Unlocking Opportunities in Emerging Markets Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 63 To establish an Office of Emerging Markets within the Small Business Ad- ministration that will strengthen the development of small business con- cerns in emerging markets, including those owned by women, minorities, veterans, and those located in rural areas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 27, 2021 Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To establish an Office of Emerging Markets within the Small Business Administration that will strengthen the develop- ment of small business concerns in emerging markets, including those owned by women, minorities, veterans, and those located in rural areas, 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 ‘‘Unlocking Opportuni- 4 ties in Emerging Markets Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S63.IS S63 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 63 IS SEC. 2. OFFICE OF EMERGING MARKETS. 1 Section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) 2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(o) OFFICE OF EMERGING MARKETS.— 4 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 5 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Associate Administrator’ 6 means the Associate Administrator of the Office 7 of Capital Access of the Administration; 8 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Director’ means the Direc- 9 tor of the Office of Emerging Markets; 10 ‘‘(C) the term ‘microloan program’ means 11 the program described in subsection (m); 12 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Reservist’ means a member 13 of a reserve component of the Armed Forces 14 named in section 10101 of title 10, United 15 States Code; 16 ‘‘(E) the term ‘rural area’ has the meaning 17 given the term in subsection (m)(11); 18 ‘‘(F) the term ‘service-connected’ has the 19 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 20 38, United States Code; and 21 ‘‘(G) the term ‘small business concern in 22 an emerging market’ means a small business 23 concern— 24 ‘‘(i) that is located in— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S63.IS S63 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 63 IS ‘‘(I) a low-income or moderate-in- 1 come area for purposes of the Com- 2 munity Development Block Grant 3 Program under title I of the Housing 4 and Community Development Act of 5 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); 6 ‘‘(II) a HUBZone, as that term 7 is defined in section 31(b); 8 ‘‘(III) a community that has been 9 designated as an empowerment zone 10 or an enterprise community under 11 section 1391 of the Internal Revenue 12 Code of 1986; 13 ‘‘(IV) a community that has been 14 designated as a Promise Zone by the 15 Secretary of Housing and Urban De- 16 velopment; 17 ‘‘(V) a community that has been 18 designated as a qualified opportunity 19 zone under section 1400Z–1 of the In- 20 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; or 21 ‘‘(VI) a rural area; 22 ‘‘(ii) that has more than 50 percent of 23 employees residing in a low- or moderate- 24 income community; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S63.IS S63 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 63 IS ‘‘(iii) that is growing, newly estab- 1 lished, or a startup, as those terms are 2 used in subsection (m); 3 ‘‘(iv) owned and controlled by socially 4 and economically disadvantaged individ- 5 uals, including Black Americans, Hispanic 6 Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pa- 7 cific Americans, and other minorities; 8 ‘‘(v) owned and controlled by women; 9 ‘‘(vi) owned and controlled by vet- 10 erans; 11 ‘‘(vii) owned and controlled by service- 12 disabled veterans; or 13 ‘‘(viii) not less than 51 percent owned 14 and controlled by one or more— 15 ‘‘(I) members of the Armed 16 Forces participating in the Transition 17 Assistance Program of the Depart- 18 ment of Defense; 19 ‘‘(II) Reservists; 20 ‘‘(III) spouses of veterans, mem- 21 bers of the Armed Forces, or Reserv- 22 ists; 23 ‘‘(IV) surviving spouses of vet- 24 erans who died on active duty or as a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S63.IS S63 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 63 IS result of a service-connected disability; 1 or 2 ‘‘(V) individuals with a disability, 3 as defined in section 3 of the Ameri- 4 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 5 U.S.C. 12102). 6 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 7 within the Administration the Office of Emerging 8 Markets, which shall be— 9 ‘‘(A) under the general management and 10 oversight of the Administration; and 11 ‘‘(B) responsible for the planning, coordi- 12 nation, implementation, evaluation, and im- 13 provement of the efforts of the Administrator to 14 enhance the economic well-being of small busi- 15 ness concerns in an emerging market. 16 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 18 days after the date of enactment of the 19 Unlocking Opportunities in Emerging Markets 20 Act of 2021, the Administrator shall appoint a 21 Director of the Office of Emerging Markets, 22 who shall— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S63.IS S63 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 63 IS ‘‘(i) supervise the Office of Emerging 1 Markets and report to the Associate Ad- 2 ministrator; and 3 ‘‘(ii) be in the Senior Executive Serv- 4 ice. 5 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Director shall— 6 ‘‘(i) create and implement strategies 7 and programs that provide an integrated 8 approach to the development of small busi- 9 ness concerns in an emerging market; 10 ‘‘(ii) develop and recommend policies 11 concerning the microloan program and any 12 other access to capital program of the Ad- 13 ministration, as such programs pertain to 14 small business concerns in an emerging 15 market; 16 ‘‘(iii) establish partnerships to ad- 17 vance the goal of improving the economic 18 success of small business concerns in an 19 emerging market; and 20 ‘‘(iv) review the effectiveness and im- 21 pact of the microloan program and any 22 other access to capital program of the Ad- 23 ministration that is targeted to serve small 24 business concerns in an emerging market. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S63.IS S63 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 63 IS ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the 1 duties under this paragraph, the Director shall 2 consult with district offices of the Administra- 3 tion.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S63.IS S63 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS