II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1998 To improve the programs for veterans of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 26, 2019 Mr. GARDNER (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To improve the programs for veterans of the Small Business Administration, 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 Small Busi- 4 ness Ownership Improvements Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING THE VETERAN’S BUSINESS OUT- 6 REACH CENTER PROGRAM. 7 Section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 8 657b) is amended— 9 (1) by striking subsections (d) and (f); 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1998 IS (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (g) as 1 subsections (j) and (k), respectively; and 2 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(d) VETERAN’S BUSINESS OUTREACH CENTER 5 PROGRAM.— 6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 7 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 8 ‘‘(i) a member of the Armed Forces, 9 without regard to whether the member is 10 participating in the Transition Assistance 11 Program of the Department of Defense; 12 ‘‘(ii) an individual who is participating 13 in the Transition Assistance Program of 14 the Department of Defense; 15 ‘‘(iii) an individual who— 16 ‘‘(I) served on active duty in any 17 branch of the Armed Forces, includ- 18 ing the National Guard and Reserves; 19 and 20 ‘‘(II) was discharged or released 21 from such service under conditions 22 other than dishonorable; and 23 ‘‘(iv) a spouse or dependent of an in- 24 dividual described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(B) the term ‘private nonprofit organiza- 1 tion’ means an entity that is described in sec- 2 tion 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 3 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 4 501(a) of such Code; and 5 ‘‘(C) the term ‘veteran’s business outreach 6 center site’ means the location of— 7 ‘‘(i) a veteran’s business outreach cen- 8 ter; or 9 ‘‘(ii) 1 or more veteran’s business out- 10 reach center, established in conjunction 11 with another veteran’s business outreach 12 center in another location within a State or 13 region— 14 ‘‘(I) that reach a distinct popu- 15 lation that would otherwise not be 16 served; 17 ‘‘(II) whose services are targeted 18 to veterans; and 19 ‘‘(III) whose scope, function, and 20 activities are similar to those of the 21 primary veteran’s business outreach 22 center or centers in conjunction with 23 which it was established. 24 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY; SERVICES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administration 1 may provide grants to, or enter into contracts 2 or cooperatives with, private nonprofit organiza- 3 tions to establish and operate veteran’s business 4 outreach centers for the benefit of covered indi- 5 viduals and small business concerns owned and 6 controlled by veterans. 7 ‘‘(B) SERVICES PROVIDED.—Each vet- 8 eran’s business outreach center established 9 under this subsection shall carry out projects 10 providing— 11 ‘‘(i) 1-to-1 individual counseling to 12 small businesses, including— 13 ‘‘(I) financial assistance; 14 ‘‘(II) management assistance; 15 ‘‘(III) marketing assistance; 16 ‘‘(IV) transition assistance; 17 ‘‘(V) Federal-contracting assist- 18 ance; and 19 ‘‘(VI) export assistance; and 20 ‘‘(ii) small business training and coun- 21 seling through online and in-person work- 22 shops and seminars, including— 23 ‘‘(I) financial assistance; 24 ‘‘(II) management assistance; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(III) marketing assistance; 1 ‘‘(IV) transition assistance, in- 2 cluding the Boots to Business pro- 3 gram established under subsection (e); 4 ‘‘(V) Federal-contracting assist- 5 ance; and 6 ‘‘(VI) export assistance. 7 ‘‘(3) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A veteran’s business 9 outreach center may enter into a contract with 10 a Federal department or agency to provide spe- 11 cific assistance to veterans and other under- 12 served small business concerns. 13 ‘‘(B) PERFORMANCE.—Performance of a 14 contract described in subparagraph (A) should 15 not hinder a veteran’s business outreach center 16 in carrying out the terms of the grant received 17 by the veteran’s business outreach center from 18 the Administration. 19 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION AND APPROVAL CRITERIA.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A private nonprofit 21 organization desiring a grant under this sub- 22 section shall submit an application to the Ad- 23 ministrator at such time, in such manner, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1998 IS containing such information as the Adminis- 1 trator may require. 2 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—The Administration 3 shall— 4 ‘‘(i) subject to clause (ii), develop and 5 publish criteria for the consideration and 6 approval of applications submitted by pri- 7 vate nonprofit organizations under this 8 subsection; and 9 ‘‘(ii) evaluate and rank applicants in 10 accordance with predetermined selection 11 criteria that shall be stated in terms of rel- 12 ative importance, which— 13 ‘‘(I) shall be made publicly avail- 14 able and stated in each solicitation for 15 applications made by the Administra- 16 tion; and 17 ‘‘(II) shall include— 18 ‘‘(aa) the experience of the 19 applicant in conducting programs 20 or ongoing efforts designed to 21 impart or upgrade the business 22 skills of veteran business owners 23 or potential owners; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(bb) the present ability of 1 the applicant to commence a 2 project within a minimum 3 amount of time; and 4 ‘‘(cc) the location for the 5 veteran’s business center site 6 proposed by the applicant. 7 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL OF 8 GRANT.—A private nonprofit organization that 9 receives a grant under this subsection may sub- 10 mit an application for a renewal of the grant at 11 such time, in such manner, and containing such 12 information as the Administrator may require. 13 ‘‘(D) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 60 14 days after the date of the deadline to submit 15 applications for each fiscal year, the Adminis- 16 trator shall approve or deny any application 17 submitted under this subsection and notify the 18 applicant for each such application. 19 ‘‘(5) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the avail- 21 ability of appropriations, the Administrator 22 shall make a grant for the Federal share of the 23 cost of activities described in the application to 24 each applicant approved under this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub- 1 section shall be for not less than $225,000 and 2 not more than $375,000. 3 ‘‘(C) DURATION.— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A grant under 5 this subsection shall be for a period of 1 6 year. 7 ‘‘(ii) RENEWAL.—A grant under this 8 subsection may be renewed for not more 9 than 4 additional 1-year periods. 10 ‘‘(D) PRIORITY.—In allocating funds made 11 available for grants under this subsection, the 12 Administrator shall give priority to applicants 13 for a renewal of a grant over new applicants. 14 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM EXAMINATION.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administration 16 shall— 17 ‘‘(i) develop and implement an annual 18 programmatic and financial examination of 19 each veteran’s business outreach center es- 20 tablished pursuant to this subsection, pur- 21 suant to which each veteran’s business out- 22 reach center shall provide to the Adminis- 23 tration— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(I) an itemized cost breakdown 1 of actual expenditures for costs in- 2 curred during the preceding year, 3 breaking out Boots to Business costs 4 from all other programmatic costs; 5 and 6 ‘‘(II) a programmatic breakdown 7 of veteran’s business outreach center 8 curriculum, program offerings, and 9 outcomes; and 10 ‘‘(ii) analyze the results of each exam- 11 ination described in clause (i) and, based 12 on that analysis, make a determination re- 13 garding the programmatic and financial vi- 14 ability of each veteran’s business outreach 15 center. 16 ‘‘(B) CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUED FUND- 17 ING.—In determining whether to renew a con- 18 tract (either as a grant or cooperative agree- 19 ment) under this subsection with a veteran’s 20 business outreach center, the Administrator— 21 ‘‘(i) shall consider the results of the 22 most recent examination of the veteran’s 23 business outreach center under subpara- 24 graph (A); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(ii) may withhold such award or re- 1 newal, if the Administration determines 2 that— 3 ‘‘(I) the veteran’s business out- 4 reach center has failed to provide any 5 information required to be provided 6 under subclause (I) or (II) of sub- 7 paragraph (A)(i), or the information 8 provided by the center is inadequate; 9 or 10 ‘‘(II) the veteran’s business out- 11 reach center has failed to provide any 12 information required to be provided by 13 the center for purposes of the report 14 of the Administration under sub- 15 section (i)(1), or the information pro- 16 vided by the center is inadequate. 17 ‘‘(7) EXPEDITED ACQUISITION.—Notwith- 18 standing any other provision of law, the Adminis- 19 trator, acting through the Associate Administrator, 20 may use such expedited acquisition methods as the 21 Administrator determines to be appropriate to carry 22 out this subsection, except that the Administrator 23 shall ensure that all small business sources are pro- 24 vided a reasonable opportunity to submit proposals. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(8) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A veteran’s business 2 outreach center may not disclose the name, ad- 3 dress, or telephone number of any individual or 4 small business concern receiving assistance 5 under this subsection without the consent of the 6 individual or small business concern, unless— 7 ‘‘(i) the Administrator is ordered to 8 make such a disclosure by a court in any 9 civil or criminal enforcement action initi- 10 ated by a Federal or State agency; or 11 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator considers such 12 a disclosure to be necessary for the pur- 13 pose of conducting a financial audit of a 14 veteran’s business outreach center, but a 15 disclosure under this clause shall be limited 16 to the information necessary for such 17 audit. 18 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION USE OF INFORMA- 19 TION.—This subsection shall not— 20 ‘‘(i) restrict Administration access to 21 program activity data; or 22 ‘‘(ii) prevent the Administration from 23 using client information, other than the in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1998 IS formation described in clause (i), to con- 1 duct client surveys. 2 ‘‘(C) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator 3 shall issue regulations to establish standards for 4 requiring disclosures during a financial audit 5 under subparagraph (A)(ii). 6 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 8 be appropriated to carry out this subsection— 9 ‘‘(i) $13,500,000 for fiscal year 2020; 10 ‘‘(ii) $14,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 11 ‘‘(iii) $14,500,000 for fiscal year 12 2022; and 13 ‘‘(iv) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 14 2023. 15 ‘‘(B) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts made 16 available under this paragraph for fiscal year 17 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter— 18 ‘‘(i) may only be used for grant 19 awards; and 20 ‘‘(ii) may not be used for costs in- 21 curred by the Administration in connection 22 with the management and administration 23 of the program under this subsection.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1998 IS SEC. 3. VETERANS’ BUSINESS PROGRAMS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32 of the Small Business 2 Act (15 U.S.C. 657b), as amended by section 2, is amend- 3 ed by inserting after subsection (d) the following: 4 ‘‘(e) BOOTS TO BUSINESS PROGRAM.— 5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 6 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 7 ‘‘(i) a member of the Armed Forces, 8 without regard to whether the member is 9 participating in the Transition Assistance 10 Program of the Department of Defense; 11 ‘‘(ii) an individual who is participating 12 in the Transition Assistance Program of 13 the Department of Defense; 14 ‘‘(iii) an individual who— 15 ‘‘(I) served on active duty in any 16 branch of the Armed Forces, includ- 17 ing the National Guard and Reserves; 18 and 19 ‘‘(II) was discharged or released 20 from such service under conditions 21 other than dishonorable; and 22 ‘‘(iv) a spouse or dependent of an in- 23 dividual described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii); 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1998.IS S1998 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 1998 IS ‘‘(B) the term ‘Vet Center’ means a center 1 for readjustment counseling and related mental 2 health services for veterans under section 3 1712A of title 38, United States Code. 4 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 5 program to be known as the Boots to Business Pro- 6 gram to provide entrepreneurship training to cover [Text truncated for display. 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