zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), in making disaster loans to small businesses, to provide an option to defer repayment on such loans for a period of up to four years. Applies such authority retroactively to any SBA disaster loan that was made: (1) in response to Hurricanes Katrina or Rita; and (2) for a small business located in a county or parish designated by the Administrator as a disaster area by reason of either such hurricane.

Date: 2007-03-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Disadvantaged Business Disaster Eligibility Act - Permits any small business that was participating in a Small Business Administration (SBA) business development program located in a Louisiana parish or Mississippi or Alabama county designated by the SBA Administrator as a disaster area by reason of Hurricane Katrina to continue participation and eligibility in such program for an additional 18 months.

Date: 2007-03-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
8(a) Modernization Act - Amends the Small Business Act to increase the thresholds for the award by the Small Business Administration (SBA) of government procurement and service contracts and subcontracts to certain small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals from: (1) $5 million to $12 million, in the case of small business manufacturers; and (2) $3 million to $10 million, in the case of other small businesses. Requires the SBA Administrator to establish, for each industry classification, a maximum level of net worth for an economically disadvantaged individual (for purposes of eligibility for the contract award program). Prohibits the Administrator from establishing a maximum net worth that prohibits program entry of less than $750,000.

Date: 2007-03-20
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Securing Equity for the Economic Development of Low Income Areas Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), in selecting companies to participate in the New Markets Venture Capital Program (Program), to select at least one company from each geographic region of the SBA. Requires (currently, authorizes) the Administrator to make grants to such companies to be used for loans to new-market small businesses, and to guarantee debentures issued by such companies. Establishes the Office of New Markets Venture Capital, headed by a Director, to administer the Program. Revises the definition of "low income geographic area" for Program eligibility purposes. Requires a study by the SBA's Chief Counsel for Advocacy on the availability of equity capital in low-income urban and rural areas. Authorizes operational assistance grants to conditionally approved companies.

Date: 2007-03-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Expensing Expansion and Permanency Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the expensing allowance (i.e., a tax deduction in the current taxable year) for small business assets to $200,000 and make such allowance permanent; (2) increase the threshold for phaseout of such allowance to $800,000 (cost basis of property placed in service); (3) allow an inflation adjustment to the expensing and threshold amounts beginning after 2007; (4) make permanent the right of a taxpayer to revoke an election to expense; and (5) make permanent the inclusion of certain computer software as property eligible for expensing.

Date: 2007-03-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Credit Union Small Business Lending Act - Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to exclude from the meaning of "member business loan," and thereby from specified limitations on member business loans made by a credit union, certain small business loans made in cooperation with the Small Business Administration (SBA), without regard to whether any portion of such a loan is or is not SBA-guaranteed. Amends the Small Business Act to direct the SBA Administrator to implement a program to: (1) provide outreach and assistance to credit unions to increase their participation in the SBA small business loan program; (2) simplify the application process for such participation; and (3) provide a guaranty of up to 85% for loans made by credit unions to their members in underserved areas.

Date: 2007-03-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Subcontractor Protection Act - Amends the Small Business Act to require a Federal agency to include in contracts awarded pursuant to a subcontracting plan calling for the maximum practicable opportunity for participation by small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals (qualified small businesses) a clause providing for the withholding of a specified amount or percentage of the total contract if the contractor does not achieve the percentage goal for the utilization of the qualified small businesses. Directs the awarding agency to require the contractor to provide written justification for not entering into a subcontract as required under the plan. Directs the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a telephone line or other electronic means of communication through which a qualified small business may inform the SBA of any concerns regarding major deviations by prime contractors from the use of such qualified small businesses.Requires the consideration of the use of such qualified small businesses as subcontractors when determining a contractor's past compliance with other subcontracting plans.

Date: 2007-04-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Amends the Small Business Act to increase the government-wide goal for procurement contracts awarded to small businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone small businesses, and small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals or women to 25 percent (currently, 23 percent) of the total amount of federal procurement contracts awarded in a fiscal year.

Date: 2007-04-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Minority Entrepreneurship Development Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act to establish within the Small Business Administration (SBA) an Office of Minority Small Business Development to, among other things, formulate, execute, and promote SBA policies and programs that provide assistance to small businesses owned and controlled by minorities. Authorizes the SBA Administrator to make grants to eligible educational institutions: (1) to assist in establishing an entrepreneurship curriculum for undergraduate or graduate studies; and (2) for the placement of a small business development center on the campus of the institution. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to eligible associations and organizations to: (1) assist in establishing the technical capacity to provide online or distance learning for businesses seeking to contract with the federal government; (2) develop curriculum for seminars that will provide businesses with the technical expertise for such contracting; and (3) provide training and technical expertise through distance learning to participant business owners and other interested parties. Amends the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 to extend through FY2009 the socially and economically disadvantaged business program.

Date: 2007-04-20
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Disaster Surety Bond Enhancement Act of 2007 - Permits the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), for any federal procurement related to a major disaster, to prescribe, guarantee, and enter into commitments to guarantee any surety against loss resulting from the breach of a bond by a principal on any total work order or contract amount that does not exceed $5 million at the time of bond execution. Allows the Administrator to increase such maximum amount to $10 million upon request of the head of any federal agency other than the SBA. Makes this Act retroactive to any major disaster relating to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, or Wilma.

Date: 2007-04-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Investment and Promotion Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) provide to small business owners and operators of farming or commercial fishing businesses a temporary credit for excessive fuel costs paid or incurred in the operation of such business; (2) make permanent the credit for increasing research activities; and (3) treat as 15-year property for purposes of the depreciation deduction qualified restaurant property, qualified retail improvement property, and certain systems installed in nonresidential buildings. Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2009 for: (1) the Advanced Technology Program; (2) the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE); (3) small business development centers; (4) the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program; and (5) the Women's Business Centers program. Expresses the sense of Congress calling for appropriate funding for the above programs and the Small Business Act's 7(a) loan program. Amends the Small Business Act to include awards for contracts performed outside the United States within the federal government's small business contracting goal.

Date: 2007-05-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
SBA Women's Business Programs Act of 2007 - Title I: National Women's Business Council - Amends the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 to direct the National Women's Business Council to: (1) conduct at least one annual study that evaluates problems hindering the success of women entrepreneurs; and (2) report biannually on its initiatives, policies, programs, and plans. Title II: Women's Business Centers - Amends the Small Business Act relating to the women's business center program (program) to replace the five-year projects for the benefit of small businesses owned and controlled by women with a three-tiered program of five-year (first tier), three-year (second tier), and three-year (third tier) projects, with each tier commencing after the previous tier is being completed. Revises matching funds requirements for such projects. States that organizations that have conducted projects under the program: (1) are not eligible to conduct another such project; and (2) may continue to use the women's business center logo only with the Administrator's consent. Requires notice to the public of women's business center awards.

Date: 2007-05-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
SBDC Colonias Outreach Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize an applicant funded by the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a small business development center (SBDC) and that is in a state along the United States-Mexico border that has individuals residing in colonias (areas comprised of low- or very low-income families and usually lacking basic services such as clean water, roads, sewage, schools, and law enforcement) to apply for grants to provide services to assist with outreach, development, and enhancement of small business startups and expansions within colonias.

Date: 2007-05-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Minority-Owned Venture Empowerment Act of 2007 - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a program, to be known as the Pre-8(a) Program, to provide technical assistance to small businesses with respect to the receipt and performance of federal procurement contracts. Prohibits a participating small business from being awarded a contract under the Program which is awarded using procedures other than competitive procedures under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (wherein the SBA provides for the performance of federal procurement contracts by small, disadvantaged, and minority-owned businesses). Limits to $750,000 the maximum net worth of a small business Program participant. Modifies the 8(a) program under the Small Business Act to require small businesses to complete the Pre-8(a) Program before participating in the 8(a) program. Limits to $100 million the aggregate value of contracts an 8(a) participant may enter into. Requires the Administrator, for the 8(a) program, to establish for each industry classification a maximum level of net worth for an economically disadvantaged individual, but prohibits establishing a net worth of less than $750,000. Makes some small businesses eligible for 8(a) participation in a contract using other than competitive procedures (restricted competition), under certain circumstances. Allows a contracting officer, under specified conditions, to utilize restricted competition in the award of federal procurement contracts for small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Date: 2007-05-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business SOX Compliance Extension Act - Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to modify its regulations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) for annual management assessments of, and reports on, internal financial controls. Requires such regulations to provide that a non-accelerated filer does not have to provide management's report on internal control over financial reporting until it files an annual report for its first fiscal year ending on or after December 15, 2008 (thereby extending the current moratorium on such requirements for small businesses).

Date: 2007-06-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Angels Nurture Growing Entrepreneurs into Long-Term Successes (ANGELS) Act - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to establish within the Investment Division of the Small Business Administration (SBA) the Office of Angel Investment, headed by a Director, to provide support for the development of angel investment opportunities for small businesses. Requires the Director to: (1) establish and carry out a program, to be known as the Angel Finance Program, to provide financing to approved angel groups; (2) establish and maintain a searchable database, to be known as the Federal Angel Network, to assist small businesses in identifying angel investors; and (3) establish and carry out a program to make grants for the development of new or existing angel groups and to increase awareness and education about angel investing. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a small business investment tax credit of 20 percent of the amount paid or incurred for qualified small business investment.

Date: 2007-06-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
SBA Trade Programs Act of 2007 - Title I: Small Business Trade Policy - (Sec. 101) Amends the Small Business Act to require the director of the Office of International Trade (Office) within the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) present recommendations regarding small business exporters to trade negotiators; (2) develop trade policies that support small businesses in domestic and foreign markets; (3) implement trade policies through relationships developed with federal trade policymakers and transnational organizations; (4) establish programs to boost exports of entrepreneurs and encourage transnational organizations to support and publicize such programs; (5) notify the congressional small business committees of pending strategic alliances; and (6) engage in follow-up activities for strategic alliances increasing trade opportunities for small businesses. (Sec. 102) Requires the director to: (1) develop and maintain a small business trade strategy that is contributed as part of the National Export Strategy developed by the Department of Commerce; and (2) report such strategy to the small business committees. (Sec. 103) Requires the director to develop a system to track small business exports and the use by small businesses of federal trade promotion resources. Title II: Trade Compliance Programs - (Sec. 201) Requires the director to design a program that provides technical assistance, counseling services, and reference materials to assist small businesses in navigating the trade dispute and remedy processes. (Sec. 202) Directs the Office to design counseling services for small businesses taking legal action to secure intellectual property protection in foreign countries. Title III: Trade Adjustment Assistance for Small Businesses - (Sec. 301) Directs the SBA to increase outreach and marketing of international trade loans to district offices and private lenders. (Sec. 302) Requires the director to establish a comprehensive set of services to assist small business trade readjustment. Title IV: Export Assistance - (Sec. 401) Directs the Office to increase by at least six the number of trade finance specialists at Export Assistance Centers. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the director to carry out a national study to compare the rates of exports from each state and major metropolitan region to the availability of SBA staff participating in Export Assistance Centers in such state or region. (Sec. 402) Increases SBA loan limits for small and medium-sized exporters participating in export working capital and international trade programs. Title V: Authorization of Appropriations - (sec. 501) Authorizes appropriations.

Date: 2007-07-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Liability Reform Act of 2007 - Allows punitive damages against a small business only if the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that conduct carried out by the defendant with a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of others was the proximate cause of the harm that is the subject of the action. States that in any civil action against a small business: (1) each defendant shall be liable only for the amount of noneconomic loss allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to the percentage of responsibility of that defendant for the harm caused to the plaintiff; and (2) the court shall render a separate judgment against each defendant describing such percentage of responsibility.Excepts from such liability limitations specified misconduct of a defendant.

Date: 2007-07-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Microloan Amendments and Modernization Act - Title I: Microloan - (Sec. 101) Amends the Small Business Act with regard to the Microloan program (a program administered by the Small Business Administration [SBA] to provide small-scale loans to startup, newly established, or growing small businesses for working capital or the acquisition of materials, supplies, or equipment) to require the SBA Administrator to establish a process under which a lender provides to the major credit reporting agencies information about the borrower that is relevant to credit reporting (such as loan payment activity). (Sec. 102) Removes the requirement that Microloan loans be short-term only. (Sec. 103) Requires Microloan loan intermediaries to have one full-time employee who has at least three years experience making microloans. (Sec. 104) Increases from $7,500 to $10,000 the limit for loans made to intermediaries that will receive a reduced interest rate. (Sec. 105) Increases from 25% to 35% of grant funds received by Microloan intermediaries the amount that may be used to provide information and technical assistance to small businesses that are prospective borrowers. (Sec. 106) Includes disabled entrepreneurs and small business owners under the Microloan program. Title II: PRIME - Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act or PRIME Act - (Sec. 202) Directs the Administrator to establish a technical assistance and capacity building grant program to provide assistance to microenterprises (small businesses with fewer than five employees and generally lacking access to conventional loans, equity, or other banking services) through grants to qualified microenterprise development organizations. Requires the Administrator to ensure that at least 50% of the grants made are used to benefit very low-income persons, including those residing on Indian reservations. Provides a 50% matching funds requirement, with an exception for applicants with severe constraints on available sources of matching funds. Outlines recordkeeping requirements for organizations receiving grants. Requires such organizations to report annually to the Administrator on its activities, financial condition, and success in meeting performance goals. (Sec. 203) Repeals provisions of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 which established a Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME).

Date: 2007-07-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Extends through December 15, 2007, under the same terms and conditions, the authorization for any program, authority, or provision, including any pilot program, that is currently authorized through July 31, 2007, under the Small Business Act or the Small Business Investment Act of 1958.

Date: 2007-07-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Tax Fairness for Small Business Act of 2007- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an accelerated five-year amortization period for goodwill and other business intangibles acquired from certain small businesses (businesses whose average three-year gross receipts do not exceed $5 million) after December 31, 2006. Limits the amount eligible for such amortization to $5 million.

Date: 2007-08-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Programs Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act (the Act) to reauthorize for FY2008-FY2009 certain small business assistance programs of the Small Business Administration (SBA) authorized under the Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, including: (1) a disaster mitigation pilot program; (2) general and start-up small business loans; (3) certified development company (CDC) financing; (4) disaster loans; (5) the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE); and (6) grants to microloan program intermediaries and technical assistance providers. Reauthorizes for such fiscal years: (1) the businessLINC grants program; (2) the small business development center (SBDC) program; (3) the women's business center program; (4) the HUBZone (heavily underutilized business zone) program; (5) the Office of Veterans Business Development; (6) the Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs; and (7) the National Women's Business Council.

Date: 2007-10-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Growth and Opportunity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce from 10 to seven years the period during which certain built-in gains of subchapter S corporations are subject to tax.

Date: 2007-10-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the work opportunity tax credit, the new markets tax credit, and the tax credit for increasing research activities; (2) make permanent accelerated depreciation of qualified leasehold improvement and restaurant property and expensing of environmental remediation expenditures; (3) increase the partial tax exclusion of gain from sales of certain small business stock for noncorporate business taxpayers and businesses in an empowerment zone; (4) permit certain small businesses to elect taxable years ending between April and November; (5) increase the allowable number of S corporation shareholders from 100 to 150; and (6) exempt certain small businesses from the 3% withholding requirement applicable to payments made to such businesses by government entities.

Date: 2007-10-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to deem a small business a qualified HUBZone (heavily underutilized business zone) small business if such small business has certified to the Administrator that: (1) it is not currently a HUBZone small business; (2) its principal office is located in a census tract adjacent to a HUBZone; (3) at least 35% of the employees reside in a HUBZone; and (4) it meets current SBA requirements applicable to qualified HUBZone small businesses.

Date: 2007-11-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Small Business Act relating to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (a program under which a portion of a federal agency's research or research and development funds are reserved for award to small businesses) to require certain program directives issued for the general conduct of SBIR programs within the federal government to provide, among other things, that an agency may increase to specified levels amounts awarded in the first and second phases of the SBIR Program. Requires such amounts be adjusted once every five years to reflect economic adjustments and programmatic considerations.

Date: 2007-11-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Extends through May 23, 2008, under the same terms and conditions, the authorization for any program, authority, or provision, including any pilot program, that is currently authorized through December 15, 2007, under the Small Business Act or the Small Business Investment Act of 1958.

Date: 2007-12-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend through 2010 increased depreciation allowances for certain business and investment property located in the Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) (through 2011 for nonresidential real property or residential rental property in the GO Zone); (2) extend through 2012 special rules relating to the depreciation of buildings in the GO Zone; (3) extend through 2010 the tax credit for rehabilitation expenditures in the GO Zone; (4) increase the new markets tax credit limitation in 2008 and 2009 for investments in community development entities serving the GO Zone; (5) extend through 2012, and increase the authority for, tax-exempt bond financing for bonds issued by Louisiana or a political subdivision thereof; (6) authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to expand an area designated as a renewal community; and (7) extend through 2012 the period for designating areas located in the GO Zone as renewal communities. Amends the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 to extend for an additional two years the hiring period of employees in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area for purposes of the work opportunity tax credit.

Date: 2007-12-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Regulatory Improvement Act - Revises the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Defines the "economic impact" of a rule to include any direct or indirect economic effects on small entities. Requires initial regulatory flexibility analyses of a proposed rule to contain a detailed statement describing the type of small entities to which the proposed rule will apply.Revises provisions requiring the publication by each agency of a plan for the periodic review of its rules that have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities to determine whether they should be continued, changed, or rescinded, including to: (1) limit to two years the amount of time the period for reviewing an agency's regulations may be extended; and (2) require each agency to report annually on review results to Congress and to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).Requires an agency to notify the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration of any draft rules that may have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities either: (1) when the agency submits a draft rule to the such Office, if submission is required; or (2) if no submission to the Office is so required, at a reasonable time before publication of the rule by the agency.Requires that final regulatory flexibility analyses include the agency's response to any comments filed on a rule by the Chief Counsel and a detailed statement of any changes made as a result.

Date: 2007-12-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Legislative Branch Recognizes the Value of Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Act of 2008 - Requires each official responsible for entering into procurement contracts for goods and services for a legislative branch office to ensure that at least 3% of the aggregate value of all contracts entered into during a fiscal year is attributable to contracts awarded to eligible disabled veterans small businesses. Defines "eligible disabled veterans small business" as a small business concern listed on the database maintained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs as a small business concern owned and controlled by a veteran with a service-connected disability.

Date: 2008-01-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Congress
Small Business Expensing Temporary Expansion Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the expensing allowance for small business depreciable assets to $500,000 between 2008 and 2011; (2) increase the threshold for reductions in the expensing allowance to $2 million between 2008 and 2011; and (3) adjust such higher expensing amounts for inflation between 2008 and 2011.

Date: 2008-01-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Telework Promotion Act -Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to carry out a competitive grant program to raise awareness about telework among small business employers and to encourage such employers to offer telework options to employees. Requires the Administrator to make special efforts to conduct outreach to businesses owned by or employing individuals with disabilities, particularly service-disabled veterans, as well as agencies, groups, or organizations that aid such individuals. Terminates such program at the end of FY2009.

Date: 2008-01-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Inclusion of Veteran Service Organizations in the National Veterans Business Development Corporation Board Act - Amends Small Business Act provisions establishing a National Veterans Business Development Corporation (Corporation) to: (1) increase from 9 to 11 the number of Corporation voting members; (2) require the chairmen of the congressional small business and veterans' committees to appoint 4 of the 11 voting members, who shall be representatives of a congressionally chartered veterans' service organization or military service organization; (3) prohibit any member of the Corporation's Board of Directors from serving after the expiration of their term; (4) provide for the removal of Board members; (5) require all Board meetings to be public; and (6) require notification to Corporation stakeholders of Board meetings and agendas.

Date: 2008-03-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Women's Business Ownership Act of 2008 - Establishes the Commission on Women's Business Ownership to review and make recommendations concerning: (1) the status of women business owners nationwide, and the progress made since the 1980 White House Conference on Small Business; (2) the role of the federal government in aid to and promotion of women business owners; and (3) data collection procedures with regard to women-owned businesses and federal initiatives and procurement.

Date: 2008-04-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Science and Technology Innovation Act of 2008 - Amends the Small Business Act to: (1) extend through FY2010 the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs; (2) increase SBIR and STTR set-asides and award levels; (3) prohibit a small business from being excluded from SBIR or STTR program participation due to being owned by more than one equity provider, as long as no single equity provider owns more than 49% of such business; (4) require agency database updates in order to support SBIR and STTR program evaluation and technology utilization; (5) establish an Interagency SBIR/STTR Policy Committee; (6) allow federal agencies to use up to 3% of their SBIR funds for the payment of administrative costs; (7) allow SBIR technical assistance to include the implementation of manufacturing processes and production strategies for utilization; (8) allow federal agencies participating in the SBIR program to enter into agreements with the technical extension or assistance programs of other federal agencies in order to provide small business technical assistance; and (9) increase expenditure limits for the provision of such technical assistance.

Date: 2008-04-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
HUBZone Equity for Distressed Communities Act - Amends Small Business Act provisions relating to HUBZones (historically underutilized business zones) to define "qualified suburban area" as any village, city, town, or economic development area governed by a public authority, district, or other unit of general local government, located in a county that includes, or is located in, a metropolitan statistical area and that meets certain low income or high unemployment qualifications.

Date: 2008-05-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Regulatory Equity Act of 2008 - Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to report to Congress on the Comptroller General's analysis of the impacts of federal regulations on businesses with 15 or fewer, 16 to 35, and 36 to 50 employees. Requires the report to detail the cost and impacts of federally mandated, state-administered regulations, the time such businesses must spend working with agencies attempting to obtain written responses to their written questions, the time that passes between submitting such questions and receiving responses, how long projects are delayed by federal regulations, and how long it takes small business to obtain permits from federal agencies. Requires the report to cover, and treat separately, direct impacts such as wages, time, and fees spent on compliance and indirect impacts such as cash flow, sales, and competitiveness.

Date: 2008-05-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Information Security Act of 2008 - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish the Small Business Information Security Task Force to address the information technology security needs of small businesses. Requires the Task Force, among other duties, to make recommendations to the Administrator on the establishment of an Internet website to be used by the SBA to receive and dispense information and resources with respect to such needs.

Date: 2008-06-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Improving Veterans' Opportunity in Education and Business Act of 2008 - Requires that, if the Secretary of Veterans Affairs enters into a contract or other arrangement, on or after June 1, 2007, to acquire goods or services (or both), the Secretary shall include in such contract or arrangement a requirement that the contractee comply with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contracting goals and preferences with respect to small businesses owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans. Directs the Secretary to modify current contracts and arrangements to comply with requirements of this Act. Requires the Secretary to conduct a five-year pilot project to test the feasibility and advisability of expanding the scope of VA workstudy activities to include workstudy positions available on site at educational institutions, including positions in academic departments and in student services. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program of job training in skills relevant to the job market for discharged veterans who are either currently not paid at more than 150% of the federal minimum wage, or: (1) had a military occupational specialty of limited transferability to the civilian job market; (2) are not otherwise eligible for veterans' education or training services; (3) have not acquired a marketable skill since leaving military service; (4) were discharged under conditions not less than honorable; and (5) have been unemployed for at least 90 of the previous 180 days. Designates the program as the MOST (military occupational specialty transition) Program. Directs the Secretary to contract with employers to provide programs of apprenticeship on on-job training for such veterans. Limits such payments to $20,000 per veteran and 24 months in duration. Requires quarterly employer reports certifying wages paid to such veterans. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to describe Program activities within a currently-required annual report by the Veterans Benefits Administration.

Date: 2008-06-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Invest in Small Business Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the exclusion from gross income of the gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock from 50 to 100% of such gain and reduce the holding period for such stock from five to three years; (2) disqualify stock held by members of a 25% controlled group of corporations for such tax exclusion; (3) repeal gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock as an item of tax preference for purposes of the alternative minimum tax; (4) repeal the maximum 28% tax rate on gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock; and (5) increase to $100 million (adjusted for inflation after 2009) the aggregate asset limitation for determining eligibility of the stock of corporations for qualified small business stock tax treatment.

Date: 2008-07-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Cooperative for Healthcare Options to Improve Coverage for Employees (CHOICE) Act of 2008 or the Small Business CHOICE Act of 2008 - Provides for the establishment and governance of Fully Funded Small Business Health Insurance cooperatives, which are small businesses that form a captive insurance company chartered in a qualified state to provide excess claims coverage insurance that meets certain qualifications to its members.Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish an independent commission on Fully Funded Small Business Health Insurance Cooperatives to: (1) promote the development of such cooperatives; (2) make recommendations to the Secretary regarding minimum capital requirements; and (3) conduct oversight of such cooperatives.Exempts such cooperatives from certain state laws, rules, regulations, or orders, including any that would: (1) prohibit the establishment of a cooperative; (2) impose any material requirements, procedures, or standards on a cooperative that are not generally applicable to other entities engaged in a substantially similar business; or (3) discriminate against a cooperative or any of its members. Preempts any state law that conflicts with, hinders, poses an obstacle to, or frustrates the purpose of this Act.Sets forth provisions governing the provision of claims information, including protected health information, from health insurance issuers to cooperatives.Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the small business CHOICE tax credit for small employers for costs related to providing qualified employer-subsidized health coverage for employees and their families. Disallows such a credit unless the employee offers a qualified small business wellness program to covered employees and family members.

Date: 2008-07-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Health
Small Business Tax Modernization Act of 2008 - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions affecting small business taxpayers to: (1) allow an alternative standard tax deduction for the business use of a personal residence and establish a de minimis standard for determining personal use; (2) repeal restrictions on the depreciation deduction for cellular telephones and similar telecommunications equipment; (3) allow nonresident aliens to be S corporation shareholders; (4) increase the limit on the tax deduction for business meals and entertainment expenses; and (5) allow accelerated depreciation for energy-efficient heating, ventilation, air conditioning, or commercial refrigeration systems installed in nonresidential and residential rental buildings before January 1, 2012.

Date: 2008-07-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Technology Improvement Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow accelerated depreciation of computer or peripheral equipment placed in service by a small business with annual gross receipts not in excess of $7 million.

Date: 2008-07-31
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make disaster loans to assist eligible small businesses that have suffered or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury as the result of increases in the price of gasoline or diesel fuel. Makes eligible for such loans small businesses engaged in the transportation of persons or property for hire. Limits loan amounts to $250,000, with an authorized waiver by the SBA. States that, for purposes of such assistance, no declaration of a disaster area is required.

Date: 2008-09-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Start-Up Support Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $5,000 to $10,000 the dollar amount of the tax deduction for trade or business start-up expenditures.

Date: 2008-09-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Minority Entrepreneurship Development Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act to establish within the Small Business Administration (SBA) an Office of Minority Small Business Development to, among other things, formulate, execute, and promote SBA policies and programs that provide assistance to small businesses owned and controlled by minorities. Authorizes the SBA Administrator to make grants to eligible educational institutions: (1) to assist in establishing an entrepreneurship curriculum for undergraduate or graduate studies; and (2) for the placement of a small business development center on the campus of the institution. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to eligible associations and organizations to: (1) assist in establishing the technical capacity to provide online or distance learning for businesses seeking to contract with the federal government; (2) develop curriculum for seminars that will provide businesses with the technical expertise for such contracting; and (3) provide training and technical expertise through distance learning to participant business owners and other interested parties. Amends the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 to extend through FY2009 the socially and economically disadvantaged business program.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Child Care Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program to award grants, on a competitive basis, to assist states in providing funds to encourage the establishment and operation of employer-operated child care programs.

Date: 2007-01-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Compliance Assistance Enhancement Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 to require an agency to prepare a compliance guide to assist small entities in complying with a Federal rule or group of related rules for which an agency is required to prepare a final regulatory flexibility analysis whenever an agency determines that a Federal rule or group of rules will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Date: 2007-01-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the expensing allowance for depreciable business property from $100,000 to $200,000; (2) make such allowance permanent; (3) increase to $800,000 the asset cost threshold for calculating reductions in such allowance; (4) allow an annual inflation adjustment to the expensing allowance and the threshold amount after 2007; and (5) allow a taxpayer to revoke an election to expense such business property without the prior consent of the Secretary of the Treasury.

Date: 2007-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Paperwork Reduction Act to direct agency heads not to impose civil fines for first-time paperwork violations by small business concerns 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.

Date: 2007-01-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Small Business Disaster Loan Reporting Act of 2007 - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) amend the 2006 hurricane season disaster response plan to apply to major disasters; (2) report monthly to the congressional small business committees on the operation of the SBA disaster loan program; (3) provide daily updates during presidentially declared disaster periods; (4) provide reports regarding federal contracts awarded as a result of a major disaster; and (5) report on how the SBA can improve the processing of applications under the disaster loan program.

Date: 2007-02-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Private Disaster Loans Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to guarantee timely payment of principal and interest on any loan issued by a qualified private lender to an eligible small business located in a disaster area. Authorizes the Administrator to establish an online application process for such loans. Authorizes the Administrator to guarantee up to 85 percent of such a loan. Sets the maximum amount of such a loan at $2 million.

Date: 2007-02-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce