[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1000 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1000

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 16, 2015

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 
2015''.

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 2016, 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, the term `SCORE 
        program' means the SCORE program authorized by subsection 
        (b)(1)(B).
            ``(2) Volunteers.--A volunteer participating in the SCORE 
        program shall--
                    ``(A) 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
                    ``(B) 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. 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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