[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.