110 HR 2366 PCS: SBA Veterans’ Programs Act of U.S. House of Representatives 2007-06-21 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
II Calendar No. 217 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2366 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 19, 2007 Received June 20, 2007 Read the first time June 21, 2007 Read the second time and placed on the calendar AN ACT To reauthorize the veterans entrepreneurial development programs of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title; table of contents
(a)
Short title
This Act may be cited as the SBA Veterans’ Programs Act of 2007. (b)
Table of contents
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—OFFICE OF VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Sec. 101. Office of Veterans Business Development. TITLE II—VETERANS ASSISTANCE AND SERVICES Sec. 201. Veterans Assistance and Services program. TITLE III—EXPANDING VETERANS BUSINESS OUTREACH CENTERS Sec. 301. Increasing the number of outreach centers. Sec. 302. Independent study on gaps in availability of outreach centers.
<enum>I</enum><header>Office of Veterans Business Development</header> <section id="HC14EC5A5264E49058D76D2CDCFEAEF"><enum>101.</enum><header>Office of Veterans Business Development</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">Section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657b) is amended—</text> <paragraph id="HDF333265DE6E4595B1086D1E446067CB"><enum>(1)</enum><text>by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (e); and</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="HB23D1A3511EE4586B81D65C1980733D8"><enum>(2)</enum><text>by inserting after subsection (b) the following:</text> <quoted-block display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H9FE2286D4E3B46959955FFC9BB1F00D8" style="OLC"> <subsection id="HAD8F4B3AECF5461993613EA9A22AA15"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Participation in TAP workshops</header> <paragraph id="H6702FB70316246C9BE8E1224B4C7A382"><enum>(1)</enum><header>In general</header><text>The Associate Administrator shall increase veteran outreach by ensuring that Veteran Business Outreach Centers regularly participate, on a nationwide basis, in the workshops of the Transition Assistance Program of the Department of Labor.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H2CF69579BA5144C5A3AC5700A9612D4F"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Presentations</header><text>In carrying out paragraph (1), a Center may provide grants to eligible entities located in Transition Assistance Program locations to make presentations on the opportunities available from the Administration for recently separating veterans. Each such presentation must include, at a minimum, the entrepreneurial and business training resources available from the Administration.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H32FB87DAC0444A4400C47CC8356B0015"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Reports</header><text>The Associate Administrator shall submit to Congress progress reports on the implementation of this subsection.</text> </paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H912EABECC72140339D65CE68C7AED7C2"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Women Veterans Business Training Resource Program</header><text>The Associate Administrator shall establish a Women Veterans Business Training Resource Program. The program shall—</text> <paragraph id="HC2F2A8095A7E41FABCE3D646B413C316"><enum>(1)</enum><text>compile information on resources available to women veterans for business training, including resources for—</text> <subparagraph id="H7F40BEC2FCFC49888B76A248A9B8BCBF"><enum>(A)</enum><text>vocational and technical education;</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="H1BA3BE74563C457D83A400517256FA57"><enum>(B)</enum><text>general business skills, such as marketing and accounting; and</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="H3EC4E79EFD18465F8CF98810D65D0500"><enum>(C)</enum><text>business assistance programs targeted to women veterans; and</text> </subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H03F210D3A14D4856B11F14DBB19527BE"><enum>(2)</enum><text>disseminate the information through Veteran Business Outreach Centers and women’s business centers.</text> </paragraph></subsection><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block> </paragraph></section><enum>II</enum><header>Veterans Assistance and Services</header> <section display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H1DBA9F9B43504721AFED5B631570EE44"><enum>201.</enum><header>Veterans Assistance and Services program</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) is amended by adding at the end the following:</text> <quoted-block display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HD1CEFDFDB02343E8BF73E985B0F49831" style="OLC"> <subsection id="H42B252A7116D4473BBB34990C5A83C56"><enum>(n)</enum><header>Veterans Assistance and Services program</header> <paragraph id="HD6DB9CEFDC994FCEA14471ADB438D51B"><enum>(1)</enum><header>In general</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">A Small Business Development Center may apply for an additional grant to carry out a veterans assistance and services program.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H3B38363D32354FE59DD451134CE202F2"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Elements of program</header><text>Under a program under paragraph (1), the Center shall—</text> <subparagraph id="H266A7C41730A4E5DA1F417573FA9B609"><enum>(A)</enum><text>create a marketing campaign to promote awareness and education of the services of the Center that are available to veterans, and to target the campaign toward veterans, disabled veterans, military units, Federal agencies, and veterans organizations;</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="H3552C9E5E8224050912BA8903838099D"><enum>(B)</enum><text>use technology-assisted online counseling and distance learning technology to overcome the impediments to entrepreneurship faced by veterans and members of the Armed Forces; and</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="HE869BE23D0D24CE99E62CFF309515768"><enum>(C)</enum><text>increase coordination among organizations that assist veterans, including by establishing virtual integration of service providers and offerings for a one-stop point of contact for veterans who are entrepreneurs or small business owners.</text> </subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="HA70EA842FCD7419AAC0700DAAEDAA4B8"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Minimum amount</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">Each grant under this subsection shall be for at least $75,000.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="HED8BD02F53114019B3CCDCFECCA7EAD"><enum>(4)</enum><header>Maximum amount</header><text>A grant under this subsection may not exceed $250,000.</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="HB2A1072EDEE945308B1710C56BF23910"><enum>(5)</enum><header>Funding</header><text>Subject to amounts approved in advance in appropriations Acts, the Administration may make grants or enter into cooperative agreements to carry out the provisions of this subsection.</text> </paragraph></subsection><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block> </section><enum>III</enum><header>Expanding Veterans Business Outreach Centers</header> <section id="H1A7258401DED4E8489B807157862B19B"><enum>301.</enum><header>Increasing the number of outreach centers</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall use the authority in section 8(b)(17) of the Small Business Act (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/647">15 U.S.C. 647(b)</external-xref>) to ensure that the number of Veterans Business Outreach Centers throughout the United States increases—</text> <paragraph id="H76CF7B3541DE436FBF8E580674C69428"><enum>(1)</enum><text>by at least 2, for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009; and</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="HE54B0E6CF7A7426D8FE7476E09473FA3"><enum>(2)</enum><text>by the number that the Administrator considers appropriate, based on existing need, for each fiscal year thereafter.</text> </paragraph></section><section id="H0216FBA1F25F4D18A606DEC419ACD9AA"><enum>302.</enum><header>Independent study on gaps in availability of outreach centers</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall sponsor an independent study on gaps in the availability of Veterans Business Outreach Centers across the United States. The purpose of the study shall be to identify the gaps that do exist so as to inform decisions on funding and on the allocation and coordination of resources. Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the study.</text> </section> Passed the House of Representatives June 18, 2007. Lorraine C. Miller, Clerk. June 21, 2007 Read the second time and placed on the calendar