I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1774 
To amend the Small Business Act to provide for improvements to small 
business development centers, the women’s business center program, the 
SCORE program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 29, 2017 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself and Mr. CHABOT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 
A BILL 
To amend the Small Business Act to provide for improve-
ments to small business development centers, the wom-
en’s business center program, the SCORE program, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Developing the Next Generation of Small Businesses Act 
of 2017’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act are as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS 
IMPROVEMENTS 
Sec. 101. Short title. 
Sec. 102. Use of authorized entrepreneurial development programs. 
Sec. 103. Marketing of services. 
Sec. 104. Data collection. 
Sec. 105. Fees from private partnerships and cosponsorships. 
Sec. 106. Equity for small business development centers. 
Sec. 107. Confidentiality requirements. 
Sec. 108. Limitation on award of grants to small business development centers. 
TITLE II—WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTERS PROGRAM 
IMPROVEMENTS 
Sec. 201. Short title. 
Sec. 202. Office of Women’s Business Ownership. 
Sec. 203. Women’s Business Center Program. 
Sec. 204. Matching requirements under Women’s Business Center Program. 
TITLE III—SCORE PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION 
Sec. 301. Short title. 
Sec. 302. SCORE reauthorization. 
Sec. 303. SCORE program. 
Sec. 304. Online component. 
Sec. 305. Study and report on the future role of the score program. 
Sec. 306. Technical and conforming amendments. 
TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS DE-
VELOPMENT 
CENTERS 
IM-
PROVEMENTS 
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Devel-
opment Centers Improvement Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 102. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL-
OPMENT PROGRAMS. 
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 47 as section 48; 
and 
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(2) by inserting after section 46 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 47. USE OF AUTHORIZED ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVEL-
OPMENT PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) EXPANDED SUPPORT FOR ENTREPRENEURS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the Administrator shall only use 
the programs authorized in sections 7(j), 7(m), 8(a), 
8(b)(1), 21, 22, 29, and 32 of this Act, and sections 
358 and 389 of the Small Business Investment Act 
to deliver entrepreneurial development services, en-
trepreneurial education, support for the development 
and maintenance of clusters, or business training. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—This section shall not apply 
to services provided to assist small business concerns 
owned by an Indian tribe (as such term is defined 
in section 8(a)(13)). 
‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the first De-
cember 1 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 
the Administrator shall annually report to the Committee 
on Small Business of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 
of the Senate on all entrepreneurial development activities 
undertaken in the current fiscal year. This report shall 
include— 
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‘‘(1) a description and operating details for 
each program and activity; 
‘‘(2) operating circulars, manuals, and standard 
operating procedures for each program and activity; 
‘‘(3) a description of the process used to award 
grants under each program and activity; 
‘‘(4) a list of all awardees, contractors, and ven-
dors (including organization name and location) and 
the amount of awards for the current fiscal year for 
each program and activity; 
‘‘(5) the amount of funding obligated for the 
current fiscal year for each program and activity; 
and 
‘‘(6) the names and titles for those individuals 
responsible for each program and activity.’’. 
SEC. 103. MARKETING OF SERVICES. 
Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(o) NO PROHIBITION OF MARKETING OF SERV-
ICES.—The Administrator shall not prohibit applicants re-
ceiving grants under this section from marketing and ad-
vertising their services to individuals and small business 
concerns.’’. 
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SEC. 104. DATA COLLECTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21(a)(3)(A) of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(3)(A)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘as provided in this section 
and’’ and inserting ‘‘as provided in this section,’’; 
and 
(2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
following: ‘‘, and (iv) governing data collection ac-
tivities related to applicants receiving grants under 
this section’’. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION.—Sec-
tion 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as 
amended by section 103 of this Act, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(p) ANNUAL REPORT ON DATA COLLECTION.—The 
Administrator shall report annually to the Committee on 
Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 
the Senate on any data collection activities related to the 
Small Business Development Center program.’’. 
(c) WORKING GROUP TO IMPROVE DATA COLLEC-
TION.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT AND STUDY.—The Admin-
istrator of the Small Business Administration shall 
establish a Data Collection Working Group con-
sisting of members from entrepreneurial develop-
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ment grant recipients associations and organizations 
and Administration officials, to carry out a study to 
determine the best way to capture data collection 
and create or revise existing systems dedicated to 
data collection. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 
180-day period beginning on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Data Collection Working 
Group shall issue a report to the Committee on 
Small Business of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre-
neurship of the Senate containing the findings and 
determinations made in carrying out the study re-
quired under paragraph (1), including— 
(A) recommendations for revising existing 
data collection practices; and 
(B) a proposed plan for the Small Busi-
ness Administration to implement such rec-
ommendations. 
SEC. 105. FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO-
SPONSORSHIPS. 
Section 21(a)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 648(a)(3)(C)), as amended by section 104, is fur-
ther amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(D) FEES FROM PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND CO-
SPONSORSHIPS.—Participation in private partnerships 
and cosponsorships with the Administration shall not limit 
small business development centers from collecting fees or 
other income related to the operation of such private part-
nerships and cosponsorships.’’. 
SEC. 106. EQUITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 
CENTERS. 
Subclause (I) of section 21(a)(4)(C)(v) of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)(v)) is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(I) 
IN
GENERAL.—Of 
the 
amounts made available in any fiscal 
year to carry out this section not 
more than $600,000 may be used by 
the Administration to pay expenses 
enumerated in subparagraphs (B) 
through (D) of section 20(a)(1).’’. 
SEC. 107. CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 21(a)(7)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 648(a)(7)(A)) is amended by inserting after 
‘‘under this section’’ the following: ‘‘to any State, local or 
Federal agency, or third party’’. 
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SEC. 108. LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS TO SMALL 
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21 of the Small Business 
Act (15 U.S.C. 648), as amended by section 4, is further 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘any wom-
en’s business center operating pursuant to section 
29,’’; 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(q) LIMITATION ON AWARD OF GRANTS.—Except 
for not-for-profit institutions of higher education, and not-
withstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator 
may not award grants (including contracts and coopera-
tive agreements) under this section to any entity other 
than those that received grants (including contracts and 
cooperative agreements) under this section prior to the 
date of the enactment of this subsection, and that seek 
to renew such grants (including contracts and cooperative 
agreements) after such date.’’. 
(b) RULE
OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments 
made by this section may not be construed as prohibiting 
a women’s business center from receiving a subgrant from 
an entity receiving a grant under section 21 of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648). 
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TITLE 
II—WOMEN’S 
BUSINESS 
CENTERS 
PROGRAM 
IM-
PROVEMENTS 
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s Business 
Centers Improvements Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 202. OFFICE OF WOMEN’S BUSINESS OWNERSHIP. 
Section 29(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
656(g)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraphs 
(B) and (C) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibil-
ities of the Assistant Administrator shall be to 
administer the programs and services of the Of-
fice of Women’s Business Ownership. 
‘‘(C) DUTIES.—The Assistant Adminis-
trator shall perform the following functions 
with respect to the Office of Women’s Business 
Ownership: 
‘‘(i) Recommend the annual adminis-
trative and program budgets of the Office 
and eligible entities receiving a grant 
under the Women’s Business Center Pro-
gram. 
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