Post-9/11 Veteran Business Acceleration Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4991 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a pilot program under which eligible individuals may elect to receive financial assistance in lieu of educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program to establish and operate a qualified business enterprise, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Ms. GABBARD (for herself, Mr. SPANO, and Mr. LAWSON of Florida) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet- erans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a pilot program under which eligible individuals may elect to receive financial assistance in lieu of educational assist- ance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Pro- gram to establish and operate a qualified business enter- prise, 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 ‘‘Post-9/11 Veteran 4 Business Acceleration Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4991.IH H4991 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4991 IH SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO ALLOW ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS 1 TO ELECT TO RECEIVE FINANCIAL ASSIST- 2 ANCE IN LIEU OF POST-9/11 EDUCATIONAL 3 ASSISTANCE TO ESTABLISH AND OPERATE A 4 QUALIFIED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE. 5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Sub- 6 chapter III of chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code, 7 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 8 ‘‘§ 3328. Pilot program to allow election to receive fi- 9 nancial assistance to establish and oper- 10 ate a small business 11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) Not later than January 12 1, 2021, the Secretary, in collaboration with the Adminis- 13 trator of the Small Business Administration, shall estab- 14 lish a pilot program under which an eligible individual may 15 elect to receive financial assistance, in lieu of educational 16 assistance under this chapter, for a three-year period— 17 ‘‘(A) to establish and operate a new qualified 18 business enterprise; or 19 ‘‘(B) to operate an existing qualified business 20 enterprise. 21 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), an eligible indi- 22 vidual is an individual who— 23 ‘‘(A) is entitled to 36 months of educational as- 24 sistance under this chapter; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4991.IH H4991 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4991 IH ‘‘(B) is not in bankruptcy proceedings at the 1 time of application; and 2 ‘‘(C) has a credit score equal to or greater than 3 the minimum credit score required by the Adminis- 4 trator to receive a loan under section 7(a) of the 5 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)). 6 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Secretary shall 7 establish an application process to select individuals to 8 participate in the pilot program. 9 ‘‘(c) ALLOWABLE EXPENSES.—An individual may 10 use financial assistance under the pilot program for the 11 following expenses in connection with the establishment or 12 operation of a qualified business enterprise: 13 ‘‘(1) Payment of a mortgage or lease with re- 14 spect to property used regularly and exclusively to 15 operate the qualified business enterprise. 16 ‘‘(2) Utilities, phone, and computer expenses. 17 ‘‘(3) Equipment, furniture, and machinery. 18 ‘‘(4) Vehicles and travel expenses. 19 ‘‘(5) Property maintenance costs. 20 ‘‘(6) Insurance. 21 ‘‘(7) Wages, salaries, payroll taxes, and bene- 22 fits. 23 ‘‘(8) Supplies and other office expenses. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4991.IH H4991 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4991 IH ‘‘(9) Professional fees, including legal and ac- 1 counting services. 2 ‘‘(10) Advertising and marketing costs. 3 ‘‘(11) Such other expenses as the Secretary de- 4 termines appropriate. 5 ‘‘(d) AMOUNT AND PAYMENT OF FINANCIAL ASSIST- 6 ANCE.—(1) The Secretary shall make available to an indi- 7 vidual under the pilot program financial assistance in the 8 following amounts: 9 ‘‘(A) In the first year of the pilot program, an 10 amount equal to the sum of— 11 ‘‘(i) $20,000; and 12 ‘‘(ii) the monthly amount of the basic al- 13 lowance for housing payable under section 403 14 of title 37 for a member with dependents in pay 15 grade E–5 residing in the military housing area 16 that encompasses all or the majority portion of 17 the ZIP code area in which is located the pri- 18 mary residence of the individual, multiplied by 19 12. 20 ‘‘(B) In the second year of the pilot program, 21 $20,000. 22 ‘‘(C) In the third year of the pilot program, 23 $20,000. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4991.IH H4991 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4991 IH ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall make payments under this 1 section as follows: 2 ‘‘(A) In the first year of the pilot program, and 3 as requested by an individual under the program— 4 ‘‘(i) for— 5 ‘‘(I) the first month, in a lump sum 6 equal to 60 percent of the total amount 7 under subsection (d)(1)(A); and 8 ‘‘(II) each subsequent month, in an 9 amount equal to 40 percent of the total 10 amount under such subsection divided by 11 11; or 12 ‘‘(ii) on a monthly basis. 13 ‘‘(B) In the second and third year of the pilot 14 program, on a monthly basis. 15 ‘‘(e) EXPENDITURE REPORTING AND TRACKING SYS- 16 TEM.—The Secretary, in collaboration with the Adminis- 17 trator, shall establish and operate a secure electronic re- 18 porting system through which— 19 ‘‘(1) an individual participating in the pilot pro- 20 gram may report— 21 ‘‘(A) expenditures of a qualified business 22 enterprise established or operated under the 23 pilot program; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4991.IH H4991 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4991 IH ‘‘(B) such other information as the Sec- 1 retary may require; and 2 ‘‘(2) the Secretary may track expenditures and 3 other information reported under paragraph (1). 4 ‘‘(f) REVIEW OF EXPENDITURES; IMPROPER USE OF 5 FUNDS.—The Secretary shall— 6 ‘‘(1) at least once every two months, review the 7 system established under subsection (e) to determine 8 whether an individual participating in the pilot pro- 9 gram is using financial assistance under the pilot 10 program for allowable expenses described in sub- 11 section (c); and 12 ‘‘(2) require an individual who uses financial 13 assistance for a nonallowable expense to remit to the 14 Secretary an amount equal to the amount used for 15 the nonallowable expense. 16 ‘‘(g) COMBINATION OF BENEFITS.—The Secretary 17 may allow multiple individuals to use financial assistance 18 under the pilot program to establish or operate a single 19 qualified business enterprise. 20 ‘‘(h) TRAINING.—The Secretary, in collaboration 21 with the Administrator, shall provide training to individ- 22 uals participating in the pilot program with respect to the 23 establishment and operation of a business, including how 24 to avoid becoming a victim of predatory lending. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4991.IH H4991 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4991 IH ‘‘(i) WITHDRAWAL FROM PILOT PROGRAM.—(1) An 1 individual, upon notice to the Secretary, may withdraw 2 from participation in the pilot program at any time prior 3 to the completion of the three-year period of the program. 4 ‘‘(2) In the event that an individual withdraws from 5 the pilot program under paragraph (1), the Secretary 6 shall— 7 ‘‘(A) determine the remaining educational as- 8 sistance to which the individual is entitled under this 9 chapter; and 10 ‘‘(B) allow the individual to use such remaining 11 educational assistance in accordance with this chap- 12 ter. 13 ‘‘(j) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 14 pilot program for a period of seven years. 15 ‘‘(k) QUALIFIED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE DE- 16 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘qualified business en- 17 terprise’ means a business enterprise engaged in lawful 18 activities under— 19 ‘‘(1) Federal law; or 20 ‘‘(2) the law of the State in which the business 21 enterprise is located.’’. 22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3301 of 23 such title is amended by adding at the end the following 24 new paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4991.IH H4991 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4991 IH ‘‘(5) The term ‘educational assistance under 1 this chapter’ does not include financial assistance 2 under section 3328.’’. 3 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 4 at the beginning of chapter 33 of such title is amended 5 by inserting after the item relating to section 3327 the 6 following new item: 7 ‘‘3328. Pilot program to allow election to receive financial assistance to establish and operate a small business.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4991.IH H4991 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS