Minority Business Development Act of 2021

II Calendar No. 228 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2068 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 JUNE 15, 2021 Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. WICKER, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation DECEMBER 17, 2021 Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2068 RS 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Minority Business Development Act of 2021’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 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. 111. Definition. Sec. 112. Purpose. Sec. 113. Establishment. Sec. 114. Grants and cooperative agreements. Sec. 115. Minimizing disruptions to existing MBDA Business Center program. Sec. 116. Publicity. 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. TITLE V—MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES ADVISORY COUNCIL VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6411 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2068 RS Sec. 501. Purpose. Sec. 502. Composition and term. Sec. 503. Duties. TITLE VI—FEDERAL COORDINATION OF MINORITY BUSINESS PROGRAMS Sec. 601. General duties. Sec. 602. Participation of Federal departments and agencies. TITLE VII—ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS OF THE AGENCY; MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 701. Administrative powers. Sec. 702. Federal assistance. Sec. 703. Recordkeeping. Sec. 704. Review and report by Comptroller General. Sec. 705. Biannual reports; recommendations. Sec. 706. Separability. Sec. 707. Executive Order 11625. Sec. 708. Amendment to the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994. Sec. 709. 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. 6 (2) Despite the growth in the number of minor- 7 ity business enterprises, gaps remain with respect to 8 key metrics for those enterprises, such as access to 9 capital, revenue, number of employees, and survival 10 rate. Specifically— 11 (A) according to the 2021 Small Business 12 Credit Survey of the Federal Reserve Banks, 13 Black-owned and Latino-owned employer busi- 14 nesses are more than 2 and 1.5 times more 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2068 RS likely to be denied loans, respectively, than 1 White-owned employer businesses; 2 (B) according to the Bureau of the Cen- 3 sus, the average non-minority business enter- 4 prise reports revenue that is more than 3 times 5 higher than revenue reported by the average 6 minority business enterprise; and 7 (C) according to the Kauffman Founda- 8 tion— 9 (i) minority business enterprises are 10 1⁄2 as likely to employ individuals, as com- 11 pared with non-minority business enter- 12 prises; and 13 (ii) if minorities started and owned 14 businesses at the same rate as non-minori- 15 ties, the economy of the United States 16 would have more than 1,000,000 additional 17 employer businesses and more than 18 9,500,000 additional jobs. 19 (3) Because of the conditions described in para- 20 graph (2), it is in the interest of the United States 21 and the economy of the United States to expedi- 22 tiously ameliorate the disparities that minority busi- 23 ness enterprises experience. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2068 RS (4) Many individuals who own minority busi- 1 ness enterprises are socially disadvantaged because 2 those individuals identify as members of certain 3 groups that have suffered the effects of discrimina- 4 tory practices or similar circumstances over which 5 those individuals have no control, including individ- 6 uals who are— 7 (A) Black or African American; 8 (B) Hispanic or Latino; 9 (C) American Indian or Alaska Native; 10 (D) Asian; and 11 (E) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Is- 12 lander. 13 (5) Discriminatory practices and similar cir- 14 cumstances described in paragraph (4) are a signifi- 15 cant determinant of overall economic disadvantage 16 in the United States. 17 (6) It is in the interest of Congress to address 18 the persistent racial wealth gap in the United States 19 and to support entrepreneurship as a pathway to 20 wealth development. 21 (7) While other Federal agencies focus only on 22 small businesses and businesses that represent a 23 broader demographic than solely minority business 24 enterprises, the Agency focuses exclusively on— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2068 RS (A) the unique needs of minority business 1 enterprises; and 2 (B) enhancing the capacity of minority 3 business enterprises. 4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 5 (1) require the Agency to promote and admin- 6 ister programs in the public and private sectors to 7 assist the development of minority business enter- 8 prises; and 9 (2) achieve the development described in para- 10 graph (1) by authorizing the Under Secretary to 11 carry out programs that will result in increased ac- 12 cess to capital, management, and technology for mi- 13 nority business enterprises. 14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 15 In this Act: 16 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 17 Minority Business Development Agency of the De- 18 partment of Commerce. 19 (2) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 20 term ‘‘community-based organization’’ has the 21 meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Ele- 22 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 23 U.S.C. 7801). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2068 RS (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—Except as otherwise ex- 1 pressly provided, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’— 2 (A) means— 3 (i) a private sector entity; 4 (ii) a public sector entity; or 5 (iii) a Tribal government; and 6 (B) includes an institution of higher edu- 7 cation. 8 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 9 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 10 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 11 (5) FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED AREA OF ECO- 12 NOMIC DISTRESS.—The term ‘‘federally recognized 13 area of economic distress’’ means— 14 (A) a HUBZone, as that term is defined in 15 section 31(b) of the Small Business Act (15 16 U.S.C. 657a(b)); 17 (B) an area that— 18 (i) has been designated as— 19 (I) an empowerment zone under 20 section 1391 of the Internal Revenue 21 Code of 1986; or 22 (II) a Promise Zone by the Sec- 23 retary of Housing and Urban Devel- 24 opment; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2068 RS (ii) is a low or moderate income area, 1 as determined by the Department of Hous- 2 ing and Urban Development; 3 (C) a qualified opportunity zone, as that 4 term is defined in section 1400Z–1 of the Inter- 5 nal Revenue Code of 1986; or 6 (D) any other political subdivision or unin- 7 corporated area of a State determined by the 8 Under Secretary to be an area of economic dis- 9 tress. 10 (6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian 11 Tribe’’— 12 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec- 13 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 14 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); 15 and 16 (B) includes a Native Hawaiian organiza- 17 tion. 18 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 19 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 20 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 22 (8) MBDA BUSINESS CENTER.—The term 23 ‘‘MBDA Business Center’’ means any business cen- 24 ter that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2068 RS (A) is established by the Agency; and 1 (B) provides technical business assistance 2 to minority business enterprises consistent with 3 the requirements of this Act. 4 (9) MBDA BUSINESS CENTER AGREEMENT.— 5 The term ‘‘MBDA Business Center agreement’’ 6 means a legal instrument— 7 (A) reflecting a relationship between the 8 Agency and the recipient of a Federal assist- 9 ance award that is the subject of the instru- 10 ment; and 11 (B) that establishes the terms by which the 12 recipient described in subparagraph (A) shall 13 operate an MBDA Business Center. 14 (10) MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘minority 16 business enterprise’’ means a business enter- 17 prise— 18 (i) that is not less than 51 percent- 19 owned by 1 or more socially or economi- 20 cally disadvantaged individuals; and 21 (ii) the management and daily busi- 22 ness operations of which are controlled by 23 1 or more socially or economically dis- 24 advantaged individuals. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2068 RS (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 1 subparagraph (A) may be construed to exclude 2 a business enterprise from qualifying as a ‘‘mi- 3 nority business enterprise’’ under that subpara- 4 graph because of— 5 (i) the status of the business enter- 6 prise as a for-profit or not-for-profit enter- 7 prise; or 8 (ii) the annual revenue of the business 9 enterprise. 10 (11) PRIVATE SECTOR ENTITY.—The term 11 ‘‘private sector entity’’— 12 (A) means an entity that is not a public 13 sector entity; and 14 (B) does not include— 15 (i) the Federal Government; 16 (ii) any Federal agency; or 17 (iii) any instrumentality of the Fed- 18 eral Government. 19 (12) PUBLIC SECTOR ENTITY.—The term ‘‘pub- 20 lic sector entity’’ means— 21 (A) a State; 22 (B) an agency of a State; 23 (C) a political subdivision of a State; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2068 RS (D) an agency of a political subdivision of 1 a State. 2 (13) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 3 means the Secretary of Commerce. 4 (14) SOCIALLY OR ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN- 5 TAGED BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘‘socially or 6 economically disadvantaged business concern’’ means 7 a for-profit business enterprise— 8 (A)(i) that is not less than 51 percent 9 owned by 1 or more socially or economically dis- 10 advantaged individuals; or 11 (ii) that is socially or economically dis- 12 advantaged; or 13 (B) the management and daily business 14 operations of which are controlled by 1 or more 15 socially or economically disadvantaged individ- 16 uals. 17 (15) SOCIALLY OR ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN- 18 TAGED INDIVIDUAL.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘socially or 20 economically disadvantaged individual’’ means 21 an individual who has been subjected to racial 22 or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias (or the abil- 23 ity of whom to compete in the free enterprise 24 system has been impaired due to diminished 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2068 RS capital and credit opportunities, as compared to 1 others in the same line of business and competi- 2 tive market area) because of the identity of the 3 individual as a member of a group, without re- 4 gard to any individual quality of the individual 5 that is unrelated to that identity. 6 (B) PRESUMPTION.—In carrying out this 7 Act, the Under Secretary shall presume that 8 the term ‘‘socially or economically disadvan- 9 taged individual’’ includes any individual who 10 is— 11 (i) Black or African American; 12 (ii) Hispanic or Latino; 13 (iii) American Indian or Alaska Na- 14 tive; 15 (iv) Asian; 16 (v) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific 17 Islander; or 18 (vi) a member of a group that the 19 Agency determines under part 1400 of title 20 15, Code of Federal Regulations, as in ef- 21 fect on November 23, 1984, is a socially 22 disadvantaged group eligible to receive as- 23 sistance. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2068.RS S2068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2068 RS (16) SPECIALTY CENTER.—The term ‘‘specialty 1 center’’ means an MBDA Business Center that pro- 2 vides specialty services focusing on specific business 3 needs, inclu [Text truncated for display. 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