Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2023

Veterans Entrepreneu th Congress

Source: Congress.gov · 4,369 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the Small Business Administration (a federal agency that helps small businesses) to run a test program. The program will give grants (money that does not need to be paid back) to eligible veterans so they can start or buy qualifying businesses. The program will last three years and help up to 250 veterans. ##

Who It Affects

- Veterans with at least 36 months of active duty service, or 24 months if discharged for a service-connected disability - Members of the Armed Forces currently retiring or separating with an approved packet - The Small Business Administration and its Administrator - The Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs ##

Key Provisions

- The Small Business Administration must begin the pilot program within 90 days after the bill becomes law and carry it out for three years (Sec. 2(1)(A)). - Eligible veterans must complete an approved entrepreneurship training program before receiving grant money (Sec. 2(3)(A)). - Eligible veterans must prepare and get approval for a business plan before receiving grant money (Sec. 2(4)(B)). - Veterans may use grant money to buy goods or services needed to start or operate a business, fund economic development projects, or acquire a qualifying business (Sec. 2(5)). - The Small Business Administration must submit a report to Congress analyzing the program's feasibility and effectiveness within two years after the program starts (Sec. 2(6)(A)). ##

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, the Small Business Administration will establish and run a new grant program for veterans. Veterans who qualify will be able to receive grants to start or purchase businesses, but only after completing required training and getting their business plans approved. The agency must ensure grants go to veterans across different geographic areas. ##

Important Definitions

- **Eligible veteran**: A person who is a veteran or active member of the Armed Forces with an approved retirement or separation packet, or someone honorably discharged from active duty, who has completed at least 36 months of active duty service (or 24 months if discharged for a service-connected disability), and is entitled to educational assistance under federal law. - **Qualifying business enterprise**: Any business included in a list of approved business categories the Small Business Administration will establish. This includes small business concerns, franchise businesses, and other categories the agency determines are appropriate. - **Startup**: A business that does not yet exist or has existed for no more than five years. - **Franchise business enterprise**: A commercial arrangement where someone gets the right to operate a business using another company's trademark and the parent company exerts control or provides assistance, with an upfront payment required. - **Advisor**: A person affiliated with an approved training program who helps veterans prepare and get approval for business plans. ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 903 To amend the Small Business Act to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to carry out a pilot program on issuing grants to eligible veterans to start or acquire qualifying businesses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 9, 2023 Mr. CLINE (for himself, Mr. CORREA, Mr. DONALDS, and Mr. PAPPAS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business A BILL To amend the Small Business Act to require the Adminis- trator of the Small Business Administration to carry out a pilot program on issuing grants to eligible veterans to start or acquire qualifying businesses, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Entrepre- 4 neurship Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 903 IH SEC. 2. VETERANS SMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSHIP 1 PILOT PROGRAM. 2 Section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 3 657b) is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(h) VETERANS SMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR- 5 SHIP PILOT PROGRAM.— 6 ‘‘(1) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 8 days after the date of enactment of this sub- 9 section, the Administrator, in consultation with 10 the Advisory Committee and the Secretary of 11 Veterans Affairs, shall begin carrying out a 12 pilot program to assess the feasibility and ad- 13 visability of making grants to eligible veterans 14 to start or acquire a qualifying business enter- 15 prise. 16 ‘‘(B) PROMOTION OF EFFICIENCY.—In 17 carrying out the pilot program, the Adminis- 18 trator shall ensure, to the maximum extent 19 practicable, that the pilot program promotes ef- 20 ficiency, accountability, and competition. 21 ‘‘(C) LIST OF CATEGORIES OF BUSINESS 22 ENTERPRISES.—The Administrator, in con- 23 sultation with the Advisory Committee, shall by 24 rule establish a list of categories of business en- 25 terprises that the Administrator determines to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 903 IH be qualifying business enterprises for purposes 1 of the pilot program, which shall include— 2 ‘‘(i) a small business concern; 3 ‘‘(ii) a franchise business enterprise; 4 and 5 ‘‘(iii) any other category of business 6 enterprise that the Administrator, in con- 7 sultation with the Advisory Committee, de- 8 termines is appropriate and in accordance 9 with the purposes of the pilot program. 10 ‘‘(D) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—Under the 11 pilot program, the Administrator may make 12 grants in accordance with paragraph (4) to not 13 more than 250 eligible veterans to start or ac- 14 quire a qualifying business enterprise. 15 ‘‘(E) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In making 16 grants under the pilot program, the Adminis- 17 trator shall ensure geographic diversity among 18 the veterans who receive the grants. 19 ‘‘(F) DURATION.—The Administrator shall 20 carry out the pilot program during the 3-year 21 period beginning on the date on which the Ad- 22 ministrator begins carrying out the pilot pro- 23 gram. 24 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible veteran de- 1 siring a grant under the pilot program shall 2 submit an application— 3 ‘‘(i) to the Administrator in the form 4 and containing the information as the Ad- 5 ministrator may require, including the in- 6 formation described in subparagraph (B); 7 and 8 ‘‘(ii) not later than 1 year before the 9 date on which the pilot program terminates 10 under paragraph (1)(F). 11 ‘‘(B) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.— 12 The Administrator, in considering an applica- 13 tion from an eligible veteran for a grant under 14 the pilot program, may not approve the applica- 15 tion unless the application includes the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(i) A description of the use of the 18 grant amount, including an identification 19 and description of the qualifying business 20 enterprise. 21 ‘‘(ii) A description of the expected re- 22 turn on investment resulting from the 23 grant amounts. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(iii) A certification that the eligible 1 veteran applying for the grant— 2 ‘‘(I) shall complete the education 3 and training relevant to the ownership 4 and operation of the qualifying busi- 5 ness enterprise described in para- 6 graphs (3)(A) and (3)(B); and 7 ‘‘(II) understands that the eligi- 8 ble veteran may not receive amounts 9 under a grant under the pilot pro- 10 gram until after the eligible veteran 11 has completed the required education 12 and training relevant to the ownership 13 and operation of the qualifying busi- 14 ness enterprise described in para- 15 graphs (3)(A) and (3)(B). 16 ‘‘(iv) Such certifications as the Ad- 17 ministrator, in consultation with the Advi- 18 sory Committee, shall by rule require, in- 19 cluding— 20 ‘‘(I) for a business enterprise in 21 operation on the date of the applica- 22 tion, evidence that the Administrator, 23 in consultation with the Advisory 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 903 IH Committee, determines appropriate 1 of— 2 ‘‘(aa) good standing; 3 ‘‘(bb) profitable operation; 4 and 5 ‘‘(cc) guarantees relating to 6 the purchase of the enterprise; 7 ‘‘(II) for a franchise business en- 8 terprise, evidence that the Adminis- 9 trator, in consultation with the Advi- 10 sory Committee, determines appro- 11 priate of— 12 ‘‘(aa) compliance with appli- 13 cable State and Federal laws on 14 franchises; and 15 ‘‘(bb) training in conforma- 16 tion with the industry standard; 17 and 18 ‘‘(III) for a startup, or an enter- 19 prise that is otherwise not in oper- 20 ation at the time of the application, a 21 proposal for the operation of that en- 22 terprise that leads to profitable oper- 23 ation within a reasonable time frame. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(v) A certification that the eligible 1 veteran applying for the grant understands 2 that the eligible veteran may not receive 3 amounts under the grant until after the 4 business plan of the eligible veteran has 5 been approved under the procedures de- 6 scribed in paragraph (3)(C)(ii). 7 ‘‘(vi) A certification that the eligible 8 veteran— 9 ‘‘(I) has been truthful about the 10 employment status of the eligible vet- 11 eran; and 12 ‘‘(II) understands that the eligi- 13 ble veteran will be prohibited from 14 participating in the pilot program if 15 the certification described in subclause 16 (I) is determined to be untrue. 17 ‘‘(C) GROUP APPLICATIONS.—The Admin- 18 istrator may authorize a group of eligible vet- 19 erans to apply as a group under the pilot pro- 20 gram. The group shall be treated as a single eli- 21 gible veteran under the pilot program, except 22 that the maximum amount of the grant shall be 23 calculated by multiplying the maximum amount 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 903 IH under paragraph (4)(A) by the number of mem- 1 bers of the group. 2 ‘‘(3) ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible veteran 4 receiving a grant under the pilot program shall 5 complete an entrepreneurship readiness pro- 6 gram approved by the Administrator that is de- 7 signed to prepare the eligible veteran for, and 8 lead to the immediate subsequent ownership 9 and management by the eligible veteran of, a 10 qualifying business enterprise. 11 ‘‘(B) APPROVED PROGRAMS.—An approved 12 program described in subparagraph (A) may in- 13 clude a program— 14 ‘‘(i) available through a small business 15 development center; 16 ‘‘(ii) approved by the Administrator 17 for entrepreneurship training; 18 ‘‘(iii) approved by the Secretary of 19 Veterans Affairs for entrepreneurship 20 training; 21 ‘‘(iv) available through the Transition 22 Assistance Program of the Department of 23 Defense; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(v) available through a women’s 1 business center, as described in section 29; 2 ‘‘(vi) available through a Veterans 3 Business Outreach Center, as described in 4 subsection (d); 5 ‘‘(vii) available through the SCORE 6 program authorized by section 8(b)(1); or 7 ‘‘(viii) approved by the Administrator, 8 in consultation with the Advisory Com- 9 mittee, as appropriate because of the ex- 10 pertise the program offers relating to a 11 certain type of business enterprise. 12 ‘‘(C) BUSINESS PLAN.— 13 ‘‘(i) CONTENTS.—An eligible veteran 14 receiving a grant under the pilot program 15 shall prepare a business plan, which shall 16 include— 17 ‘‘(I) a description of how the 18 qualifying business enterprise will 19 achieve profitable operation within a 20 reasonable time frame; 21 ‘‘(II) an assessment of relevant— 22 ‘‘(aa) economic indicators; 23 ‘‘(bb) consumer data; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(cc) production and sales 1 data; and 2 ‘‘(dd) market or industry 3 analysis; and 4 ‘‘(III) other information that the 5 Administrator, in consultation with 6 the Advisory Committee, determines is 7 appropriate. 8 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL PROCEDURE.— 9 ‘‘(I) APPROVAL BY ADVISOR.—If 10 an advisor approves the business plan 11 prepared by the eligible veteran, the 12 Associate Administrator for Veterans 13 Business Development of the Adminis- 14 tration— 15 ‘‘(aa) shall review the busi- 16 ness plan; and 17 ‘‘(bb) may reverse the ap- 18 proval of the business plan and 19 require that the eligible veteran 20 continue to consult with the advi- 21 sor to develop and resubmit the 22 business plan. 23 ‘‘(II) DISAPPROVAL BY ADVI- 24 SOR.—If an advisor does not approve 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 903 IH the business plan prepared by an eli- 1 gible veteran, the Associate Adminis- 2 trator for Veterans Business Develop- 3 ment of the Administration, upon ap- 4 peal by the eligible veteran, may re- 5 verse the decision of the advisor and 6 approve the business plan. 7 ‘‘(4) GRANT TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 8 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT AND ADDI- 9 TIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to para- 11 graph (2)(C), the maximum amount that 12 an eligible veteran may receive under the 13 pilot program shall not exceed an amount 14 equal to the sum of— 15 ‘‘(I) the maximum grant amount 16 specified in clause (ii); 17 ‘‘(II) the amount equal to the 18 product obtained by multiplying— 19 ‘‘(aa) the amount of addi- 20 tional assistance to which the eli- 21 gible veteran is entitled under 22 clause (iii)(II); by 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(bb) the number of months 1 that the eligible veteran partici- 2 pates in the pilot program; and 3 ‘‘(III) the amount of training as- 4 sistance received by the eligible vet- 5 eran in clause (iv). 6 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The 7 maximum grant amount specified in this 8 clause is the following: 9 ‘‘(I) In the case of an eligible vet- 10 eran entitled to educational assistance 11 under chapter 33 of title 38, United 12 States Code, the amount equal to the 13 product obtained by multiplying— 14 ‘‘(aa) the number of months 15 of educational assistance to 16 which the eligible veteran is enti- 17 tled on the date that the eligible 18 veteran submits an application; 19 by 20 ‘‘(bb) the pro rata monthly 21 rate of the amount that the eligi- 22 ble veteran is entitled to under 23 paragraph (1)(A)(ii)(II) of sec- 24 tion 3313(c) of that title, subject 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 903 IH to paragraphs (2) through (7) of 1 that section. 2 ‘‘(II) In the case of an eligible 3 veteran entitled to educational assist- 4 ance under chapter 30 of title 38, 5 United States Code, the amount equal 6 to the product obtained by multi- 7 plying— 8 ‘‘(aa) the number of months 9 of educational assistance to 10 which the eligible veteran is enti- 11 tled on the date that the eligible 12 veteran submits an application; 13 by 14 ‘‘(bb) the rate in effect 15 under section 3015(a)(1) of that 16 title. 17 ‘‘(iii) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 18 ‘‘(I) PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY.— 19 An eligible veteran shall receive the 20 amount described in subclause (II) for 21 each month that the eligible veteran 22 participates in the pilot program. 23 ‘‘(II) AMOUNT.—The amount of 24 the additional assistance specified in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 903 IH this subclause is an amount, paid to 1 the eligible veteran on a monthly 2 basis, equal to the product obtained 3 by multiplying— 4 ‘‘(aa) the monthly amount of 5 the basic allowance for housing 6 payable under section 403 of title 7 37, United States Code, for a 8 member with dependents in pay 9 grade E–5 residing in the mili- 10 tary housing area that encom- 11 passes all or the majority portion 12 of the ZIP Code area in which is 13 located the residence of the eligi- 14 ble veteran (similar to the cal- 15 culation made under section 16 3313(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) of title 38, 17 United States Code); by— 18 ‘‘(bb)(AA) in the case of an 19 eligible veteran who, as of the 20 date on which the eligible veteran 21 applies for a grant under this 22 subsection, has no employment 23 other than the qualifying busi- 24 ness enterprise for which the eli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 000 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.