Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1255 To require the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department of Commerce to promote and administer programs in the public and private sectors to assist the development of minority business enterprises, to ensure that such Agency has the necessary supporting resources, particularly during economic downturns, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 20, 2021 Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNOCK, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. DURBIN, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department of Commerce to promote and administer programs in the public and private sectors to assist the development of minority business enterprises, to ensure that such Agency has the necessary supporting resources, particularly during economic downturns, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1255 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2021’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings and purposes. Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Minority Business Development Agency. TITLE I—EXISTING INITIATIVES Subtitle A—Market Development, Research, and Information Sec. 101. Private sector development. Sec. 102. Public sector development. Sec. 103. Research and information. Subtitle B—Minority Business Development Agency Business Center Program Sec. 110. Definition. Sec. 111. Purpose. Sec. 112. Establishment. Sec. 113. Grants and cooperative agreements. Sec. 114. Minimizing disruptions to existing MBDA Business Center program. Sec. 115. Publicity. Sec. 116. Funding. TITLE II—NEW INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC RESILIENCY FOR MINORITY BUSINESSES Sec. 201. Annual diverse business forum on capital formation. Sec. 202. Agency study on alternative financing solutions. Sec. 203. Educational development relating to management and entrepreneur- ship. TITLE III—RURAL MINORITY BUSINESS CENTER PROGRAM Sec. 301. Definitions. Sec. 302. Business centers. Sec. 303. Report to Congress. Sec. 304. Study and report. TITLE IV—MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT GRANTS Sec. 401. Grants to nonprofit organizations that support minority business en- terprises. Sec. 402. Minority business grants. TITLE V—ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER POWERS OF THE AGENCY; MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 501. Administrative powers. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1255 IS Sec. 502. Federal assistance. Sec. 503. Audits. Sec. 504. Review and report by Comptroller General. Sec. 505. Annual reports; recommendations. Sec. 506. Separability. Sec. 507. Executive Order 11625. Sec. 508. Amendment to the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994. Sec. 509. Authorization of appropriations. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 (1) During times of economic downturn or re- 3 cession, communities of color, and businesses within 4 those communities, are generally more adversely af- 5 fected, which requires an expansion of the ability of 6 the Federal Government to infuse resources into 7 those communities. 8 (2) Despite the growth in the number of minor- 9 ity business enterprises, gaps remain with respect to 10 key metrics for those enterprises, such as access to 11 capital, revenue, number of employees, and survival 12 rate. Specifically— 13 (A) according to the Department of Com- 14 merce, minority business enterprises are 2 to 3 15 times more likely to be denied loans than non- 16 minority business enterprises; 17 (B) according to the Bureau of the Cen- 18 sus, the average non-minority business enter- 19 prise reports receipts that are more than 3 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1255 IS times higher than receipts reported by the aver- 1 age minority business enterprise; and 2 (C) according to the Kauffman Founda- 3 tion— 4 (i) minority business enterprises are 5 1⁄2 as likely to employ individuals, as com- 6 pared with non-minority business enter- 7 prises; and 8 (ii) if minorities started and owned 9 businesses at the same rate as non-minori- 10 ties, the United States economy would 11 have more than 1,000,000 additional em- 12 ployer businesses and more than 9,500,000 13 additional jobs. 14 (3) Because of the conditions described in para- 15 graph (2), it is in the interest of the United States 16 and the economy of the United States to expedi- 17 tiously ameliorate the disparities that minority busi- 18 ness enterprises experience. 19 (4) Many individuals who own minority busi- 20 ness enterprises are socially disadvantaged because 21 those individuals identify as members of certain 22 groups that have suffered the effects of discrimina- 23 tory practices or similar circumstances over which 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1255 IS those individuals have no control, including individ- 1 uals who are— 2 (A) Black or African American; 3 (B) Hispanic or Latino; 4 (C) American Indian or Alaska Native; 5 (D) Asian; and 6 (E) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Is- 7 lander. 8 (5) Discriminatory practices and similar cir- 9 cumstances described in paragraph (4) are a signifi- 10 cant determinant of overall economic disadvantage 11 in the United States, which is evident in the per- 12 sistent racial wealth gap in the United States. 13 (6) While other Federal agencies focus only on 14 small businesses and businesses that represent a 15 broader demographic than solely minority business 16 enterprises, the Agency focuses exclusively on— 17 (A) the unique needs of minority business 18 enterprises; and 19 (B) enhancing the capacity of minority 20 business enterprises. 21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 22 (1) require the Agency to promote and admin- 23 ister programs in the public and private sectors to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1255 IS assist the development of minority business enter- 1 prises; and 2 (2) achieve the development described in para- 3 graph (1) by authorizing the Assistant Secretary to 4 carry out programs that will result in increased ac- 5 cess to capital, management, and technology for mi- 6 nority business enterprises. 7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 10 Minority Business Development Agency of the De- 11 partment of Commerce. 12 (2) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist- 13 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 14 Commerce for Minority Business Development, who 15 is appointed as described in section 4(b) to admin- 16 ister this Act. 17 (3) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 18 term ‘‘community-based organization’’ has the 19 meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Ele- 20 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 21 U.S.C. 7801). 22 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—Except as otherwise ex- 23 pressly provided, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’— 24 (A) means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1255 IS (i) a private sector entity; 1 (ii) a public sector entity; or 2 (iii) a Tribal government; and 3 (B) includes an institution of higher edu- 4 cation. 5 (5) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 6 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 7 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 8 (6) FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED AREA OF ECO- 9 NOMIC DISTRESS.—The term ‘‘federally recognized 10 area of economic distress’’ means— 11 (A) a HUBZone, as that term is defined in 12 section 31(b) of the Small Business Act (15 13 U.S.C. 657a(b)); 14 (B) an area that— 15 (i) has been designated as— 16 (I) an empowerment zone under 17 section 1391 of the Internal Revenue 18 Code of 1986; or 19 (II) a Promise Zone by the Sec- 20 retary of Housing and Urban Devel- 21 opment; or 22 (ii) is a low or moderate income area, 23 as determined by the Bureau of the Cen- 24 sus; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1255 IS (C) a qualified opportunity zone, as that 1 term is defined in section 1400Z–1 of the Inter- 2 nal Revenue Code of 1986; or 3 (D) any other political subdivision or unin- 4 corporated area of a State determined by the 5 Assistant Secretary to be an area of economic 6 distress. 7 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian 8 Tribe’’— 9 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec- 10 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 11 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); 12 and 13 (B) includes a Native Hawaiian organiza- 14 tion. 15 (8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 16 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 17 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 19 (9) MBDA BUSINESS CENTER.—The term 20 ‘‘MBDA Business Center’’ means any business cen- 21 ter that— 22 (A) is established by the Agency; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1255 IS (B) provides technical business assistance 1 to minority business enterprises consistent with 2 the requirements of this Act. 3 (10) MBDA BUSINESS CENTER AGREEMENT.— 4 The term ‘‘MBDA Business Center agreement’’ 5 means a legal instrument— 6 (A) reflecting a relationship between the 7 Agency and the recipient of a Federal assist- 8 ance award that is the subject of the instru- 9 ment; and 10 (B) that establishes the terms by which the 11 recipient described in subparagraph (A) shall 12 operate an MBDA Business Center. 13 (11) MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE.—The 14 term ‘‘minority business enterprise’’ means a busi- 15 ness enterprise (without regard to whether the busi- 16 ness enterprise is a for-profit or not-for-profit enter- 17 prise)— 18 (A) that is not less than 51 percent-owned 19 by 1 or more socially and economically dis- 20 advantaged individuals; and 21 (B) the management and daily business 22 operations of which are controlled by 1 or more 23 socially and economically disadvantaged individ- 24 uals. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1255 IS (12) PRIVATE SECTOR ENTITY.—The term 1 ‘‘private sector entity’’— 2 (A) means an entity that is not a public 3 sector entity; and 4 (B) does not include— 5 (i) the Federal Government; 6 (ii) any Federal agency; or 7 (iii) any instrumentality of the Fed- 8 eral Government. 9 (13) PUBLIC SECTOR ENTITY.—The term ‘‘pub- 10 lic sector entity’’ means— 11 (A) a State; 12 (B) an agency of a State; 13 (C) a political subdivision of a State; or 14 (D) an agency of a political subdivision of 15 a State. 16 (14) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 17 means the Secretary of Commerce. 18 (15) SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN- 19 TAGED INDIVIDUAL.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘socially and 21 economically disadvantaged individual’’ means 22 an individual who has been subjected to racial 23 or ethnic prejudice, or to cultural bias, because 24 of the identity of the individual as a member of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1255 IS a group, without regard to any individual qual- 1 ity of the individual that is unrelated to that 2 identity. 3 (B) PRESUMPTION.—In carrying out this 4 Act, the Assistant Secretary shall presume that 5 the term ‘‘socially and economically disadvan- 6 taged individual’’ includes any individual who 7 is— 8 (i) Black or African American; 9 (ii) Hispanic or Latino; 10 (iii) American Indian or Alaska Na- 11 tive; 12 (iv) Asian; 13 (v) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific 14 Islander; or 15 (vi) a member of a group that the 16 Agency determines under part 1400 of title 17 15, Code of Federal Regulations, as in ef- 18 fect on November 23, 1984, is a socially 19 disadvantaged group eligible to receive as- 20 sistance. 21 (16) SPECIALTY CENTER.—The term ‘‘specialty 22 center’’ means an MBDA Business Center that pro- 23 vides specialty services focusing on specific business 24 needs, including assistance relating to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1255 IS (A) capital access; 1 (B) Federal procurement; 2 (C) entrepreneurship; 3 (D) technology transfer; or 4 (E) any other area determined necessary 5 or appropriate based on the priorities of the 6 Agency. 7 (17) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 8 (A) each of the States of the United 9 States; 10 (B) the District of Columbia; 11 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 12 (D) the United States Virgin Islands; 13 (E) Guam; 14 (F) American Samoa; 15 (G) the Commonwealth of the Northern 16 Mariana Islands; and 17 (H) each Indian Tribe. 18 SEC. 4. MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is within the Department 20 of Commerce the Minority Business Development Agency. 21 (b) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.— 22 (1) APPOINTMENT AND DUTIES.—The Agency 23 shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary of Com- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1255.IS S1255 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1255 IS merce for Minority Business Development, who shall 1 be— 2 (A) appointed by the President, by and 3 with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 4 (B) except as otherwise expressly provided, 5 responsible for the administration of this Act. 6 (2) COMPENSATION.— 7 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]