[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4788 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4788

   To strengthen resources for entrepreneurs by improving the SCORE 
                    program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 2016

 Ms. Adams (for herself and Mr. Hanna) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To strengthen resources for entrepreneurs by improving the SCORE 
                    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 ``SCORE for Small Business Act of 
2016''.

SEC. 2. SCORE REAUTHORIZATION.

    Section 20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) SCORE Program.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
the Administrator to carry out the SCORE program authorized by section 
8(b)(1) such sums as are necessary for the Administrator to make grants 
or enter into cooperative agreements in a total amount that does not 
exceed $10,500,000 in each of fiscal years 2017 and 2018.''.

SEC. 3. SCORE PROGRAM.

    Section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ``a Service Corps 
        of Retired Executives (SCORE)'' and inserting ``the SCORE 
        program described in subsection (c)''; and
            (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
    ``(c) SCORE Program.--
            ``(1) Definition.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) SCORE association.--The term `SCORE 
                Association' means the Service Corps of Retired 
                Executives Association or any successor or other 
                organization who receives a grant from the 
                Administrator to operate the SCORE program under 
                paragraph (2)(A).
                    ``(B) SCORE program.--The term `SCORE program' 
                means the SCORE program authorized by subsection 
                (b)(1)(B).
            ``(2) Management and volunteers.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall provide 
                a grant to the SCORE Association to manage the SCORE 
                program.
                    ``(B) Volunteers.--A volunteer participating in the 
                SCORE program shall--
                            ``(i) based on the business experience and 
                        knowledge of the volunteer--
                                    ``(I) provide at no cost to 
                                individuals who own, or aspire to own, 
                                small business concerns personal 
                                counseling, mentoring, and coaching 
                                relating to the process of starting, 
                                expanding, managing, buying, and 
                                selling a business; and
                                    ``(II) facilitate low-cost 
                                education workshops for individuals who 
                                own, or aspire to own, small business 
                                concerns; and
                            ``(ii) as appropriate, use tools, 
                        resources, and expertise of other organizations 
                        to carry out the SCORE program.
            ``(3) Plans and goals.--The Administrator, in consultation 
        with the SCORE Association, shall ensure that the SCORE program 
        and each chapter of the SCORE program develop and implement 
        plans and goals to more effectively and efficiently provide 
        services to individuals in rural areas, economically 
        disadvantaged communities, and other traditionally underserved 
        communities, including plans for electronic initiatives, web-
        based initiatives, chapter expansion, partnerships, and the 
        development of new skills by volunteers participating in the 
        SCORE program.
            ``(4) Annual report.--The SCORE Association shall submit to 
        the Administrator an annual report that contains--
                    ``(A) the number of individuals counseled or 
                trained under the SCORE program;
                    ``(B) the number of hours of counseling provided 
                under the SCORE program; and
                    ``(C) to the extent possible--
                            ``(i) the number of small business concerns 
                        formed with assistance from the SCORE program;
                            ``(ii) the number of small business 
                        concerns expanded with assistance from the 
                        SCORE program; and
                            ``(iii) the number of jobs created with 
                        assistance from the SCORE program.
            ``(5) Privacy requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Neither the Administrator nor 
                the SCORE Association may disclose the name, address, 
                or telephone number of any individual or small business 
                concern receiving assistance from the SCORE Association 
                without the consent of such individual or small 
                business concern, unless--
                            ``(i) the Administrator is ordered to make 
                        such a disclosure by a court in any civil or 
                        criminal enforcement action initiated by a 
                        Federal or State agency; or
                            ``(ii) the Administrator determines such a 
                        disclosure to be necessary for the purpose of 
                        conducting a financial audit of the SCORE 
                        program, in which case disclosure shall be 
                        limited to the information necessary for the 
                        audit.
                    ``(B) Administrator use of information.--This 
                paragraph shall not--
                            ``(i) restrict the access of the 
                        Administrator to program activity data; or
                            ``(ii) prevent the Administrator from using 
                        client information to conduct client surveys.
                    ``(C) Regulations.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Administrator shall 
                        issue regulations to establish standards for--
                                    ``(I) disclosures with respect to 
                                financial audits under subparagraph 
                                (A)(ii); and
                                    ``(II) conducting client surveys, 
                                including standards for oversight of 
                                the surveys and for dissemination and 
                                use of client information.
                            ``(ii) Maximum privacy protection.--The 
                        regulations issued under this subparagraph 
                        shall, to the extent practicable, provide for 
                        the maximum amount of privacy protection.''.

SEC. 4. ONLINE COMPONENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 8(c) of the Small Business Act, as added 
by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Online component.--In carrying out this subsection, 
        the SCORE Association shall make use of online counseling, 
        including by developing and implementing webinars and an 
        electronic mentoring platform to expand access to services 
        provided under this subsection and to further support 
        entrepreneurs.''.
    (b) Online Component Report.--
            (1) In general.--At the end of fiscal year 2018, the SCORE 
        Association shall issue a report to the Committee on Small 
        Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate on the 
        effectiveness of the online counseling and webinars required as 
        part of the SCORE program, including--
                    (A) how the SCORE Association determines electronic 
                mentoring and webinar needs, develops training for 
                electronic mentoring, establishes webinar criteria 
                curricula, and evaluates webinar and electronic 
                mentoring results;
                    (B) describing the internal controls that are used 
                and a summary of the topics covered by the webinars; 
                and
                    (C) performance metrics, including the number of 
                small business concerns counseled by, the number of 
                small business concerns created by, the number of jobs 
                created and retained by, and the funding amounts 
                directed towards such online counseling and webinars.
            (2) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        terms ``SCORE Association'' and ``SCORE program'' have the 
        meaning given those terms, respectively, under section 8(c)(1) 
        of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(c)(1)).

SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF THE SCORE PROGRAM.

    (a) Study.--The SCORE Association shall carry out a study on the 
future role of the SCORE program and develop a strategic plan for how 
the SCORE program will evolve to meet the needs of America's 
entrepreneurs over the course of the next 5 years, with markers and 
specific objectives for year 1, year 3, and year 5.
    (b) Report.--Not later than the end of the 6-month period beginning 
on the date of the enactment of this Act, the SCORE Association shall 
issue a report to the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate containing--
            (1) all findings and determination made in carrying out the 
        study required under subsection (a);
            (2) the strategic plan developed under subsection (a); and
            (3) an explanation of how the SCORE Association plans to 
        achieve the strategic plan, assuming both stagnant and 
        increased funding levels.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the terms ``SCORE 
Association'' and ``SCORE program'' have the meaning given those terms, 
respectively, under section 8(c)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 637(c)(1)).

SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Small Business Act.--The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et 
seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 7(m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII) (15 U.S.C. 
        636(m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII)), by striking ``Service Corps of Retired 
        Executives'' and inserting ``SCORE program''; and
            (2) in section 22 (15 U.S.C. 649)--
                    (A) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``Service 
                        Corps of Retired Executives'' and inserting 
                        ``SCORE program''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 
                        ``Service Corps of Retired Executives'' and 
                        inserting ``SCORE program''; and
                    (B) in subsection (c)(12), by striking ``Service 
                Corps of Retired Executives'' and inserting ``SCORE 
                program''.
    (b) Other Laws.--
            (1) Section 621 of the Children's Health Insurance Program 
        Reauthorization Act of 2009 (15 U.S.C. 657p) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (4) 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(4) the term `SCORE program' means the SCORE program 
        authorized by section 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B));''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b)(4)(A)(iv), by striking 
                ``Service Corps of Retired Executives'' and inserting 
                ``SCORE program''.
            (2) Section 337(d)(2)(A) of the Energy Policy and 
        Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6307(d)(2)(A)) is amended by 
        striking ``Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)'' and 
        inserting ``SCORE program''.
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