STEP Improvement Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6133 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship AN ACT To reauthorize the State Trade Expansion Program 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 6133 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STEP Improvement 2 Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. STATE TRADE EXPANSION PROGRAM. 4 (a) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 22(l)(3) 5 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)(3)) is amend- 6 ed— 7 (1) in subparagraph (D)— 8 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, including 9 a budget plan for use of funds awarded under 10 this subsection’’ before the period at the end; 11 and 12 (B) by adding at the end the following new 13 clause: 14 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.—The Associate Admin- 15 istrator shall— 16 ‘‘(I) publish information on how 17 to apply for a grant under this sub- 18 section, including specific calculations 19 and other determinations used to 20 award such a grant, not later than 21 March 31 of each year; 22 ‘‘(II) establish a deadline for the 23 submission of applications that is not 24 earlier than 60 days after the date on 25 which the information is published 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 6133 RFS under subclause (I), but in any case 1 not later than May 31; and 2 ‘‘(III) announce grant recipients 3 not later than August 31 of each 4 year.’’; and 5 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 6 paragraphs: 7 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION INFORMATION.—The 8 Associate Administrator shall clearly commu- 9 nicate to applicants and grant recipients any in- 10 formation about State Trade Expansion Pro- 11 gram, including— 12 ‘‘(i) for each unsuccessful applicant 13 for a grant awarded under this subsection, 14 recommendations to improve a subsequent 15 application for such a grant; and 16 ‘‘(ii) for each successful applicant for 17 such a grant, an explanation for the 18 amount awarded, if different from the 19 amount requested in the application. 20 ‘‘(F) BUDGET PLAN REVISIONS.— 21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving 22 a grant under this subsection may revise 23 the budget plan of the State submitted 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 6133 RFS under subparagraph (D) after the dis- 1 bursal of grant funds if— 2 ‘‘(I) the revision complies with al- 3 lowable uses of grant funds under this 4 subsection; and 5 ‘‘(II) such State submits notifica- 6 tion of the revision to the Associate 7 Administrator. 8 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—If a revision under 9 clause (i) reallocates 10 percent or more of 10 the amounts described in the budget plan 11 of the State submitted under subparagraph 12 (D), the State may not implement the re- 13 vised budget plan without the approval of 14 the Associate Administrator, unless the As- 15 sociate Administrator fails to approve or 16 deny the revised plan within 10 days after 17 receipt of such revised plan.’’. 18 (b) SURVEY.—Section 22(l) of the Small Business 19 Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)) is amended— 20 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 21 (9) as paragraphs (8) through (10), respectively; 22 and 23 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol- 24 lowing new paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 6133 RFS ‘‘(7) SURVEY.—The Associate Administrator 1 shall conduct an annual survey of each State that 2 received a grant under this subsection during the 3 preceding year to solicit feedback on the program.’’. 4 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 22(l)(8)(B) of the 5 Small Business Act, as redesignated by subsection (b), is 6 amended— 7 (1) in clause (i)— 8 (A) in subclause (III), by inserting ‘‘, in- 9 cluding the total number of eligible small busi- 10 ness concerns assisted by the program 11 (disaggregated by socially and economically dis- 12 advantaged small business concerns, small busi- 13 ness concerns owned and controlled by women, 14 and rural small business concerns)’’ before the 15 semicolon at the end; 16 (B) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 17 the end; 18 (C) in subclause (V)— 19 (i) by striking ‘‘description of best 20 practices’’ and inserting ‘‘detailed descrip- 21 tion of best practices’’; and 22 (ii) by striking the period at the end 23 and inserting a semicolon; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 6133 RFS (D) by adding at the end the following new 1 subclauses: 2 ‘‘(VI) an analysis of the perform- 3 ance metrics described in clause (iii) 4 and the survey described in paragraph 5 (7); and 6 ‘‘(VII) a description of lessons 7 learned by grant recipients under this 8 subsection that may apply to other as- 9 sistance provided by the Administra- 10 tion.’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following new 12 clause: 13 ‘‘(iii) PERFORMANCE METRICS.—An- 14 nually, the Associate Administrator shall 15 collect data on eligible small business con- 16 cerns assisted by the program on the fol- 17 lowing performance metrics: 18 ‘‘(I) Total number of such con- 19 cerns, disaggregated by socially and 20 economically disadvantaged small 21 business concerns, small business con- 22 cerns owned and controlled by women, 23 and rural small business concerns. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 6133 RFS ‘‘(II) Total dollar amount of ex- 1 port sales by eligible small business 2 concerns assisted by the program. 3 ‘‘(III) Number of such concerns 4 that have not previously participated 5 in an activity described in paragraph 6 (2). 7 ‘‘(IV) Number of such concerns 8 that have previously participated in 9 the program. 10 ‘‘(V) Number of such concerns 11 that, because of participation in the 12 program, have accessed a new market. 13 ‘‘(VI) Number of such concerns 14 that, because of participation in the 15 program, have created new jobs. 16 ‘‘(VII) Number of such concerns 17 participating in foreign trade missions 18 or trade show exhibitions, 19 disaggregated by socially and eco- 20 nomically disadvantaged small busi- 21 ness concerns, small business concerns 22 owned and controlled by women, and 23 rural small business concerns.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 6133 RFS (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 1 22(l)(10) of the Small Business Act, as redesignated by 2 subsection (b), is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal years 2016 3 through 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2021 through 4 2024’’. 5 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Associate 7 Administrator for International Trade of the Small Busi- 8 ness Administration shall submit to Congress a report on 9 the State Trade Expansion Program established under 10 section 22(l) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(l)) 11 that includes a description of— 12 (1) the process developed for review of revised 13 budget plans submitted under section 22(l)(3)(F) of 14 the Small Business Act, as added by this Act; 15 (2) any changes made to streamline the applica- 16 tion process to remove duplicative requirements and 17 create a more transparent process; 18 (3) the process developed to share best prac- 19 tices by States described in section 22(l)(8)(B)(i)(V) 20 (as redesignated by this Act), particularly for first- 21 time grant recipients under the State Trade Expan- 22 sion Program or grant recipients that are facing 23 problems using grant funds; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 6133 RFS (4) the process developed to communicate, both 1 verbally and in writing, relevant information about 2 the State Trade Expansion Program to all grant re- 3 cipients in a timely manner. 4 Passed the House of Representatives September 14, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6133.RFS H6133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS