[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1693 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1693

  To amend the Small Business Act to assist the development of small 
    business concerns owned and controlled by women, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 1997

 Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Small Business Act to assist the development of small 
    business concerns owned and controlled by women, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Women's Business Centers Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. WOMEN'S BUSINESS TRAINING CENTERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
656) is amended to read as follows:
    ``Sec. 29. (a) The Administration may provide financial assistance 
to private organizations to conduct five-year projects for the benefit 
of small business concerns owned and controlled by women. The projects 
shall provide--
            ``(1) financial assistance, including training and 
        counseling in how to apply for and secure business credit and 
        investment capital, preparing and presenting financial 
        statements, and managing cashflow and other financial 
        operations of a business concern;
            ``(2) management assistance, including training and 
        counseling in how to plan, organize, staff, direct and control 
        each major activity and function of a small business concern; 
        and
            ``(3) marketing assistance, including training and 
        counseling in identifying and segmenting domestic and 
        international market opportunities, preparing and executing 
        marketing plans, developing pricing strategies, locating 
        contract opportunities, negotiating contracts, and utilizing 
        varying public relations and advertising techniques.
    ``(b)(1) As a condition of receiving financial assistance 
authorized by this section, the recipient organization shall agree to 
obtain, after its application has been approved and notice of award has 
been issued, cash contributions from non-Federal sources as follows:
            ``(A) in the first, second, and third years, 1 non-Federal 
        dollar for each 2 Federal dollars;
            ``(B) in the fourth year, 1 non-Federal dollar for each 
        Federal dollar; and
            ``(C) in the fifth year, 2 non-Federal dollars for each 
        Federal dollar.
    ``(2) Up to one-half of the non-Federal sector matching assistance 
may be in the form of in-kind contributions which are budget line items 
only, including but not limited to office equipment and office space.
    ``(3) The financial assistance authorized pursuant to this section 
may be made by grant, contract, or cooperative agreement and may 
contain such provision, as necessary, to provide for payments in lump 
sum or installments, and in advance or by way of reimbursement. The 
Administration may disburse up to 25 percent of each year's Federal 
share awarded to a recipient organization after notice of the award has 
been issued and before the non-Federal sector matching funds are 
obtained.
    ``(4) If any recipient of assistance fails to obtain the required 
non-Federal contribution during any project, it shall not be eligible 
thereafter for advance disbursements pursuant to paragraph (3) during 
the remainder of that project, or for any other project for which it is 
or may be funded. In addition, prior to approving assistance to such 
organization for any other projects, the Administration shall 
specifically determine whether the Administration believes that the 
recipient will be able to obtain the requisite non-Federal funding and 
enter a written finding setting forth the reasons for making such 
determination.
    ``(c) Each applicant organization initially shall submit a five-
year plan on proposed fundraising and training activities, and a 
recipient organization may receive financial assistance under this 
program for a maximum of five years per site. The Administration shall 
evaluate and rank applicants in accordance with predetermined selection 
criteria that shall be stated in terms of relative importance. Such 
criteria and their relative importance shall be made publicly available 
and stated in each solicitation for applications made by the 
Administration. The criteria shall include--
            ``(1) the experience of the applicant in conducting 
        programs or on-going efforts designed to impart or upgrade the 
        business skills of women business owners or potential owners;
            ``(2) the present ability of the applicant to commence a 
        project within a minimum amount of time; and
            ``(3) the ability of the applicant to provide training and 
        services to a representative number of women who are both 
        socially and economically disadvantaged.
    ``(d) For the purposes of this section, the term small business 
concern, either `start-up' or existing, owned and controlled by women 
includes any small business concern--
            ``(1) which is at least 51 percent owned by one or more 
        women; and
            ``(2) the management and daily business operations are 
        controlled by one or more women.
    ``(e) There are authorized to be appropriated $8,000,000 per year 
to carry out the projects authorized by this section. Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, the Administration may use such expedited 
acquisition methods as it deems appropriate to achieve the purposes of 
this section, except that it shall ensure that all eligible sources are 
provided a reasonable opportunity to submit proposals.
    ``(f) The Administration shall prepare and transmit a biennial 
report to the Committees on Small Business of the Senate and House of 
Representatives on the effectiveness of all projects conducted under 
the authority of this section. Such report shall provide information 
concerning--
            ``(1) the number of individuals receiving assistance;
            ``(2) the number of start-up business concerns formed;
            ``(3) the gross receipts of assisted concerns;
            ``(4) increases or decreases in profits of assisted 
        concerns; and
            ``(5) the employment increases or decreases of assisted 
        concerns.
    ``(g) Office of Women's Business Ownership.--There is hereby 
established within the Administration an Office of Women's Business 
Ownership, which shall be responsible for the administration of the 
Administration's programs for the development of women's business 
enterprises, as such term is defined in section 408 of the Women's 
Business Ownership Act of 1988. The Office of Women's Business 
Ownership shall be administered by an Assistant Administrator, who 
shall be appointed by the Administrator.''.
    (b) Applicability.--Any organization conducting a three-year 
project under Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656) on 
the date of the enactment of this Act may extend such project to five 
years and receive financial assistance according to section 29(b)(1) of 
the Small Business Act as amended by the Women's Business Centers Act 
of 1997.
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