I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1700 
To amend the Small Business Act to reauthorize the SCORE program, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 23, 2017 
Ms. ADAMS (for herself and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Small Business 
A BILL 
To amend the Small Business Act to reauthorize 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SCORE for Small 
Business Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. SCORE REAUTHORIZATION. 
Section 20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 
note) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub-
section (f); and 
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(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) SCORE PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the 
SCORE program authorized by section 8(b)(1) such sums 
as are necessary for the Administrator to make grants or 
enter into cooperative agreements in a total amount that 
does not exceed $10,500,000 in each of fiscal years 2018 
and 2019.’’. 
SEC. 3. SCORE PROGRAM. 
Section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) 
is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘a Serv-
ice Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the SCORE program described in sub-
section (c)’’; and 
(2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(c) SCORE PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) SCORE 
ASSOCIATION.—The term 
‘SCORE Association’ means the Service Corps 
of Retired Executives Association or any suc-
cessor or other organization who receives a 
grant from the Administrator to operate the 
SCORE program under paragraph (2)(A). 
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‘‘(B) 
SCORE 
PROGRAM.—The 
term 
‘SCORE program’ means the SCORE program 
authorized by subsection (b)(1)(B). 
‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT AND VOLUNTEERS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
shall provide a grant to the SCORE Association 
to manage the SCORE program. 
‘‘(B) VOLUNTEERS.—A volunteer partici-
pating in the SCORE program shall— 
‘‘(i) based on the business experience 
and knowledge of the volunteer— 
‘‘(I) provide at no cost to individ-
uals who own, or aspire to own, small 
business concerns personal counseling, 
mentoring, and coaching relating to 
the process of starting, expanding, 
managing, buying, and selling a busi-
ness; and 
‘‘(II) facilitate low-cost education 
workshops for individuals who own, or 
aspire to own, small business con-
cerns; and 
‘‘(ii) as appropriate, use tools, re-
sources, and expertise of other organiza-
tions to carry out the SCORE program. 
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‘‘(3) PLANS AND GOALS.—The Administrator, 
in consultation with the SCORE Association, shall 
ensure that the SCORE program and each chapter 
of the SCORE program develop and implement 
plans and goals to more effectively and efficiently 
provide services to individuals in rural areas, eco-
nomically disadvantaged communities, and other tra-
ditionally underserved communities, including plans 
for electronic initiatives, web-based initiatives, chap-
ter expansion, partnerships, and the development of 
new skills by volunteers participating in the SCORE 
program. 
‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORT.—The SCORE Associa-
tion shall submit to the Administrator an annual re-
port that contains— 
‘‘(A) the number of individuals counseled 
or trained under the SCORE program; 
‘‘(B) the number of hours of counseling 
provided under the SCORE program; and 
‘‘(C) to the extent possible— 
‘‘(i) the number of small business con-
cerns formed with assistance from the 
SCORE program; 
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‘‘(ii) the number of small business 
concerns expanded with assistance from 
the SCORE program; and 
‘‘(iii) the number of jobs created with 
assistance from the SCORE program. 
‘‘(5) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Adminis-
trator nor the SCORE Association may disclose 
the name, address, or telephone number of any 
individual or small business concern receiving 
assistance from the SCORE Association with-
out the consent of such individual or small busi-
ness concern, unless— 
‘‘(i) the Administrator is ordered to 
make such a disclosure by a court in any 
civil or criminal enforcement action initi-
ated by a Federal or State agency; or 
‘‘(ii) the Administrator determines 
such a disclosure to be necessary for the 
purpose of conducting a financial audit of 
the SCORE program, in which case disclo-
sure shall be limited to the information 
necessary for the audit. 
‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATOR USE OF INFORMA-
TION.—This paragraph shall not— 
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‘‘(i) restrict the access of the Adminis-
trator to program activity data; or 
‘‘(ii) prevent the Administrator from 
using client information to conduct client 
surveys. 
‘‘(C) STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 
shall, after the opportunity for notice and 
comment, establish standards for— 
‘‘(I) disclosures with respect to 
financial audits under subparagraph 
(A)(ii); and 
‘‘(II) conducting client surveys, 
including standards for oversight of 
the surveys and for dissemination and 
use of client information. 
‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM
PRIVACY
PROTEC-
TION.—The standards issued under this 
subparagraph shall, to the extent prac-
ticable, provide for the maximum amount 
of privacy protection.’’. 
SEC. 4. ONLINE COMPONENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(c) of the Small Busi-
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c)), as amended by section 3, 
is further amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(6) ONLINE
COMPONENT.—In carrying out 
this subsection, the SCORE Association shall make 
use of online counseling, including by developing and 
implementing webinars and an electronic mentoring 
platform to expand access to services provided under 
this subsection and to further support entre-
preneurs.’’. 
(b) ONLINE COMPONENT REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—At the end of fiscal year 
2018, the SCORE Association shall issue a report to 
the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Small Busi-
ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate on the ef-
fectiveness of the online counseling and webinars re-
quired as part of the SCORE program, including— 
(A) how the SCORE Association deter-
mines electronic mentoring and webinar needs, 
develops training for electronic mentoring, es-
tablishes webinar criteria curricula, and evalu-
ates webinar and electronic mentoring results; 
(B) describing the internal controls that 
are used and a summary of the topics covered 
by the webinars; and 
(C) performance metrics, including the 
number of small business concerns counseled 
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by, the number of small business concerns cre-
ated by, the number of jobs created and re-
tained by, and the funding amounts directed to-
wards such online counseling and webinars. 
(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the terms ‘‘SCORE Association’’ and 
‘‘SCORE program’’ have the meaning given those 
terms, respectively, under section 8(c)(1) of the 
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c)(1)). 
SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF THE 
SCORE PROGRAM. 
(a) STUDY.—The SCORE Association shall carry out 
a study on the future role of the SCORE program and 
develop a strategic plan for how the SCORE program will 
evolve to meet the needs of small business concerns and 
potential future small business concerns over the course 
of the 5 years following the date of enactment of this Act, 
with markers and specific objectives for year 1, year 3, 
and year 5. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 6-month 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the SCORE Association shall issue a report to the Com-
mittee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneur-
ship of the Senate containing— 
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(1) all findings and determination made in car-
rying out the study required under subsection (a); 
(2) the strategic plan developed under sub-
section (a); 
(3) an explanation of how the SCORE Associa-
tion plans to achieve the strategic plan, assuming 
both stagnant and increased funding levels. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
terms ‘‘SCORE Association’’ and ‘‘SCORE program’’ 
have the meaning given those terms, respectively, under 
section 8(c)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
637(c)(1)). 
SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 
(a) SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—The Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 7(m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII) (15 U.S.C. 
636(m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII)), by striking ‘‘Service Corps 
of Retired Executives’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE pro-
gram’’; and 
(2) in section 22 (15 U.S.C. 649)— 
(A) in subsection (b)— 
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking 
‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and 
inserting ‘‘SCORE program’’; and 
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(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 
‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and 
inserting ‘‘SCORE program’’; and 
(B) in subsection (c)(12), by striking 
‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and in-
serting ‘‘SCORE program’’. 
(b) OTHER LAWS.— 
(1) CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM 
REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009.—Section 621 of the 
Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthoriza-
tion Act of 2009 (15 U.S.C. 657p) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a), by striking para-
graph (4) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(4) the term ‘SCORE program’ means the 
SCORE program authorized by section 8(b)(1)(B) 
of 
the 
Small 
Business 
Act 
(15 
U.S.C. 
637(b)(1)(B));’’; and 
(B) in subsection (b)(4)(A)(iv), by striking 
‘‘Service Corps of Retired Executives’’ and in-
serting ‘‘SCORE program’’. 
(2) 
ENERGY
POLICY
AND
CONSERVATION 
ACT.—Section 337(d)(2)(A) of the Energy Policy 
and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6307(d)(2)(A)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Ex-
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ecutives (SCORE)’’ and inserting ‘‘SCORE pro-
gram’’. 
Æ 
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