II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1402 To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, in con- sultation with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development, to establish a grant program to create or expand programs at minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and univer- sities that promote minority business ownership and entrepreneurship, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 2, 2023 Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and En- trepreneurship A BILL To require the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis- tration, in consultation with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development, to estab- lish a grant program to create or expand programs at minority-serving institutions and historically Black col- leges and universities that promote minority business ownership and entrepreneurship, 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 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1402 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Minority Entrepre- 2 neurship Grant Program Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi- 7 ness Administration. 8 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Mi- 9 nority Entrepreneurship Advisory Board established 10 under section 4(a). 11 (3) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI- 12 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 13 university’’ means a part B institution, as that term 14 is defined in section 322 of the Higher Education 15 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 16 (4) MINORITY.—The term ‘‘minority’’ includes 17 an individual who is— 18 (A) Black or African American; 19 (B) Hispanic or Latino; 20 (C) Native or Indigenous American; 21 (D) Asian; 22 (E) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Is- 23 lander; 24 (F) Native Alaskan; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1402 IS (G) a member of a group that the Minority 1 Business Development Agency of the Depart- 2 ment of Commerce determines under part 1400 3 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, as in 4 effect on November 23, 1984, is a socially dis- 5 advantaged group eligible to receive assistance. 6 (5) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 7 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means any of 8 the following: 9 (A) A Hispanic-serving institution, as that 10 term is defined in section 502(a) of the Higher 11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)). 12 (B) A Tribal College or University, as that 13 term is defined in section 316(b) of the Higher 14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)). 15 (C) An Alaska Native-serving institution, 16 as that term is defined in section 317(b) of the 17 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 18 1059d(b)). 19 (D) A Native Hawaiian-serving institution, 20 as that term is defined in section 317(b) of the 21 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 22 1059d(b)). 23 (E) A Predominantly Black Institution, as 24 that term is defined in section 318(b) of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1402 IS Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1 1059e(b)). 2 (F) A Native American-serving, nontribal 3 institution, as that term is defined in section 4 319(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 5 (20 U.S.C. 1059f(b)). 6 (G) An Asian American and Native Amer- 7 ican Pacific Islander-serving institution, as that 8 term is defined in section 320(b) of the Higher 9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059g(b)). 10 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 11 the grant program established under section 3(a). 12 (7) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 13 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given the 14 term in section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 15 U.S.C. 632(a)). 16 (8) STUDENT ENTREPRENEUR.—The term 17 ‘‘student entrepreneur’’ means a student who is— 18 (A) a minority; 19 (B) enrolled at a minority-serving institu- 20 tion or a historically Black college or university; 21 and 22 (C) seeking to establish or develop a busi- 23 ness. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1402 IS (9) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 1 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 2 for Minority Business Development. 3 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 6 consultation with the Under Secretary, shall establish a 7 grant program within the Small Business Administration, 8 the purpose of which shall be to create or expand pro- 9 grams at minority-serving institutions and historically 10 Black colleges and universities that foster, promote, and 11 increase opportunities for minority business ownership. 12 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—A minority-serving in- 13 stitution or a historically Black college or university seek- 14 ing a grant under the Program shall submit to the Admin- 15 istrator an application that contains a description of— 16 (1) the need for the grant funds to promote mi- 17 nority entrepreneurship and business ownership 18 among student entrepreneurs enrolled at the minor- 19 ity-serving institution or the historically Black col- 20 lege or university; 21 (2) how the grant funds will be used to carry 22 out the activities described in paragraph (1); 23 (3) how the programs created or expanded with 24 the grant funds will provide support to student en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1402 IS trepreneurs enrolled at the minority-serving institu- 1 tion or historically Black college or university who— 2 (A) seek support for an established busi- 3 ness; or 4 (B) need assistance in establishing a busi- 5 ness; and 6 (4) how the minority-serving institution or his- 7 torically Black college or university will create or ex- 8 pand programs or initiatives that— 9 (A) increase minority business ownership; 10 and 11 (B) expand business resources to student 12 entrepreneurs enrolled at the minority-serving 13 institution or historically Black college or uni- 14 versity. 15 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A grant made to a minor- 16 ity-serving institution or a historically Black college or 17 university under the Program shall be not less than 18 $250,000. 19 (d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—With a grant received 20 under the Program, a minority-serving institution or a his- 21 torically Black college or university shall support the cre- 22 ation or expansion of programs or initiatives that offer 23 business development resources that support student en- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1402 IS trepreneurs enrolled at the minority-serving institution or 1 historically Black college or university, such as— 2 (1) free legal, accounting, human resources, in- 3 formation technology, marketing, training, coun- 4 seling, networking, and technical assistance; and 5 (2) access to capital resources, such as the 6 costs associated with forming a new business enter- 7 prise. 8 (e) MSI SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT.—A minority- 9 serving institution or historically Black college or univer- 10 sity to which a grant is made under the Program shall, 11 each year, submit to the Administrator a mid-year and 12 year-end report, each of which shall contain, for the period 13 covered by the report, the number of— 14 (1) student entrepreneurs trained, assisted, and 15 counseled with the grant funds; 16 (2) businesses created through the expenditure 17 of the grant funds, including, with respect to each 18 such business— 19 (A) the name of the business; 20 (B) a description of the business; and 21 (C) the amount of grant funds expended in 22 creating the business; 23 (3) student entrepreneurs referred to other re- 24 sources of the Small Business Administration; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1402 IS (4) student entrepreneurs participating in pro- 1 grams created or expanded through the expenditure 2 of the grant funds, which, to the extent possible, 3 shall be disaggregated by sex, race, and ethnicity. 4 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 5 months after the date on which the first grant is made 6 under the Program, and annually thereafter, the Adminis- 7 trator shall submit to Congress a report that contains in- 8 formation regarding the minority-serving institutions and 9 historically Black colleges or universities to which grants 10 were made under the Program for the period covered by 11 the report, which shall include— 12 (1) the name of each such minority-serving in- 13 stitution and historically Black college or university 14 and the amount of each such grant; 15 (2) the number of student entrepreneurs 16 trained, assisted, and counseled with Program grant 17 funds— 18 (A) at each minority-serving institution 19 and historically Black college or university to 20 which a grant was made under the Program; 21 and 22 (B) in total under the Program; 23 (3) the number of businesses created through 24 the expenditure of Program grant funds— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1402 IS (A) with respect to each minority-serving 1 institution and historically Black college or uni- 2 versity to which a grant was made under the 3 Program; and 4 (B) in total under the Program; 5 (4) the number of student entrepreneurs re- 6 ferred to resources of the Small Business Adminis- 7 tration— 8 (A) at each minority-serving institution 9 and historically Black college or university to 10 which a grant was made under the Program; 11 and 12 (B) in total under the Program; 13 (5) the number of student entrepreneurs par- 14 ticipating in programs created or expanded through 15 the expenditure of Program grant funds at each mi- 16 nority-serving institution and historically Black col- 17 lege or university to which a grant was made under 18 the Program, and in total under the Program, 19 which, to the extent possible, shall be disaggregated 20 by sex, race, and ethnicity; and 21 (6) a statement regarding whether any amounts 22 made available to carry out this section remain un- 23 expended, as of the date on which the report is sub- 24 mitted. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1402 IS (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 2 $50,000,000 to carry out this section. 3 SEC. 4. ADVISORY BOARD. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 5 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es- 6 tablish a Minority Entrepreneurship Advisory Board to 7 develop recommendations regarding how minority-serving 8 institutions and historically Black colleges and universities 9 can better serve minority businesses and entrepreneurs. 10 (b) MEMBERSHIP OF BOARD.—The members of the 11 Board shall be— 12 (1) appointed by the Administrator; and 13 (2) individuals with— 14 (A) outstanding qualifications; 15 (B) knowledge regarding the needs of 16 small business concerns that are owned by mi- 17 norities; and 18 (C) experience— 19 (i) working with startups; or 20 (ii) in providing consultation to small 21 business concerns. 22 (c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 23 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1402 IS ministrator shall submit to Congress the recommendations 1 developed by the Board under subsection (a). 2 (d) INAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM- 3 MITTEE REQUIREMENTS.—Chapter 10 of title 5, United 4 States Code, shall not apply with respect to the Board or 5 the activities of the Board. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1402.IS S1402 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB