Community Economic Development Center Support Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7844 To authorize the Director of the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department of Commerce to provide assistance for nonprofit economic development organizations to provide services for low- and moderate-income individuals who are aspiring entrepreneurs or seeking employment and for owners of smaller businesses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 29, 2020 Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, and Mr. GOMEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the Director of the Minority Business Develop- ment Agency of the Department of Commerce to provide assistance for nonprofit economic development organiza- tions to provide services for low- and moderate-income individuals who are aspiring entrepreneurs or seeking employment and for owners of smaller businesses, 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 03:01 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7844.IH H7844 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7844 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Economic 2 Development Center Support Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 4 The Congress finds that, in the United States— 5 (1) the number of African-American business 6 owners dropped from 1.1 million to 640,000, or 41 7 percent, from February 2020 to April 2020; 8 (2) the number of immigrant business owners 9 dropped from 3.1 million to 2 million, or 36 percent, 10 from February 2020 to April 2020; 11 (3) the number of Latinx business owners 12 dropped from 2.1 million to 1.4 million, or 32 per- 13 cent, from February 2020 to April 2020; 14 (4) the number of Asian-American business 15 owners dropped from 890,000 to 657,000, or 26 16 percent, from February 2020 to April 2020; and 17 (5) the number of Native American business 18 owners dropped from 12 million to 9.7 million, or 18 19 percent, from February 2020 to April 2020. 20 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORITY. 21 The Director of the Minority Business Development 22 Agency of the Department of Commerce shall carry out 23 a program under this Act to provide financial assistance, 24 through eligible intermediaries, for providing financial and 25 technical assistance to eligible minority-serving economic 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7844.IH H7844 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7844 IH development organizations that provide services to benefit 1 low- and moderate-income individuals who are aspiring en- 2 trepreneurs or seeking employment, or both, and to own- 3 ers of businesses having annual revenues in an amount 4 less than $500,000. 5 SEC. 4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 6 (a) GRANTS.—The Director shall select, and make 7 grants under this Act to, multiple eligible intermediaries. 8 (b) USE OF ASSISTANCE BY ELIGIBLE INTER- 9 MEDIARIES.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 11 graphs (2) and (3), an eligible intermediary that re- 12 ceives a grant under this Act shall use the grant 13 amounts to provide grants to eligible minority-serv- 14 ing community development organizations for use 15 for carrying out economic development activities of 16 such organizations, including activities described in 17 section 5(1)(A). 18 (2) CAPACITY BUILDING EXPENSES.—An eligi- 19 ble intermediary that receives a grant under this Act 20 may use not more than 5 percent of the grant to 21 provide training and technical assistance activities 22 designed primarily to build the capacity of eligible 23 minority-serving economic development organiza- 24 tions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7844.IH H7844 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7844 IH (3) INDIRECT EXPENSES.—An eligible inter- 1 mediary that receives a grant under this Act may 2 use not more than 5 percent of the grant amounts 3 for indirect expenses incurred in disbursing and ad- 4 ministering such grants. 5 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 6 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 7 shall apply: 8 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 9 the Director of the Minority Business Development 10 Agency of the Department of Commerce. 11 (2) ELIGIBLE INTERMEDIARY.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 13 intermediary’’ means a nonprofit organization 14 that— 15 (i) operates on a national basis; 16 (ii) has demonstrated experience in 17 delivering and administering grants and 18 capacity-building support to eligible minor- 19 ity-serving economic development organiza- 20 tions; and 21 (iii) has a governing board or execu- 22 tive leadership that reasonably reflects the 23 communities to be served by the organiza- 24 tion with assistance provided pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7844.IH H7844 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7844 IH this section, with respect to race, ethnicity, 1 and tribal affiliation. 2 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not in- 3 clude— 4 (i) any organization that has received 5 funding through the Small Business Devel- 6 opment Center, Women’s Business Center, 7 or SCORE programs of the Small Busi- 8 ness Administration or the intermediary 9 funding program of the Department of 10 Housing and Urban Development under 11 section 4 of the HUD Demonstration Act 12 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 9816 note); or 13 (ii) the Neighborhood Reinvestment 14 Corporation. 15 (3) ELIGIBLE MINORITY-SERVING ECONOMIC 16 DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘eligible 17 minority-serving economic development organiza- 18 tion’’ means a nonprofit organization that— 19 (A) has among its primary functions— 20 (i) providing technical assistance re- 21 lated to the formation, operation, and ex- 22 pansion of smaller businesses having an- 23 nual revenues of less than $500,000; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7844.IH H7844 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7844 IH (ii) lending to and equity investment 1 in small businesses to facilitate growth and 2 sustainability; and 3 (iii) providing training, skills develop- 4 ment, and technical assistance to aspiring 5 entrepreneurs and individuals who are 6 independent contractors for purposes of 7 Form 1099 of the Internal Revenue Serv- 8 ice; and 9 (B) primarily serves low- and moderate-in- 10 come persons and communities that are— 11 (i) African-American and other Black 12 communities, Hispanic, including Afro- 13 Latino communities, Asian and Pacific 14 American communities, Native Hawaiian 15 communities, Native American commu- 16 nities, or Alaskan Native communities; or 17 (ii) immigrants or refugees, 18 as such terms are defined by the Director. 19 SEC. 6. OTHER REQUIREMENTS. 20 The Director shall by notice establish other such re- 21 quirements as may be necessary to carry out the provi- 22 sions of this Act and such notice shall take effect upon 23 issuance. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7844.IH H7844 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7844 IH SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Direc- 2 tor $75,000,000 for grants under this Act. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Aug 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7844.IH H7844 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS