jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2016-04-28 00:00:00

Investing in America's Small Businesses Act of 2016

 This bill amends the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to require the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to make grants to community development financial institutions to enable such institutions to establish a loan-loss reserve fund to defray the costs of a small business loan program.

The bill defines "small business loan program" as a program in which a community development financial institution offers loans to small businesses that: (1) are made in amounts up to $50,000, (2) have no prepayment penalty, and (3) meet any affordability requirements established by Administrator of the Fund.

A community development financial institution must provide non-federal matching funds equal to 50% of the amount of any grant received.

The bill prohibits the use of such grants to make direct loans to small businesses.

A community development financial institution may use such a grant to: (1) help recapture a portion or all of a defaulted loan made under its small business loan program, and (2) designate and utilize a fiscal agent for services the agent normally provides.

The Fund shall make technical assistance grants to community development financial institutions to create, support, or maintain such a program.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2016-07-07 00:00:00

Small Business Access to Capital Act of 2016 This bill amends the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 to extend for an additional eight fiscal years the State Small Business Credit Initiative to assist participating states to give collateral support and other innovative credit access and guarantee initiatives for small business concerns and manufacturers.

The bill prescribes allocations of federal funds to participating states.

Treasury may award, on a competitive basis, up to a total of $1 billion in two tranches, according to specified criteria, to participating states and consortiums of participating states for use: (1) for making federal contributions to, or for the account of, an approved state program; or (2) as collateral for a qualifying loan or swap funding facility.

The State Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010 is amended to revise minimum program requirements for state capital access programs.

Treasury may not approve any state capital access program that fails to include a plan that promotes a fair share of federal contributions to be used to strengthen and increase economic opportunities for small business concerns in low-and moderate-income, minority, and other underserved communities and women- and minority-owned small business concerns.

In making a determination that a state other credit support program is eligible for federal contributions to, or for the account of, the state program, Treasury shall take into account the extent to which the state plans to use these contributions to provide access to capital for small business concerns in low- and moderate-income, minority, and other underserved communities and to women- and minority-owned small businesses, and the extent to which resulting small business lending will expand economic opportunities for such communities and such concerns.

The bill revises the mandatory contents of each participating state's annual report to Treasury on its capital access program.

Treasury shall:

 consult with the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) of the Departmental Offices of Treasury, among others, on the administration of the state capital access program; and ensure adequate oversight of the approved state programs to ensure efforts to expand economic opportunity for minority- and women-owned small business concerns. Treasury shall also:

 consult with the OMWI in issuing such regulations and other guidance to implement the Act; and in issuing these regulations, seek public input from community, civil rights, consumer advocates, small business advocates, and other interested or affected parties.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2016-07-08 00:00:00

Strengthening Technical Assistance, Resources, and Training to Unleash the Potential of Veterans Act of 2016 or the STARTUP Vets Act of 2016

This bill amends the Small Business Act to require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make two-year renewable grants to create and operate incubators and accelerators that provide technical assistance and training to covered individuals on how to become successful entrepreneurs and form small business concerns.

Such program shall be considered an SBA management and technical assistance training program.

Program outreach materials shall be made available at local Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.

"Covered individual" means:

 a member of the Armed Forces, without regard to whether he or she participates in the Transition Assistance Program of the Department of Defense; an individual who is participating in the Transition Assistance Program; an individual who served on active duty in any branch of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard and Reserves, and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable; and a spouse or dependent.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Small Business Start-up Savings Accounts Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for tax-preferred Small Business Start-up Savings Accounts to pay for trade or business expenses, including the purchase of equipment or facilities, marketing, training, incorporation, and accounting fees. The bill allows annual nondeductible contributions to such accounts of up to $10,000, subject to a $150,000 limit on total contributions to the account and adjustments for inflation after 2017. The bill sets forth rules for the tax treatment of contributions to and rollovers or distributions from the accounts, similar to rules governing individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Qualified distributions from the accounts are excluded from gross income.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Mom and Pop SHOP Act of 2016 or the Mom and Mom SHOP Act of 2016 or the Pop and Pop SHOP Act of 2016

This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to make eligible for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP health insurance exchange) an individual (and his or her spouse or domestic partner) who owns, or is a partner in, a business that has no employees.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-01-07 00:00:00

Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2015

Amends the Paperwork Reduction Act to direct agency heads not to impose civil fines for first-time paperwork violations by small businesses unless there is potential for serious harm to the public interest, the detection of criminal activity would be impaired, the violation is not corrected within six months, the violation is a violation of internal revenue law or a law concerning the assessment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue, or receipt, or the violation presents a danger to the public health or safety. Permits an agency to determine that a fine should not be imposed for a violation that presents a danger to public health or safety if the violation is corrected within 24 hours after receipt by the small business owner of notification of the violation.

Makes this Act inapplicable to any violation by a small business of a requirement regarding the collection of information by an agency if the small business previously violated any requirement concerning the collection of information by that agency.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-01-07 00:00:00

Transparency in Small Business Assistance Act

 Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to collect, for specified periods, information from small businesses that receive SBA assistance, including a loan, loan guarantee, grant, or counseling services.

Requires such information to include: (1) the operational status of the small business and, if it is no longer operational, the reason for closure; (2) the number of part- and full-time employees; and (3) the number of referrals that SBA makes to another federal assistance program if it is unable to provide assistance to the business.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Health
Date: 2015-01-26 00:00:00

Small Business Health Relief Act of 2015

Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that: (1) impose fines on large employers (those with 50 or more full-time employees) who fail to offer their full-time employees the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential health insurance coverage, and (2) require large employers to file a report with the Department of the Treasury on health insurance coverage provided to their full-time employees.

Repeals provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that: (1) limit the annual deductible on health plans offered in the small group market, (2) deem catastrophic plans to meet essential health benefits coverage requirements for certain individuals, and (3) impose an annual fee on health insurance entities.

Deems high deductible health plans to meet essential health benefits coverage requirements if the enrollee has established a health savings account.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to repeal the limitation on premium rate variance by age in the individual or small group market.

Repeals the prohibitions on payments for over-the-counter medications from health savings accounts, medical savings accounts, and health flexible spending arrangements.

Repeals the $2,500 annual limit on employee contributions by salary reduction to a health flexible spending arrangement under a cafeteria plan.

Allows a health plan to maintain its status as a grandfathered health plan regardless of any modification to cost-sharing, employer contribution rates, or covered benefits. Makes this allowance effective as if included in PPACA.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-02-03 00:00:00

Start-up Jobs and Innovation Act

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the increase to $500,000 of the expensing allowance for business assets, including computer software, and the treatment of qualified real property as depreciable business property; (2) make permanent the 100% exclusion from gross income of gain from the sale or exchange of small business stock; (3) increase and equalize the tax deduction for business start-up expenses and organizational expenditures; (4) increase from $5 million to $10 million the gross receipt test used to determine the eligibility of small businesses to use simplified cash accounting and inventory rules; and (5) exempt from passive loss rules any research activity carried on by a high technology research small business pass-thru entity.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-02-24 00:00:00

Small Business Investment Company Capital Act of 2015

 (Sec. 2) Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to increase from $225 million to $350 million the maximum amount of outstanding leverage to be made available by the Small Business Administration to two or more commonly controlled small business investment companies not under capital impairment.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-03-24 00:00:00

Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act of 2015

Requires each federal agency to establish a plan for the periodic review (every nine years) of: (1) its rules that have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, and (2) any small entity compliance guide required to be published by an agency. Sets forth criteria for review of a rule, including the continued need for the rule, the complexity of the rule, and the economic impact of the rule on small entities. Requires: (1) each agency to publish in the Federal Register and on the agency website a list of the rules and small entity compliance guides to be reviewed under the plan, and (2) the agency Inspector General to determine whether the agency has conducted the required review.

Provides that each covered rule (i.e., any rule for which an agency is required to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis and which is a major rule) promulgated by an agency shall cease to have effect seven years after the final version of such rule is published unless renewed by the agency using the notice and comment rulemaking process.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-04-15 00:00:00

Small Business Disaster Reform Act of 2015

 Amends the Small Business Act with respect to obtaining the best available collateral for a disaster loan of up to $200,000 relating to damage to or destruction of the property of, or economic injury to, a small business. Prohibits the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), in obtaining such collateral, from requiring the small business owner to use the owner's primary residence as collateral if the owner has other assets with a value equal to or greater than the loan amount that could be used.

Allows the Administrator to authorize a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to provide assistance to small businesses outside the state of that SBDC, without regard to geographical proximity, if the small business is in a declared major disaster area.

Expresses the sense of Congress that the Administrator shall ensure that a SBDC is appropriately reimbursed for any legitimate expenses in carrying out such assistance.

Directs the Administrator to increase oversight of small businesses receiving economic injury disaster loans, including random site visits and random reviews of loan usage. Expresses the sense of Congress that no additional federal funds shall be made available for such increased oversight.

Expresses the sense of Congress that the Administrator should: (1) reduce paperwork burdens on small businesses applying for SBA disaster assistance loans; and (2) ensure that the application for such assistance facilitates deterring and detecting potential instances of waste, fraud, and abuse. Requires the Administrator to take steps to reduce such paperwork.

Requires a report from the Administrator to specified congressional committees relating to the creation of a web portal to track the status of applications for SBA disaster assistance.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-04-15 00:00:00

Small Business Fairness Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Small Business Act to revise requirements with respect to solicitation of offers for bundled contracts issued by the head of a federal agency that allows a small business to submit an offer (bid) that provides for the use of a particular team of subcontractors for the performance of the contract.

The small business may now also bid on a bundled or consolidated contract that provides for the use of a joint venture of small businesses.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), with respect to either a single or a multiple contract award, must evaluate teams and joint ventures of small business concerns by considering their prior experience and past performance as well as (according to current law) their capabilities.

For certain federal procurement contracts awarded to a team of small business prime contractors and subcontractors or a joint venture of small businesses, the contracting officer must certify annually to the SBA, for each year the contract is in effect, that each small business member of the team or joint venture has the same status of a small business, small business owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone small business, small business owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, or small business owned and controlled by women, as applicable, that it had at the time the contract was awarded.

This requirement shall not apply to a contract awarded to a joint venture of small businesses that is a protege under a SBA approved mentor-protege program.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-04-15 00:00:00

Small Business Innovation Impact Act

This bill requires the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to submit an analysis, using existing resources, to specified congressional committees on:

 the investment of small businesses in developing new and useful inventions and obtaining patents on them; the importance of university technology transfer to small businesses; the use of patent licensing arrangements by them; the impact of patent ownership for small businesses on attracting outside investment, creating new jobs, protecting against foreign infringing goods, and competing against larger businesses; and the impact on small businesses from patent-related demand letters and civil actions arising under federal law relating to patent infringement.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-04-15 00:00:00

Commercial Real Estate and Economic Development Act of 2015 or the CREED Act of 2015

 (Sec. 2) Reinstates the authority for Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest refinancing of small business debt not involving business expansion under the SBA's local development business loan program, effective:

 on and after enactment of this Act, and during any fiscal year in which the federal government's cost in making loan guarantees under such program is zero. Repeals a provision of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 that terminated such authority as of September 27, 2012.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-04-15 00:00:00

Communicating Lender Activity Reports from the Small Business Administration Act or the CLEAR SBA Act

(Sec. 2) Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make publicly available a user-friendly database of information relating to lenders making loans under such Act or the Small Business Investment Act of 1958.

Requires the SBA to: (1) include in the database information on such loans made during FY2009-FY2015, and (2) incorporate information relating to such loans on an ongoing basis.

Prohibits the SBA from requiring lenders to submit additional information or to otherwise increase burdens on lenders in order to comply with this Act.

Expresses the sense of Congress that no additional funds should be made available to carry out this Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-04-16 00:00:00

Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2015

 (Sec. 2) Amends the Small Business Act with respect to the authority of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to use certain SBA programs, including the small business development center (SBDC) program, to provide grants, financial assistance, loans, export assistance, and subcontracting opportunities on federal contracts to specified small businesses, organizations, state governments, universities, companies, and other entities that assist smaller enterprises.

Declares that the SBA shall only use such programs to deliver entrepreneurial development services, entrepreneurial education, support for the development and maintenance of clusters, or business training.

 Makes such program requirements inapplicable to:

 services provided to assist small businesses owned by an Indian tribe; activities and programs in support of members of the Armed Forces (including the Army National Guard, the Army Reserve, the Navy Reserve, the Marine Corps Reserve, the Air National Guard, the Air Force Reserve, and the Coast Guard), a veteran, or a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces or a veteran; or the Microenterprise Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Program, the State Trade and Export Promotion Grant Program, and the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program. (Sec. 3) Bars the SBA from prohibiting grant recipients under the SBDC program from marketing and advertising their services to individuals and small businesses.

(Sec. 4) Directs the SBA to consult with SBDC associations to develop documents governing data collection activities related to grant recipients.

(Sec. 5) Prohibits participation in private partnerships and cosponsorships with the SBA from limiting SBDCs from collecting fees or other income related to the operation of such partnerships and cosponsorships.

(Sec. 6) Removes a limitation on the amount of funds the SBA may use to pay the examination expenses of the SBDC accreditation program.

(Sec. 7) Authorizes the SBA to permit a SBDC to provide advice, information, and assistance to small businesses outside the SBDC's state, without regard to geographic proximity, if the small business is in a declared major disaster area.

(Sec. 8) Revises privacy requirements under the program to specify that SBDCs (including consortia and affiliated contractors or agents) are prohibited, subject to existing exceptions, from disclosing certain identifying information of any individual or small business receiving assistance to any state, local, or federal agency or third party.

(Sec. 9) Prohibits the SBA from awarding grants (including contracts and cooperative agreements) under the SBDC program to any entity other than those that: (1) received such grants before September 30, 2015; and (2) seek to renew them after such date. Exempts not-for-profit institutions of higher education from such prohibition.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-04-16 00:00:00

SCORE for Small Business Act of 2015

 (Sec. 2) Amends the Small Business Act to reauthorize the SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) program for FY2015-FY2018 for Small Business Administration (SBA) grants or cooperative agreements that do not exceed a total of $10.5 million in each such fiscal year.

Requires a SCORE program volunteer, based on business experience and knowledge, to:

 provide at no cost to individuals who own, or aspire to own, small businesses personal counseling, mentoring, and coaching relating to the process of starting, expanding, managing, buying, and selling a business; facilitate low-cost education workshops for these individuals; and use appropriate tools, resources, and expertise of other organizations to carry out the SCORE program. Directs the SBA to ensure that the SCORE program and each of its chapters develop and implement plans and goals to more effectively and efficiently provide services to individuals in rural areas, economically disadvantaged communities, and other traditionally underserved communities, including plans for electronic initiatives, web-based initiatives, chapter expansion, partnerships, and development of new skills by SCORE program volunteers.

Bars the SBA and the SCORE Association from disclosing certain personal identifying information on any individual or small business receiving SCORE Association's assistance without the individual's or small business's consent, unless the SBA:

 is ordered to make such a disclosure by a court in any civil or criminal enforcement action initiated by a federal or state agency; or determines such a disclosure to be necessary to conduct a financial audit of the SCORE program, in which case the disclosure shall be limited to the information necessary for the audit. Exempts from these privacy requirements SBA access to program activity data or SBA use of client information to conduct client surveys.

Prohibits the SBA, in carrying out the Entrepreneurship Education Program during each of FY2016-FY2018, from obligating: (1) more than $5 million, and (2) less than $2.5 million to carry out the Emerging Leaders Initiatives.