H.R. 2352 (111th): Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act of 2009

Introduced:
May 12, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Rep. Heath Shuler [D-NC11]
Status:
Died (Passed House)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on May 20, 2009 but was never passed by the Senate.

Progress
Introduced May 12, 2009
Referred to Committee May 12, 2009
Reported by Committee May 13, 2009
Passed House May 20, 2009
Votes

On Agreeing to the Amendment: Amendment 6 to H R 2352
May 20, 2009 5:44 p.m.
Agreed to 427/0

On Motion to Recommit with Instructions: H R 2352 Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act
May 20, 2009 6:12 p.m.
Passed 385/41

House Vote on Passage
May 20, 2009 6:20 p.m.
Passed 406/15

Cosponsors
14 cosponsors (10D, 4R) (show)
Committees

House Small Business

Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To amend the Small Business Act, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated May 21, 2009.
62 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

5/20/2009.
Title I - Establishment of Veterans Business Center Program
Section 101 -
Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a Veterans Business Center Program to provide entrepreneurial training and counseling to veterans.
Requires the Program to be headed by a Director, who shall establish a process to designate entities as veterans business centers.
Provides funding for such centers.
Requires each center to provide veterans' entrepreneurial development, counseling of veteran-owned small businesses, and government procurement assistance to veterans.
Targets for such centers areas where the population of veterans, and the population of veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom, exceed the national median.
Authorizes appropriations.
Requires the Program Director to report annually to the Administrator on whether a sufficient percentage of veterans in rural areas have adequate access to a veterans business center, and, if not, to give priority to applicants that will establish such centers in rural areas.
Requires the Program Director to establish a grant program for:
(1) access to business capital;
(2) procurement assistance; and
(3) service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.
Authorizes appropriations for each grant program.
Authorizes the Program Director to carry out a biennial veterans entrepreneurial development summit.
Section 102 -
Requires the Administrator to report biannually to Congress on appointments to, and activities of, an interagency task force for veterans business programs.
Section 103 -
Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) carry out a study on the effects of this Act and its amendments on small businesses owned and controlled by veterans; and (2) report study results to Congress.
Title II - Educating and Networking Entrepreneurs Through Today's Technology
Section 201 -
Directs the Administrator to contract with third-party vendors for:
(1) entrepreneurial distance learning content and the development of communications technology that distributes such content to potential and existing entrepreneurs throughout the United States; and
(2) the establishment of a nationwide online network for the exchange of peer-to-peer technical assistance.
Requires a biannual report from the Administrator to Congress on the implementation of this section.
Authorizes appropriations.
Title III - Enhancing Native American Entrepreneurship
Section 301 -
Establishes within the SBA an Office of Native American Affairs, headed by an Associate Administrator for Native American Affairs. Directs the Office to:
(1) develop and implement tools and strategies to increase Native American entrepreneurship;
(2) expand access of Native American entrepreneurs to business training, capital, and federal small business contracts;
(3) expand outreach to Native American communities and market entrepreneurial development services to such communities; and
(4) represent the SBA with respect to Native American entrepreneurial development.
Authorizes appropriations.
Authorizes the Administrator to operate a Tribal Business Information Centers program that provides Native American populations with business training and entrepreneurial development assistance.
Authorizes appropriations.
Section 302 -
Allows SBA small business development center (SBDC) participants to apply for an additional grant to assist with outreach, development, and enhancement of small business startups and expansions owned by Indian tribe members, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Authorizes appropriations.
Title IV - Broadening the Women's Business Center Program
Section 401 -
Revises the SBA's women's business center program to direct the Administrator to: (1) annually publish the amount of grants made to each center; and (2) establish a process to communicate with such centers regarding program administrative matters.
Section 403 -
Removes the five-year limit on SBA financial assistance to private nonprofit organizations to conduct projects for the benefit of small businesses owned and controlled by women.
Requires such assistance to be provided in three tiers, with the first tier a five-year project, and the second and third tiers three-year projects.
Allocates project funding.
Provides maximum funding to projects that possess the capacity to train existing or potential business owners in the fields of green technology, clean technology, or energy efficiency.
Authorizes appropriations.
Section 404 -
Directs the Administrator to establish women's business centers' performance measures, including the amount of job creation or economic activity generated in the local community as a result of efforts made by a center. Requires each center to submit an annual center plan.
Section 405 -
Requires National Women's Business Council studies to include the impact of the 2008-2009 financial markets crisis on women-owned businesses, as well as the use of SBA programs by such businesses. Requires such studies in 2010 and 2011.
Section 406 -
Requires the Administrator, in evaluating and ranking applicants for the women's business center program, to consider whether the applicant has the capacity to train existing or potential business owners in the fields of green technology, clean technology, or energy efficiency.
Title V - SCORE Program Improvements
Section 501 -
Revises the SBA's Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) program to direct the Administrator to ensure that SCORE: (1) develops a plan to increase the proportion of mentors from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds; (2) establishes benchmarks for evaluating its performance and the performance of its volunteers; and (3) establishes a mentoring program of one-on-one advice to small businesses from qualified counselors.
Section 503 -
Changes the program name to SCORE.
Section 504 -
Authorizes appropriations for SCORE for FY2010-FY2011.
Title VI - Expanding Entrepreneurship
Section 601 -
Directs the Administrator to:
(1) develop and submit to Congress a plan for using the SBA's entrepreneurial development programs to create jobs during FY2010-FY2011;
(2) develop and implement a data collection process for all entrepreneurial development programs;
(3) report annually to Congress on opportunities to foster coordination, limit duplication, and improve program delivery for federal entrepreneurial development programs;
(4) establish a database of entrepreneurial development services, and make such database available through the SBA's website;
(5) designate in each district office an entrepreneurial development community specialist; and
(6) publish a design for a web-based portal to provide comprehensive information on SBA entrepreneurial development programs.
Title VII - Modernizing the Small Business Development Center Program
Section 701 -
Makes miscellaneous SBDC operational changes. Limits funds distributed to an SBDC in a state served by more than one SBDC.
Section 702 -
Directs the Administrator to establish a grant program for SBDCs for increasing small business access to credit and capital. Limits grant amounts to $300,000 per entity. Authorizes appropriations.
Section 703 -
Directs the Administrator to establish a grant program for SBDCs for small business contract procurement training and assistance. Limits grant amounts to $300,000 per entity. Authorizes appropriations.
Section 704 -
Directs the Administrator to establish a grant program for SBDCs for green entrepreneurship training. Limits grant amounts to $300,000 per entity. Authorizes appropriations.
Section 705 -
Directs the Administrator to establish a grant program for SBDCs for small business helplines in each U.S. state and territory, as well as related small business advice and resources assistance. Limits grant amounts to $250,000 per entity. Authorizes appropriations.
Section 706 -
Prohibits SBDC program funds obtained through the assessment of fees to small business clients from being used as matching funds.
Section 707 -
Authorizes appropriations for the SBDC program for FY2010-FY2011.
Section 708 -
Directs the Administrator to establish a grant program to assist small manufacturers in transitioning operations to another industry sector or reorganizing operations to increase efficiency and profitability. Limits grant amounts to $250,000 per entity. Authorizes appropriations.
Title VIII - Microenterprise Training Center Program
Section 801 -
Directs the Administrator to establish and carry out a microenterprise training center program for providing low-income and unemployed individuals with training and counseling on starting a microenterprise (a business with not more than six employees and begun with an initial investment of not more than $40,000). Requires the Administrator to establish at least ten such centers in geographically diverse areas.
Title IX - Military Entrepreneurs Program
Section 901 -
Directs the Administrator to establish and carry out a program to provide business counseling and entrepreneurial development assistance to members of the Armed Forces (members) to facilitate the development of small businesses. Requires the Administrator to establish a liaison to facilitate outreach to members concerning such counseling and assistance. Authorizes appropriations.
Title X - Rural Entrepreneurship Advisory Council
Section 1001 -
Directs the Administrator to establish a rural entrepreneurship advisory council to report to the Administrator and Congress on entrepreneurship in rural communities, barriers to such entrepreneurship, and federal policies for fostering such entrepreneurship.
Title XI - Assistance Related To Carbon Emission Tax
Section 1101 -
Requires services provided by a SBDC to include providing information and technical assistance to a small business owner facing an increase in costs resulting from a program to impose a tax on carbon emissions.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/1/hr2352.

Background

This legislation was reported out of the Committee on Small Business by voice vote on May 13, 2009. H.R. 2352 is a compilation of seven individual bills, five of which were sponsored by Republicans. These bills were all approved by the Subcommittee on Rural Development, Entrepreneurship and Trade on April 30, 2009.

Entrepreneurial development programs, facilitated by the SBA, have been developed over the past several decades and provide services such as counseling, educational training, and workshops for small businesses. Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) provide existing small businesses and potential startups with assistance such as marketing advice and financial planning. Additionally, the SBA administers 96 Women's Business Centers, which help women entrepreneurs, five Veteran Business Outreach Centers, and an Office of Native American Affairs.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has been reauthorized through several short-term extensions. The latest was signed into law on March 20, 2009. Under that law, the authorization for SBA programs is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2009. The agency received $786 million in emergency appropriations in Fiscal Year 2008, and $569 million in regular appropriations. The Omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2009 also provided the SBA with $612 million.

 

Summary

This bill reauthorizes the Small Business Administration's (SBA) entrepreneurial development programs, creates a new small business assistance program for veterans, and authorizes the SBA to establish a distance learning program and online networking forum for existing and potential entrepreneurs. 

Veterans Business Center Program:  H.R. 2352 authorizes $10 million in Fiscal Year 2011 and $12 million in Fiscal Year 2012 for the SBA to create a Veterans Business Center program.  These centers would provide veterans and their surviving spouses with entrepreneurial training and counseling.  These Veterans Business Centers would receive initial grants of $150,000 annually for five years, after which time the centers could apply for three more years of funding.  Additionally, the bill authorizes $1.5 million for the SBA to provide centers with $75,000 for capital grants, procurement assessment grants, and grants tailored to service-disabled veterans.

Educating Entrepreneurs:  The bill authorizes $2 million in each of the Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 for the SBA to contract with vendors for entrepreneurial training materials and a communications platform that can be used for broadcast distant learning.

Enhancing Native American Entrepreneurship:  H.R. 2352 authorizes $2 million in each of Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 for the SBA's Office of Native American Affairs.  The bill also authorizes $15 million in Fiscal Year 2010 and $17 million in Fiscal Year 2011 for grants of up to $300,000 for tribal business information centers.  These centers assist Native Americans to start and expand small businesses.  Finally, H.R. 2352 authorizes $7 million in each of Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010 for grants of up to $300,000 for SBDCs in States with populations made up of over 1 percent Indian tribe members.

Some Members may be concerned that the bill provides funding to Native Hawaiians, a racial group which is not a tribe.  Such financial assistance on the basis of race would likely be subject to "strict scrutiny" in federal courts and presumptively unconstitutional.

Women's Business Centers Program:  This legislation authorizes $20 million in Fiscal Year 2010 and $22 million in Fiscal Year 2011 for women's business centers, 40 percent of which must be spent on new centers.  These cost-share funds would be available to centers only if certain non-federal dollar requirements are met.  H.R. 2352 establishes performance standards for these women's business centers and each center must submit an annual financial and strategic plan to the SBA.

SCORE Program Improvements:  "SCORE Counselors to America's Small Business" is an SBA non-profit partner which educates entrepreneurs.  SCORE maintains 370 chapters nationwide.  This bill authorizes $7 million in each of Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 for SCORE.  The legislation directs SCORE to establish benchmarks for the success of assisted entrepreneurs which would be reviewed by SBA.  SCORE would also create a mentoring program and a networking program for small businesses. 

Expanding Entrepreneurship:  The bill requires the SBA to develop a plan for creating jobs through its entrepreneurial development programs.  The SBA would also have to implement a consistent data collection process for all of its ED programs.  The SBA Administrator would establish a web-based portal with comprehensive information on all of the agency's ED resources.

Small Business Development Center Program:  The bill authorizes $150 million in Fiscal Year 2010 and $160 million in Fiscal Year 2011 for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program.  Only fully accredited higher education institutions may receive new grants through the program.

H.R. 2352 authorizes $2.5 million in each of the Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 for a new grant program for SBDCs to develop programs which help local small firms in securing capital and repairing damaged credit.  These grants would be for $300,000 each.

The bill authorizes $2.5 million in each of the Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 to establish a procurement training program by which SBDCs work with local agencies to find contracts for local small businesses.  The bill also authorizes $2.5 million in each of the Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 for a new "green entrepreneurial development program" to educate businesses on energy efficiency, green technology, and clean technology. 

Finally, the bill authorizes $2.5 million in each of the Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 for a statewide small business helpline in every State and territory to provide information to small business and dislocated workers interested in starting a business.

Cost

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that implementing H.R. 2352 would cost $189 million in 2010 and $531 million over a five year period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.

 

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

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United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)