zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Small Business Microloan Modernization Act of 2009 - Amends provisions of the Small Business Act regarding 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: (1) 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); (2) remove the requirement that Microloan loans be short-term only; (3) revise Microloan intermediary eligibility requirements; (4) increase from $7,500 to $10,000 the limit for loans made to intermediaries that will receive a reduced interest rate; (5) increase 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; and (6) include disabled entrepreneurs and small business owners under the Microloan program.

Date: 2009-03-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Responsible Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Makes permanent the repeal of the estate tax. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase to $500,000 the maximum expensing allowance for depreciable business assets; (2) allow first-year expensing of manufacturing and agricultural property; (3) allow a 20% tax deduction for qualified small business income; (4) allow a deduction from self-employment income for health insurance, health savings account contributions, and simplified employee pension plan contributions; and (5) increase the limit on the tax deduction for contributions to a simplified employee pension plan.

Date: 2009-03-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Payroll Tax Holiday Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate employment and self-employment taxes between the enactment of this Act and January 1, 2010, for small business owners who employ 50 or fewer employees.

Date: 2009-04-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Small Business Act relating to the women's business centers program to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) disburse funds to a women's business center (center) no later than one month after its application is approved; (2) annually publish on the SBA website information on the financing of each center; (3) establish a standardized process to communicate with centers regarding program administration matters; and (4) notify each center of the opportunity for notice and comment on proposed program rules. Replaces 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. Allows the maximum award of assistance ($150,000) for first-tier projects that possess the capacity to train existing or potential business owners in the fields of green technology, clean technology, or energy efficiency. Revises matching funds requirements for all projects. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the SBA to: (1) establish center performance measures; and (2) require each center to submit an annual funding and strategies plan. Amends the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 to require the National Women's Business Council to perform studies of: (1) the impact of the 2008-2009 financial markets crisis on women-owned businesses; and (2) the use of SBA programs by women-owned businesses. Authorizes appropriations for the Council for FY2010-FY2011. Includes under criteria for the selection of project participants whether the applicant has the capacity to train existing or potential business owners in the fields of green technology, clean technology, or energy efficiency.

Date: 2009-04-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Small Business Act relating to the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to ensure that SCORE: (1) carries out a plan to increase the proportion of small business mentors from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and reports annually to the Administrator on plan implementation; (2) establishes benchmarks for evaluating its activities and volunteers; and (3) establishes a mentoring program of one-on-one advice to small businesses from qualified counselors. Requires the Administrator to carry out a networking program through SCORE that provides small businesses with the opportunity to make business contacts in their industry or geographic region. Renames the Service Corps of Retired Executives as SCORE. Eliminates the Active Corps of Executives. Authorizes appropriations for SCORE for FY2010-FY2011.

Date: 2009-04-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Expanding Entrepreneurship Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act relating to small business entrepreneurial development programs (programs) to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) develop and submit to Congress a plan for using the programs as a catalyst for job creation for FY2010-FY2011; (2) promulgate a rule to develop and implement a data collection process covering all programs; (3) report to Congress on opportunities to foster coordination, limit duplication, and improve delivery under the programs; (3) after public comment, establish and make available a database of providers of entrepreneurial development services; (4) designate at least one staff member in each SBA district office as a community specialist with full-time responsibility working with such providers to increase coordination with federal resources; and (5) publish a design for a Web-based portal that provides comprehensive information on the programs and, after public comment, establish such portal. Prohibits the Administrator from conducting any pilot program for a period of more than three years if the pilot program conflicts with or uses the resources of any of the entrepreneurial development programs.

Date: 2009-04-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Development Centers Modernization Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act relating to small business development centers (SBDCs) (centers established through the Small Business Administration [SBA] to provide advisory, operational, and technical assistance to small businesses) to: (1) require institutions of higher education that are provided SBDC grants to be accredited; (2) require SBDC employee hirings to be at the sole discretion of an SBDC without input or approval from SBA officers or employees; (3) eliminate a matching funds requirement with respect to SBDC grant programs conducted in areas in which a disaster has occurred; and (4) allow grant distributions with respect to two or more SBDCs located in the same state only when no applicant has applied to serve the entire state. Directs the Administrator to establish SBDC grant programs for: (1) access to credit and capital; (2) procurement training and assistance; (3) green entrepreneurs training; (4) main street stabilization; and (5) small manufacturers transition (business change or reorganization) assistance. Limits grants to $300,000 per entity ($250,000 with respect to the latter two programs). Authorizes appropriations under each program for FY2010-FY2011. Prohibits funds recovered under an SBDC program through fees assessed to small business clients from being considered matching funds. Authorizes appropriations for the SBDC program for FY2010-FY2011.

Date: 2009-04-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Healthy Workforce Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a 50% tax credit for the costs of providing employees with a qualified wellness program. Defines "qualified wellness program" as a program that is certified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and that consists of a health awareness and education component, a behavioral change component, and a supportive environment component. Terminates such credit after 2017. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to institute an outreach program to inform businesses about the availability of such wellness program tax credit.

Date: 2009-04-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Temporary Employees Franchise Improvement Act of 2009 - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), in determining whether a franchisee is affiliated with a franchisor in the temporary employee services industry (industry), to: (1) continue to apply historically considered affiliation factors; (2) promulgate necessary rules and regulations to determine affiliation in a manner consistent with the Small Business Act; and (3) consider the processing of payroll and billing by a franchisor as customary and common practice in the industry that does not provide probative weight on affiliation, to the extent that temporary staffing personnel are interviewed, hired, trained, assigned, and subject to discharge by the franchisee.

Date: 2009-04-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Minority Small Business Enhancement Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act to consider an individual with a net worth of less than $1.5 million as eligible for participation in a Small Business Administration (SBA) program providing grants to small businesses owned and controlled by economically disadvantaged individuals. Allows a small business to receive SBA developmental assistance under the program for the entire period of an SBA-guaranteed loan. Redefines the term "bundled contract" to mean a contract or order entered into to meet procurement requirements that are consolidated in a bundling of contract requirements, without regard to its designation by the procuring agency or whether a study of the effects of the solicitation on civilian or military personnel has been made, subject to exceptions. Expands the definition of "bundling of contract requirements." Makes the revised and expanded definitions inapplicable to contracts for construction services under $65 million or under $5 million for all other types of contracts. Increases from: (1) 23% to 25% the government-wide small business procurement contract goal; and (2) 5% to 10% the government-wide procurement goal for small disadvantaged businesses and women-owned businesses. Limits the number of categories for which a small business may qualify under such goals. Requires a report from the Comptroller General to Congress on disparities in the awarding of federal contracts to small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, small businesses, and other businesses.

Date: 2009-05-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to require federal contracting officers to use purchases of goods or services through the federal supply schedules for the purpose of meeting the government-wide goal for participation by small businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.

Date: 2009-05-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Veterans Small Business Verification Act - Provides that application by a veteran small business owner for inclusion in a database of veteran-owned small businesses maintained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall constitute permission for the Secretary to verify information included in the application. Provides that, if the Secretary receives an application from an individual whose status as a veteran cannot be verified, the Secretary may not include that small business in the database until the Secretary receives sufficient information to verify such status. Prohibits a small business from being listed in the database until the Secretary has verified that: (1) the small business is owned and controlled by veterans; and (2) when an owner indicates that the small business is owned and controlled by a veteran with a service-connected disability, the person is a veteran with a service-connected disability.

Date: 2009-05-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Generating Reinvestment Opportunities with America's Small Businesses Act of 2009 or the GROW America's Small Businesses Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow certain small businesses (generally, businesses with $12 million or less in gross receipts for a taxable year) to defer payment of income tax by making four equal installments over a specified two-year period; (2) extend such deferral period to three years for small businesses that increase employment and maintain salary levels of employees called to duty as members of the Ready Reserve/National Guard; and (3) establish tax-exempt GROW Accounts to provide financing and tax relief for such small businesses. Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the applicability and impact of this Act.

Date: 2009-05-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act to exclude as a small business, for purposes of meeting federal agency contracting goals with small businesses, any small business (or subsidiary thereof) that is publicly traded, or any business (or subsidiary thereof) with more than 50% non-U.S. citizen ownership. Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to notify the head of each federal department or agency regarding this Act and its amendments, and the department or agency head to then notify its contractors. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish a report regarding federal prime contracts awarded to businesses identified as small businesses for purposes of achieving small business contracting goals; and (2) establish procedures to ensure that the Central Contractor Registration database provides an adequate warning regarding criminal penalties for misrepresenting the status of a small business or person in order to obtain federal contracts. Provides for enforcement of complaints about the classification of a business for such purposes.

Date: 2009-05-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Rural Technology Development and Outreach Act - Amends provisions of the Small Business Act relating to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make grants to organizations to: (1) conduct outreach efforts to increase participation in such programs; and (2) provide application, entrepreneurial, and business skills support to prospective program participants. Requires organizations receiving such funds to direct activities toward small businesses: (1) located in areas that are underrepresented in SBIR and STTR programs; or (2) owned and controlled by women, service-disabled veterans, and minorities. Directs the Administrator to establish an advisory board to carry out authorized activities. Provides a two-year period for each grant award. Requires federal agencies, in making SBIR and STTR grant awards, to prioritize applications so as to increase the number of recipients from rural areas. Directs each federal agency conducting an SBIR program to: (1) receive consent to identify the small business applicant to appropriate local and state economic development organizations; and (2) encourage partnerships between SBIR awardees and prime contractors, venture capital investment companies, business incubators, and larger businesses for the purpose of facilitating the progress of SBIR awardees to the third phase of the program.

Date: 2009-06-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Commercializing Small Business Research and Development Act - Amends the Small Business Act to state as the policy of Congress that Small Business Administration (SBA) research and development (R&D) programs should focus on promoting R&D of projects governed by commercial business plans which have significant potential to produce products or services for the marketplace or for acquisition by federal agencies. Includes energy-related and rare disease-related research topics as deserving special consideration under Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program research topics. Includes nanotechnology-related topics within authorized research topics under the SBIR Program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. Requires each federal agency that is required to have an SBIR program and that awards annually $5 billion or more in procurement contracts to establish, for FY2010 and thereafter, annual goals for the commercialization of projects funded by SBIR awards. Directs each federal agency required to conduct an SBIR program to establish a commercialization program that supports the progress of SBIR awardees to the third (final) phase. Provides funding for such commercialization programs.

Date: 2009-06-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish and carry out a program for providing education and resources to small business concerns that assists them in: (1) understanding the dangers and identification of phishing; (2) training employees to understand those dangers and identification; and (3) determining methods to protect such concerns from phishing.

Date: 2009-06-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain small manufacturers a tax credit for their computer hardware and software expenses. Limits such credit to the lesser of 50% of such expenses or $35,000. Terminates such credit after 2011.

Date: 2009-06-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Department of Transportation Bonding Assistance Authority Act of 2009 - Replaces the mandate for the Minority Resource Center to provide bonding assistance to disadvantaged business enterprises. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation, acting through the Minority Resource Center, to prescribe, guarantee, and enter into commitments to guarantee a surety against loss resulting from a small business concern's breach of a bond that is required for it to bid on or perform a transportation project contract, pay on the contract, or serve as a prime contractor or subcontractor on such contract. Authorizes the Secretary to indemnify such a surety up to 90% of any loss sustained by it in avoiding or attempting to avoid a breach of a bond guaranteed under this Act. Requires the Secretary to establish a program under which not more than five selected states may carry out: (1) the activities of the Secretary with respect to issuing surety guarantees; as well as (2) the activities of sureties to assist eligible small business concerns.

Date: 2009-06-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Small Business Health Information Technology Financing Act - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to guarantee up to 90% of the amount of a loan, up to specified loan amounts, to a small business health professional to be used for the acquisition and installation of health information technology for the professional's medical practice. Defines the term "health information technology" to mean computer hardware, software, and related technology that supports the meaningful electronic health record use requirements of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act and is purchased by an eligible professional to aid in the provision of health care, including electronic medical records, but excludes information technology whose sole use is financial management, maintenance of inventory of basic supplies, or appointment scheduling. Sets loan limits at $350,000 for an individual professional and $2 million for a group of affiliated professionals. Authorizes the Administrator to impose a guarantee fee on such borrowers, but prohibits any service, processing, or other fees. Allows such loans for a period of not less than one year or more than three years. Authorizes appropriations.

Date: 2009-06-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Relief Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain small business owners to obtain loans, through 2011, from their simplified employee pension accounts for business purposes. Requires such loans to be repaid within two years.

Date: 2009-06-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Health Care Affordability Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain small employers (generally, employers of 50 or fewer employees) and their employees tax credits for health insurance costs.

Date: 2009-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Qualified Personal Service Corporations Clarification Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the criteria for determining whether a corporation is a qualified personal service corporation. Includes within the definition of qualified personal service corporation a qualifying corporation substantially all of whose stock is held by certain former employees (thus permitting such corporation to use the cash method of accounting).

Date: 2009-07-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Small Business Act to allow the head of an executive agency, in complying with a preference under any law for contracting with a small business owned and controlled by veterans or service-disabled veterans, to consider only a small business verified (or waiting to be verified) in the small business database maintained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA). Requires such agency head, when any prime contract requires the contractor to comply with such preference, to require the prime contractor, in awarding subcontracts, to consider only small business concerns that are verified in that database.

Date: 2009-07-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Lending Promotion Act of 2009 - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to carry out the Community Express Program in the same manner as the SBA's Community Express Pilot Program was carried out on September 8, 2009.

Date: 2009-09-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Enhanced New Markets and Expanded Investment in Renewable Energy for Small Manufacturers Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to require (under current law, authorizes) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to participate in the new markets venture capital program (program) (a program under which investment companies provide capital financing to small businesses). Requires the Administrator, in selecting companies for program participation, to approve at least one company from each SBA geographic region. Provides for new market capital venture investment in, as well as operational assistance to, small businesses located in low-income geographic areas and engaged primarily in manufacturing. Makes the SBA definition of "low-income geographic area" the same as the definition of "low-income community" under the Internal Revenue Code. Expands SBA operational assistance to conditionally-approved companies. Directs the Administrator to grant each such company two years to satisfy capital and other requirements for such assistance. Provides: (1) a streamlined application process for new market venture capital companies; and (2) a simplified formula for operational assistance grants. Increases amounts allocated for investment in small businesses located in low-income geographic areas and engaged primarily in manufacturing. Redesignates (thereby expanding) the SBA's renewable fuel capital investment program as the renewable energy capital investment program. Makes such program permanent (currently a pilot program). Makes eligible under such program all small businesses (under current law, only smaller enterprises). Requires (under current law, authorizes) the Administrator to participate in such program. Increases amounts allocated for operational assistance grants for renewable energy purposes.

Date: 2009-10-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Credit Expansion and Loan Markets Stabilization Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish and carry out: (1) a program to provide support to SBA regional, district, and branch offices to assist small lenders not participating in the SBA Preferred Lenders Program to participate in other programs for assistance to small businesses under the SBA 7(a) general business loan program; (2) a rural lending outreach program; and (3) a lender training program for new and existing lenders. Makes permanent (currently pilot programs): (1) the SBA's Community Express Program; and (2) a program for reduced fees for veteran participation loans. Reduces restrictions with respect to borrower leasing of space constructed with the proceeds of an SBA-guaranteed loan. Directs the Administrator to establish and permit a lender making a 7(a) loan to use an alternative loan size standard based on factors including a business's maximum tangible net worth and average net income. Prohibits more than 10% of SBA-guaranteed loans in a fiscal year from being awarded as part of a pilot program. Provides additional pilot program dollar limitations. Prohibits pilot programs (other than existing ones) from exceeding three years in duration. Authorizes the Administrator to provide loans to cooperatives, under specified conditions. Directs the Administrator to establish: (1) a capital backstop program, under which the Administrator collects information from a small business to determine the creditworthiness and repayment ability of a small business attempting to secure an SBA-guaranteed loan; and (2) a process for providing such information to participating lenders. Prohibits the Administrator from applying any application, processing, or approval standard to a loan for the purpose of financing goodwill, unless such standard applies to all 7(a) loans. Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish an independent SBA appellate process for reviewing material determinations affecting a lender or investment company participating or applying to participate in an SBA program; and (2) appoint an SBA ombudsman. Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend and expand certain loans made available to small businesses. Increases certain SBA loan limits. Revises real estate appraisal requirements with respect to SBA loans secured by commercial property.

Date: 2009-10-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Small Business Act with respect to the HUBZone (historically underutilized business zone) program to authorize (under current law, requires) a contracting opportunity to be awarded under the program on the basis of competition restricted to qualified HUBZone small businesses if the contracting officer expects that not less than two qualified HUBZone small businesses will submit offers and that the award can be made at a fair market price.

Date: 2009-10-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Microlending Expansion Act of 2009 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Small Business Act with respect to the Small Business Administration (SBA) Microloan program (small-scale loans to start-up, newly established, or growing small businesses for working capital or the acquisition of materials, supplies, or equipment) to direct the SBA Administrator to establish a process under which an intermediary making a Microloan loan provides relevant borrower information to the major credit reporting agencies. (Sec. 3) Removes the requirement that such loans be short-term only. (Sec. 4) Increases eligibility for Microloan program participation to include intermediaries with at least one full-time employee with not less than: (1) three years of experience making microloans to startup, newly established, or growing small businesses; or (2) one year of experience providing intensive marketing, management, and technical assistance to borrowers. (Sec. 5) Increases from: (1) $750,000 to $1 million the loan limit to an intermediary in the first year of participation; and (2) $3.5 million to $7 million the loan limit for the remaining years of participation. (Sec. 6) Increases from 25% to 35% of grant funds received the maximum amount that may be used by an intermediary to provide information and technical assistance to small business borrowers. (Sec. 7) Allows intermediaries that receive grants to establish a program that provides technical assistance to young entrepreneurs in establishing or operating a small business, or in securing financing, in the area served by the intermediary. (Sec. 8) Increases from $7,500 to $10,000 the maximum loan amount to a small business borrower that will qualify for a reduced interest rate from the intermediary. (Sec. 9) Directs the Administrator to submit annually to the congressional small business committees specified information with respect to the Microloan program, including participating intermediaries and borrowers, and the marketing, management, and technical assistance provided. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to intermediaries for reducing interest rates charged to Microloan borrowers (interest assistance grants). (Sec. 11) Authorizes the Administrator to make Microloan technical assistance grants, direct loans, and interest assistance grants for FY2010-FY2011, and authorizes appropriations for such loans and grants.

Date: 2009-10-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Early-Stage Investment Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish and carry out a program to provide equity investment financing to support early-stage small businesses in the following targeted industries: (1) agricultural technology; (2) energy technology; (3) environmental technology; (4) life science; (5) information technology; (6) digital media; (7) clean technology; (8) defense technology; and (9) photonics technology. Directs the Administrator to make grants to participating investment companies under the program and limits to $100 million the aggregate amount of all grants made to a participating investment company under the program. Requires, as a condition of receiving a grant under the program, all of the investments of participating investment companies to be in small businesses, and at least 50% to be in early-stage small businesses in the targeted industries. Directs the Administrator to monitory participant compliance with such requirements. Establishes a separate Treasury fund for such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits funds appropriated for such purpose from being used for a congressional earmark.

Date: 2009-10-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Job Creation and Economic Development Through CDC Modernization Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act to provide FY2010-FY2011 authorized program levels for guarantees of debentures made by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the certified development company (CDC) program under such Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (SBIA). Rewrites the provisions of title V (Loans to State and Local Development Companies) of the SBIA. Permits only CDCs certified by the SBA Administrator to issue debentures. Defines a CDC and outlines requirements necessary for CDC certification, including having no more than 200 employees, being nonprofit, in good standing in the state(s) in which it is operating, and maintaining a Board of Directors. Provides CDC operational requirements, including avoidance of conflicts of interests by a CDC, its officers, employees, and contractors. Authorizes CDCs to service and package SBA-guaranteed loans to small businesses. Requires CDCs to carry out economic development activities by providing long-term financing to small businesses in urban and rural areas through the issuance of debentures. Allows a CDC to apply for status as an accredited CDC after meeting CDC operational standards and additional standards prescribed by the Administrator, including being a CDC for at least 12 months, and having the ability to process, close, and service SBA-guaranteed loans to small businesses. Allows a CDC to apply for status as a premier CDC upon meeting additional standards prescribed by the Administrator, including establishment of a loan loss reserve sufficient to protect against the risk of loss on SBA-guaranteed debentures. Establishes a Bureau of Premier Certified Development Company Lender Oversight in the SBA's Office of Lender Oversight. Directs the Administrator to permit accredited or premier CDCs to engage in multistate loan or debenture issue operations, under certain conditions. Authorizes the Administrator to guarantee the payment of principal and interest on debentures issued by CDCs, under certain terms and conditions. Prohibits CDCs from issuing debentures unless the project funded creates or preserves jobs, improves the economy of the locality, or meets one or more specified economic development public policy goals. Provides project funding requirements, including rules for debentures funding projects in low-income areas. Directs the Administrator to sell to private investors debentures issued by CDCs. Allows for the pooling of debentures for such purposes. Revises provisions concerning CDC foreclosure and liquidation of defaulted loans. Names the program created by SBIA title V the CDC Economic Development Loan Program. Requires the Administrator to study and review the small business optional size standard set forth under the Code of Federal Regulations for eligibility of a small business for financing under SBIA title V. Sets forth an interim alternative size standard.

Date: 2009-10-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Investment Company Modernization Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to increase the amount that a state or local governmental entity may invest in a small business investment company (SBIC) applicant or licensee from 33% to 45% of the private capital of such applicant or licensee. Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) approve within 60 days after receipt an application for licensing as an SBIC, as long as the applicant meets specified experiential and operational requirements; and (2) notify and provide an opportunity to an applicant to cure any nonconformance with such requirements. Revises the maximum amount of outstanding leverage of SBICs. Provides a limit on the maximum rate of interest authorized to be charged by SBICs for long-term small business loans. Directs the Administrator to exclude the cost basis of any equity investment made by an SBIC in small businesses owned and controlled by veterans when calculating outstanding SBIC leverage limits. Authorizes an SBIC to invest in certain passive entities wholly-owned by the SBIC. Provides that an SBIC with earmarked assets shall not be deemed in capital impairment during the first 72 months after licensing if its impairment does not exceed 85%. Requires the SBA Associate Administrator for Investment to establish an agency record of evidence referring or relating to each application for an SBIC license. Directs the Administrator to provide a written explanation of any denial of a license application based upon evidence in such record. Provides FY2010-FY2011 levels for the SBA purchase of participating securities and guarantee of debentures under the SBIC program.

Date: 2009-10-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish programs of grants to state and local government entities for the purpose of providing assistance to eligible small businesses to gain access to the specialized knowledge and professional services needed to operate small businesses in the construction industry, enhance their capacities and qualifications for financial and surety credit, and access and compete for construction contracting opportunities. Defines as eligible small businesses for such purposes: (1) those owned and controlled by women; (2) any socially and economically disadvantaged small business; and (3) those owned and controlled by veterans, especially service-disabled veterans.

Date: 2009-10-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business SOX Compliance Relief Act - Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 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 exempt a non-accelerated filer of a required annual report from the requirement that each registered public accounting firm that prepares or issues the audit report for a securities issuer attest to, and report on, the assessment by the issuer's management of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting (thereby extending the current moratorium on such requirement for small businesses).

Date: 2009-10-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Small Business Property Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2010 the increased expensing allowance for depreciable business assets.

Date: 2009-10-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Helping Small Businesses Grow and Prosper Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the amount of business-related meal and entertainment expenses allowed as a tax deduction for businesses that employ an average of less than 50 employees in a taxable year to 80% (currently, 50%) of such expenses.

Date: 2009-10-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Jobs Opportunity and Business Stability Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain small business owners with fewer than 20 employees and annual gross receipts not exceeding $5,000,000 a refundable tax credit for increasing their payrolls in 2010 and 2011 by specified percentages. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to Congress on ways to provide benefits to nonprofit organizations that are comparable to the tax credit provided by this Act.

Date: 2009-11-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Procurement Reform Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act to subject to certain penalties any person misrepresenting the status of a business or person as a small business owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans in order to obtain a federal procurement contract. Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish an Office of Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Procurement to: (1) provide oversight of the procurement program for small businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans; and (2) report to the Administrator on program performance. Directs the Administrator to establish an Office of Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Development to, among other things, promote business opportunities for small businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans. Requires the Administrator to appoint in each SBA regional office a veterans procurement specialist.

Date: 2009-11-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase to $3.5 million the limitation on the reduction in the fair market value of real property used for farming or in another trade or business for estate tax purposes; and (2) allow an annual inflation adjustment to the limitation amount after 2010.

Date: 2009-12-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the definition of "qualified nonrecourse financing" to include qualified nonrecourse real property or Small Business Investment Company financing as amounts at risk for purposes of determining the deductibility of losses from certain investment activities, including farming, leasing, and energy exploration.

Date: 2009-12-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Promoting Jobs for Veterans Act of 2009 - Reinstates the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) small business loan program, under which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs provides financial assistance to veterans' small businesses. Qualifies for such assistance any veteran business owner with a disability rated at 10% (under current law, 30%) or more. Removes VA authority to provide such assistance through direct loans, while maintaining authority for loan guaranties. Increases from $200,000 to $500,000 the maximum guaranty amount. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) contract-out to provide such loans; and (2) subsidize the interest rates paid under such loans. Provides a loan guarantee preference for National Guard and reserve members activated in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Requires (current law authorizes) a VA contracting officer to award contracts to small businesses owned and controlled by veterans using other than competitive procedures for contracts above the simplified acquisition threshold in order to meet VA small business procurement contracting goals. Allows the Secretary to evaluate a contract bid submitted by a small business owned and controlled by veterans on the same basis as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) evaluates a bid submitted by a socially and economically disadvantaged small business. Amends the Small Business Act to extend the period of eligibility for certain small business assistance in the case of small businesses owned by individuals who are called or ordered to active duty for more than 30 days. Increases the amount of the monthly subsistence allowance payable to veterans participating in VA vocational rehabilitation programs. Directs the Secretary to award up to 2,000 internships annually to veterans who have completed a vocational rehabilitation program. Requires the Secretary to pay to a veteran who is unemployed for at least four months, 59 years old or younger, and ineligible for other VA education or training assistance a training assistance allowance for each month the veteran is enrolled in a program of apprenticeship or other on-job training. Authorizes the Secretary to pay a $500 monthly assistance allowance to a rural veteran teacher. Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations for veterans' workforce investment programs. Directs the Secretary to include on the main VA Internet website a hyperlink with a drop-down menu entitled "Veterans Employment," which shall link to appropriate Internet employment websites.

Date: 2009-12-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Small Business Research and Experimentation Simplification Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow small business employers with an average of 500 or fewer employees in a calendar year a partially refundable tax credit for 20% of their research expenditures. Terminates such credit after 2015. Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress by June 30, 2015, on an analysis of the usefulness and effectiveness of any recommended changes in the research tax credit allowed by this Act.

Date: 2009-12-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish and carry out a program of making loans directly to small businesses. Limits loan amounts to the lesser of 10% of annual business revenues or $500,000. Provides program funding from unobligated amounts available under title I (Troubled Asset Relief Program [TARP]) of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Date: 2009-12-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the rate of the excise tax on beer produced within or imported into the United States for brewers who produce not more than 6 million barrels of beer a year.

Date: 2009-12-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation
Small Business Emergency Capital Assistance Act of 2009 - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to carry out a program under which the Administrator may make loans directly to small businesses determined to: (1) be economically healthy; (2) have good credit; and (3) be unable to obtain a loan on reasonable terms from a non-federal source. Limits loan amounts to $1.5 million, with a maximum repayment term of 25 years. Requires: (1) the Administrator to report annually to the congressional small business committees concerning loans made under the program; and (2) the Comptroller General to evaluate the program's effectiveness and report evaluation results to such committees.

Date: 2009-12-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Small Business Job Creation and Access to Capital Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act to increase maximum amounts of loans under the following Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs: (1) the section 7(a) (general small business loans) guaranteed loan program; (2) the section 504 (state and local development company) program; and (3) the Microloan (small-scale loans to start-up, newly-established, and growing small businesses) program. Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend through 2010 SBA authority to reduce or eliminate loan fees on section 7(a) and 504 loans. Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to apply single-business investment limits to SBA-recognized new markets venture capital companies. Directs the SBA Administrator to establish for prospective borrowers an alternative small business size standard that uses maximum tangible net worth and average net income as an alternative to the use of industry standards. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Administrator should establish a website that: (1) lists SBA lenders and provides loan rate information; and (2) allows prospective borrowers to compare rates on SBA-guaranteed loans. Amends provisions of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 relating to the local development business loan program to allow a small business borrower under such program to refinance a previous business debt: (1) that was incurred no less than two years before application for the SBA loan; (2) that is a commercial loan; (3) that is not guaranteed by a federal agency; (4) the proceeds of which were used to acquire a fixed asset for the benefit of the small business; (5) that is collateralized by fixed assets; and (6) for which the borrower has been current on all payments for at least one year. Allows the Administrator to provide financing under such program for a borrower that meets certain job creation or retention goals. Provides an alternate job retention goal for which a borrower may qualify.

Date: 2009-12-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the 15-year recovery period classification for qualified leasehold improvement, restaurant, and retail improvement property, for purposes of the depreciation tax deduction.

Date: 2009-12-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Small Businesses)
Subject: Taxation