[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2538 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2538
To amend the Small Business Act to expand and improve the assistance
provided by Small Business Development Centers to Indian tribe members,
Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 17, 2001
Mr. Udall of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Small Business
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to expand and improve the assistance
provided by Small Business Development Centers to Indian tribe members,
Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians.
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 ``Native American Small Business
Development Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Approximately 60 percent of Indian tribe members and
Native Alaskans live on or adjacent to Indian lands, which
suffer from an average unemployment rate of 45 percent.
(2) Indian tribe members and Native Alaskans own more than
197,000 businesses and generate more than $34,000,000,000 in
revenues. The service industry accounted for 17 percent of
these businesses (of which 40 percent were engaged in business
and personal services) and 15.1 percent of their total
receipts. The next largest was the construction industry (13.9
percent and 15.7 percent, respectively). The third largest was
the retail trade industry (7.5 percent and 13.4 percent,
respectively).
(3) The number of businesses owned by Indian tribe members
and Native Alaskans grew by 84 percent from 1992 to 1997, and
their gross receipts grew by 179 percent in that period. This
is compared to all businesses which grew by 7 percent, and
their total gross receipts grew by 40 percent, in that period.
(4) The Small Business Development Center program is cost
effective. Clients receiving long-term counseling under the
program in 1998 generated additional tax revenues of
$468,000,000, roughly 6 times the cost of the program to the
Federal Government.
(5) Using the existing infrastructure of the Small Business
Development Center program, small businesses owned by Indian
tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians receiving
services under the program will have a higher survival rate
than the average small business not receiving such services.
(6) Business counseling and technical assistance is
critical on Indian lands where similar services are scarce and
expensive.
(7) Increased assistance through counseling under the Small
Business Development Center program has been shown to reduce
the default rate associated with lending programs of the Small
Business Administration.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1) To stimulate economies on Indian lands.
(2) To foster economic development on Indian lands.
(3) To assist in the creation of new small businesses owned
by Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians
and expand existing ones.
(4) To provide management, technical, and research
assistance to small businesses owned by Indian tribe members,
Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians.
(5) To seek the advice of local Tribal Councils on where
small business development assistance is most needed.
(6) To ensure that Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans,
and Native Hawaiians have full access to existing business
counseling and technical assistance available through the Small
Business Development Center program.
SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER ASSISTANCE TO INDIAN TRIBE
MEMBERS, NATIVE ALASKANS, AND NATIVE HAWAIIANS.
(a) In General.--Section 21(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
648(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(7) Additional grant to assist indian tribe members,
native alaskans, and native hawaiians.--
``(A) In general.--Any applicant in an eligible
State that is funded by the Administration as a Small
Business Development Center may apply for an additional
grant to be used solely to provide services described
in subsection (c)(3) to assist with outreach,
development, and enhancement on Indian lands of small
business startups and expansions owned by Indian tribe
members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians.
``(B) Eligible states.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A), an eligible State is a State that has
a combined population of Indian tribe members, Natives
Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians that comprises at least
1 percent of the State's total population, as shown by
the latest available census.
``(C) Grant applications.--An applicant for a grant
under subparagraph (A) shall submit to the Associate
Administrator an application that is in such form as
the Associate Administrator may require. The
application shall include information regarding the
applicant's goals and objectives for the services to be
provided using the grant, including--
``(i) the capability of the applicant to
provide training and services to a
representative number of Indian tribe members,
Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians;
``(ii) the location of the Small Business
Development Center site proposed by the
applicant;
``(iii) the required amount of grant
funding needed by the applicant to implement
the program; and
``(iv) the extent to which the applicant
has consulted with local Tribal Councils.
``(D) Applicability of grant requirements.--An
applicant for a grant under subparagraph (A) shall
comply with all of the requirements of this section,
except that the matching funds requirements of
paragraph (4)(A) shall not apply.
``(E) Maximum amount of grants.--No applicant may
receive more than $300,000 in grants under this
paragraph in a fiscal year.
``(F) Regulations.--After providing notice and an
opportunity for comment and after consulting with the
Association recognized by the Administration pursuant
to paragraph (3)(A) (but not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of this paragraph), the
Administrator shall issue final regulations to carry out this
paragraph, including regulations that establish--
``(i) standards relating to educational,
technical, and support services to be provided
by Small Business Development Centers receiving
assistance under this paragraph; and
``(ii) standards relating to any work plan
that the Associate Administrator may require a
Small Business Development Center receiving
assistance under this paragraph to develop.
``(G) Definitions.--In this paragraph, the
following definitions apply:
``(i) Associate administrator.--The term
`Associate Administrator' means the Associate
Administrator for Small Business Development
Centers.
``(ii) Indian lands.--The term `Indian
lands' has the meaning given the term `Indian
country' in section 1151 of title 18, United
States Code, the meaning given the term `Indian
reservation' in section 151.2 of title 25, Code
of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the
date of enactment of this paragraph), and the
meaning given the term `reservation' in section
4 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25
U.S.C. 1903).
``(iii) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian
tribe' has the meaning given such term in
section 8(a)(13).
``(iv) Indian tribe member.--The term
`Indian tribe member' means a member of an
Indian tribe (other than a Native Alaskan).
``(v) Native alaskan.--The term `Native
Alaskan' has the meaning given the term
`Native' in section 3(b) of the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(b)).
``(vi) Native hawaiian.--The term `Native
Hawaiian' means any individual who is a
descendant of the aboriginal people, who prior
to 1778, occupied and exercised sovereignty in
the area that now constitutes the State of
Hawaii.
``(H) Authorization of appropriations.--There is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
paragraph $7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002
through 2004.
``(I) Funding limitations.--
``(i) Nonapplicability of certain
limitations.--Funding under this paragraph
shall be in addition to the dollar program
limitations specified in paragraph (4).
``(ii) Limitation on use of funds.--The
Administration may carry out this paragraph
only with amounts appropriated in advance
specifically to carry out this paragraph.''.
SEC. 4. STATE CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL TRIBAL COUNCILS.
Section 21(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(c)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(9) Advice of local tribal counsels.--A State receiving
grants under this section shall request the advice of local
Tribal Councils on how best to provide assistance to Indian
tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians and where
to locate satellite centers to provide such assistance.''.
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