Act of 1958 within particular time frames, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 31, 2019 
Mr. BURCHETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Small Business 
A BILL 
To require the Small Business Administration to issue li-
censes under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 
within particular time frames, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Invest-
ment Improvement Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. TIMELINES FOR ISSUANCE OF SBIC LICENSES. 
Section 301(c) of the Small Business Investment Act 
of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 681(c)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
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(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(A) STATUS.—The Administrator shall 
provide an applicant with a written report de-
tailing the status of the application and any re-
quirements remaining for completion of the ap-
plication, including any external or internal 
delays— 
‘‘(i) except as provided in clauses (ii) 
and (iii), not later than 120 days after the 
initial receipt by the Administrator of the 
application; 
‘‘(ii) not later than 45 days after the 
initial receipt, if the application is sub-
mitted by a repeat applicant or a non-le-
veraged, non-bank applicant; or 
‘‘(iii) not later than 25 days after the 
initial receipt, if the application is sub-
mitted by a bank-owned applicant.’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (B), in the matter 
preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘Within a rea-
sonable time after receiving’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex-
cept as provided in subparagraph (C), not later 
than 240 days after the date on which the Ad-
ministrator receives’’; and 
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(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(i) REPEAT
APPLICANTS; NON-LE-
VERAGED, 
NON-BANK
APPLICANT.—Not-
withstanding subparagraph (B), not later 
than 90 days after the date on which the 
Administrator receives a completed appli-
cation submitted by a repeat applicant or 
a non-leveraged, non-bank applicant in ac-
cordance with this subsection and in ac-
cordance with such requirements as the 
Administrator may prescribe by regulation, 
the Administrator shall— 
‘‘(I) review the application in its 
entirety; and 
‘‘(II)(aa) approve the application 
and issue a license for such operation 
to the applicant if the requirements of 
this section are satisfied; or 
‘‘(bb) disapprove the application 
and notify the applicant in writing of 
the disapproval. 
‘‘(ii) 
BANK-OWNED
APPLICANTS.— 
Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), not 
later than 45 days after the date on which 
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the Administrator receives a completed ap-
plication submitted by a bank-owned appli-
cant in accordance with this subsection 
and in accordance with such requirements 
as the Administrator may prescribe by reg-
ulation, the Administrator shall— 
‘‘(I) review the application in its 
entirety; and 
‘‘(II)(aa) approve the application 
and issue a license for such operation 
to the applicant if the requirements of 
this section are satisfied; or 
‘‘(bb) disapprove the application 
and notify the applicant in writing of 
the disapproval.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (3)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(ii) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iii) the management of the appli-
cant has successfully passed Federal Bu-
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reau of Investigation background checks 
within the preceding 1-year period;’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B)— 
(i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(ii) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iv) the public interest of approving 
or disapproving the applicant.’’; 
(3) in paragraph (4)(A)— 
(A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(B) in clause (iii), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iv) has successfully passed a Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation background 
check within the preceding 1-year period.’’; 
and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘bank-owned applicant’ 
means an applicant for a license to operate as 
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a small business investment company under this 
Act that— 
‘‘(i) is a national bank or any member 
bank of the Federal Reserve System or 
nonmember insured bank; 
‘‘(ii) bears the same name as the fu-
ture small business investment company; 
‘‘(iii) is domestically domiciled; and 
‘‘(iv) has not had a license under this 
Act revoked or involuntarily surrendered 
during the 10-year period preceding the 
date on which the application is submitted; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘non-leveraged, non-bank 
applicant’ means an applicant for a license to 
operate as a small business investment company 
under this Act that is not bank-owned and that, 
when operational, poses no risk to the Federal 
Government; and 
‘‘(C) the term ‘repeat applicant’ means an 
applicant for a license to operate as a small 
business investment company under this Act 
that— 
‘‘(i) has previously applied for and 
been issued such a license; 
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‘‘(ii) has 50 percent of the same man-
agement team with the 50 percent of the 
same investment committee as when the 
applicant operated as a small business in-
vestment company; 
‘‘(iii) is applying for the same or less 
ratio leverage as when the applicant oper-
ated as a small business investment com-
pany; 
‘‘(iv) has substantially the same in-
vestment strategy as when the applicant 
operated as a small business investment 
company; 
‘‘(v) is not more than 50 percent larg-
er than when the applicant operated as a 
small business investment company; 
‘‘(vi) has not less than 50 percent of 
institutional limited partnerships returning 
from the prior fund to invest in the new 
small business investment company; and 
‘‘(vii) has not had any major findings 
on examinations of the prior fund.’’. 
Æ 
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