[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1663 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1663

 To amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to reauthorize the 
      New Markets Venture Capital Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 19, 2007

 Mr. Kerry (for himself and Ms. Snowe) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 
                          and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to reauthorize the 
      New Markets Venture Capital Program, 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 ``Securing Equity for the Economic 
Development of Low Income Areas Act of 2007'' or the ``SEED Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the terms ``Administration'' and ``Administrator'' mean 
        the Small Business Administration and the Administrator 
        thereof, respectively;
            (2) the term ``low-income geographic area'' has the same 
        meaning as in section 351 of the Small Business Investment Act 
        of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689), as amended by this Act;
            (3) the term ``New Markets Venture Capital company'' has 
        the same meaning as in section 351 of the Small Business 
        Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689); and
            (4) the term ``New Markets Venture Capital Program'' means 
        the program under part B of title III of the Small Business 
        Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689 et seq.).

SEC. 3. DIVERSIFICATION OF NEW MARKETS VENTURE CAPITAL PROGRAM.

    (a) Selection of Companies in Each Geographic Region.--Section 354 
of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689c) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Geographic Requirement.--In selecting companies to 
participate as New Markets Venture Capital companies in the program 
established under this part, the Administrator shall select, to the 
extent practicable, from among companies submitting applications under 
subsection (b), at least 1 company from each geographic region of the 
Administration.''.
    (b) Participation in New Markets Venture Capital Program.--
            (1) Administration participation required.--Section 353 of 
        the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689b) is 
        amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
        ``under which the Administrator may'' and inserting ``under 
        which the Administrator shall''.
            (2) Small manufacturer participation agreements required.--
        Section 353 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 
        U.S.C. 689b) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``In accordance with this part,'' 
                and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--In accordance with this part,'';
                    (B) in subsection (a)(1), as so designated by this 
                paragraph, by inserting after ``section 352'' the 
                following: ``(with at least 1 such agreement to be with 
                a company engaged primarily in development of and 
                investment in small manufacturers, to the extent 
                practicable)''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Rule of Construction.--Subsection (a)(1) shall not be 
construed to authorize the Administrator to decline to enter into a 
participation agreement with a company solely on the basis that the 
company is not engaged primarily in development of and investment in 
small manufacturers.''.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF NEW MARKETS VENTURE CAPITAL.

    Title II of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 
671) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 202. OFFICE OF NEW MARKETS VENTURE CAPITAL.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Investment 
Division of the Administration, the Office of New Markets Venture 
Capital.
    ``(b) Director.--The Office of New Markets Venture Capital shall be 
headed by a Director, who shall be a career appointee in the Senior 
Executive Service, as those terms are defined in section 3132 of title 
5, United States Code.
    ``(c) Responsibilities of Director.--The responsibilities of the 
Director of the Office of New Markets Venture Capital include--
            ``(1) to administer the New Markets Venture Capital Program 
        under part B of title III;
            ``(2) to assess, not less frequently than once every 2 
        years, the nature and scope of the New Markets Venture Capital 
        Program and to advise the Administrator on recommended changes 
        to the program, based on such assessment;
            ``(3) to work to expand the number of small business 
        concerns participating in the New Markets Venture Capital 
        Program; and
            ``(4) to encourage investment in small manufacturing.''.

SEC. 5. LOW-INCOME GEOGRAPHIC AREAS.

    (a) In General.--Section 351 of the Small Business Investment Act 
of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(2) Low-income geographic area.--The term `low-income 
        geographic area' has the meaning given the term `low-income 
        community' in section 45D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        (relating to the new markets tax credit).''; and
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (8) as 
        paragraphs (3) through (7), respectively.
    (b) Application of Amended Definition to Capital Requirement.--The 
definition of a low-income geographic area in section 351(2) of the 
Small Business Investment Act of 1958, as amended by subsection (a), 
shall apply to private capital raised under section 354(d)(1) of the 
Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689c(d)(1)) before, 
on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON TIME FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF COMPANIES.

    Section 354(d) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 
U.S.C. 689c(d)) is amended by striking ``a period of time, not to 
exceed 2 years,'' and inserting ``2 years''.

SEC. 7. APPLICATIONS FOR NEW MARKETS VENTURE CAPITAL PROGRAM.

    Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator shall prescribe standard documents for an application for 
final approval by a New Markets Venture Capital company under section 
354(e) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 
689c(e)). The Administrator shall ensure that such documents are 
designed to substantially reduce the cost burden of the application 
process on a company making such an application.

SEC. 8. OPERATIONAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

    Section 358(a)(4)(A) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 
(15 U.S.C. 689g(a)(4)(A)) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(A) New markets venture capital companies.--
                Notwithstanding section 354(d)(2), the amount of a 
                grant made under this subsection to a New Markets 
                Venture Capital company shall be equal to the lesser 
                of--
                            ``(i) 10 percent of the private capital 
                        raised by the company; or
                            ``(ii) $1,000,000.''.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 368(a) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 
U.S.C. 689q(a)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
        ``fiscal years 2001 through 2006'' and inserting ``fiscal years 
        2007 through 2010''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``$30,000,000'' and 
        inserting ``$20,000,000''.
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