Title: Women and Minority Equity Investment Act of 2019
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Women and Minority Equity Investment Act of 2019
This bill modifies eligibility requirements for Small Business Administration (SBA) contracting opportunities available to a woman- or minority-owned business.
Currently, to be eligible for certain SBA programs, a woman or minority business owner must own an unconditional majority (at least 51%) of their business. However, the bill allows a woman- or minority-owned small business to maintain its contracting eligibility in the event a venture capital or private equity firm purchases an ownership stake in the business, so long as the purchasing enterprise is also owned by either a woman or minority.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1981 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1981

 To modify the unconditional ownership requirement for women-owned and 
  minority-owned small business concerns for purposes of procurement 
    contracts with the Small Business Administration, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 2019

Ms. Cantwell (for herself and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 
                          and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To modify the unconditional ownership requirement for women-owned and 
  minority-owned small business concerns for purposes of procurement 
    contracts with the Small Business Administration, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Women and Minority Equity Investment 
Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. MODIFYING UNCONDITIONAL OWNERSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR WOMEN-OWNED 
              AND MINORITY-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

    (a) In General.--Section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
637) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(4)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding 
                clause (i), by striking ``For purposes'' and inserting 
                ``Except as provided in subparagraph (C), for 
                purposes'';
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
                subparagraph (D); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
                following:
            ``(C) For purposes of determining eligibility for an award 
        under this subsection, the term `socially and economically 
        disadvantaged small concern' includes any small business 
        concern that meets the requirements of subparagraph (B) and--
                    ``(i) for which less than 51 percent is 
                unconditionally owned by 1 or more socially and 
                economically disadvantaged individuals or by an entity 
                described in subclause (II) or (III) of subparagraph 
                (A)(i) because the small business concern--
                            ``(I) is not more than 50 percent owned and 
                        controlled by 1 or more equity investment or 
                        venture capital firms; or
                            ``(II) is not less than 51 percent owned 
                        and controlled by 1 or more equity investment 
                        or venture capital firms owned by 1 or more 
                        socially disadvantaged individuals or by an 
                        entity described in subclause (II) or (III) of 
                        subparagraph (A)(i); or
                    ``(ii) in the case of any publicly owned business, 
                for which less than 51 percent of the stock is 
                unconditionally owned by 1 or more socially and 
                economically disadvantaged individuals or by an entity 
                described in subclause (II) or (III) of subparagraph 
                (A)(ii) because the small business concern--
                            ``(I) is not more than 50 percent owned and 
                        controlled by 1 or more equity investment or 
                        venture capital firms; or
                            ``(II) is not less than 51 percent owned 
                        and controlled by 1 or more equity investment 
                        or venture capital firms owned by 1 or more 
                        socially disadvantaged individuals or by an 
                        entity described in subclause (II) or (III) of 
                        subparagraph (A)(ii);''; and
            (2) in subsection (m)(1), by striking subparagraph (B) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(B) Small business concern owned and controlled 
                by women.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `small business 
                        concern owned and controlled by women'--
                                    ``(I) has the meaning given the 
                                term in section 3(n); and
                                    ``(II) includes a small business 
                                concern described in subclause (I) for 
                                which less than 51 percent is 
                                unconditionally owned by 1 or more 
                                women because the small business 
                                concern--
                                            ``(aa) is not more than 50 
                                        percent owned and controlled by 
                                        1 or more equity investment or 
                                        venture capital firms; or
                                            ``(bb) is not less than 51 
                                        percent owned and controlled by 
                                        1 or more equity investment or 
                                        venture capital firms owned by 
                                        women.
                            ``(ii) Ownership.--For purposes of clause 
                        (i), ownership shall be determined without 
                        regard to any community property law.''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 
shall promulgate regulations to amend parts 124 and 127 of chapter I of 
title 13, Code of Federal Regulations, to carry out the amendments made 
by subsection (a).
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