[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2499 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.2499
One Hundred Fourteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the sixth day of January, two thousand and fifteen
An Act
To amend the Small Business Act to increase access to capital for
veteran entrepreneurs, to help create jobs, 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 ``Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of
2015''.
SEC. 2. PERMANENT SBA EXPRESS LOAN GUARANTEE FEE WAIVER FOR VETERANS.
Section 7(a)(31) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(31))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(G) Guarantee fee waiver for veterans.--
``(i) Guarantee fee waiver.--The Administrator may not
collect a guarantee fee described in paragraph (18) in
connection with a loan made under this paragraph to a
veteran or spouse of a veteran on or after October 1, 2015.
``(ii) Exception.--If the President's budget for the
upcoming fiscal year, submitted to Congress pursuant to
section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, includes a
cost for the program established under this subsection that
is above zero, the requirements of clause (i) shall not
apply to loans made during such upcoming fiscal year.
``(iii) Definition.--In this subparagraph, the term
`veteran or spouse of a veteran' means--
``(I) a veteran, as defined in section 3(q)(4);
``(II) an individual who is eligible to participate
in the Transition Assistance Program established under
section 1144 of title 10, United States Code;
``(III) a member of a reserve component of the
Armed Forces named in section 10101 of title 10, United
States Code;
``(IV) the spouse of an individual described in
subclause (I), (II), or (III); or
``(V) the surviving spouse (as defined in section
101 of title 38, United States Code) of an individual
described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) who died
while serving on active duty or as a result of a
disability that is service-connected (as defined in
such section).''.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON ACCESSIBILITY AND OUTREACH TO FEMALE VETERANS BY THE
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report assessing the level
of outreach to and consultation with female veterans regarding access
to capital by women's business centers (as described in section 29 of
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656)) and Veterans Business Outreach
Centers (as referred to in section 32 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 657b)).
SEC. 4. BUSINESS LOANS PROGRAM.
(a) Section 7(a) Funding Levels.--The third proviso under the
heading ``business loans program account'' under the heading ``Small
Business Administration'' under title V of division E of the
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public
Law 113-235; 128 Stat. 2371) is amended by striking ``$18,750,000,000''
and inserting ``$23,500,000,000''.
(b) Loan Limitations.--Section 7(a)(1) of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 636(a)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) by striking ``No financial assistance'' and inserting
the following:
``(i) In general.--No financial assistance''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Liquidity.--On and after October 1, 2015, the
Administrator may not guarantee a loan under this
subsection if the lender determines that the borrower is
unable to obtain credit elsewhere solely because the
liquidity of the lender depends upon the guaranteed portion
of the loan being sold on the secondary market.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Lending limits of lenders.--On and after October 1,
2015, the Administrator may not guarantee a loan under this
subsection if the sole purpose for requesting the guarantee is
to allow the lender to exceed the legal lending limit of the
lender.''.
(c) Reporting.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
(A) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
the Small Business Administration;
(B) the term ``business loan'' means a loan made or
guaranteed under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 636(a));
(C) the term ``cancellation'' means that the Administrator
approves a proposed business loan, but the prospective borrower
determines not to take the business loan; and
(D) the term ``net dollar amount of business loans'' means
the difference between the total dollar amount of business
loans and the total dollar amount of cancellations.
(2) Requirement.--During the 3-year period beginning on the
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Committee
on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business
and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
a quarterly report regarding the loan programs carried out under
section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)), which
shall include--
(A) for the fiscal year during which the report is
submitted and the 3 fiscal years before such fiscal year--
(i) the weekly total dollar amount of business loans;
(ii) the weekly total dollar amount of cancellations;
(iii) the weekly net dollar amount of business loans--
(I) for all business loans; and
(II) for each category of loan amount described in
clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section 7(a)(18) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(18));
(B) for the fiscal year during which the report is
submitted--
(i) the amount of remaining authority for business
loans, in dollar amount and as a percentage; and
(ii) estimates of the date on which the net dollar
amount of business loans will reach the maximum for such
business loans based on daily net lending volume and
extrapolations based on year to date net lending volume,
quarterly net lending volume, and quarterly growth trends;
(C) the number of early defaults (as determined by the
Administrator) during the quarter covered by the report;
(D) the total amount paid by borrowers in early default
during the quarter covered by the report, as of the time of
purchase of the guarantee;
(E) the number of borrowers in early default that are
franchisees;
(F) the total amount of guarantees purchased by the
Administrator during the quarter covered by the report; and
(G) a description of the actions the Administrator is
taking to combat early defaults administratively and any
legislative action the Administrator recommends to address
early defaults.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.