[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2838 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2838

                    To improve the HUBZone program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 21, 2016

  Mr. Vitter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                    To improve the HUBZone program.

    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 ``Small Business Transforming 
America's Regions Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION TO THE HUBZONE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 3(p) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
632(p)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 
                subparagraph (G); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the 
                following:
                    ``(F) another qualified area designated by the 
                Administrator under section 31(d); or''; and
            (2) in paragraph (4)(C), by striking ``until the later of'' 
        and all that follows and inserting ``for the 7-year period 
        following the date on which the census tract or nonmetropolitan 
        county ceased to be so qualified.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a)(2) shall 
apply to any census tract that becomes a redesignated area under 
section 3(p)(4)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(4)(C)) 
on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Other Qualified Areas.--Section 31 of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 657a) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Other Qualified Areas.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `governor' means the chief executive 
                of a State; and
                    ``(B) the term `State' means each of the several 
                States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
                Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth 
                of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.
            ``(2) Designation.--A governor may petition the 
        Administrator to designate 1 or more census tracts in the State 
        of the governor as a HUBZone if each tract--
                    ``(A) has a median household income that is less 
                than 70 percent of the median household income of the 
                State in which the tract is located based on the most 
                recent data available from the Bureau of the Census;
                    ``(B) has an unemployment rate that is not less 
                than 120 percent of the average unemployment rate of 
                the United States or of the State in which the tract is 
                located, whichever is less, based on the most recent 
                data available from the Department of Labor; or
                    ``(C) meets other criteria determined by the 
                Administrator.
            ``(3) Petition.--With respect to a petition submitted by a 
        governor to the Administrator under paragraph (2)--
                    ``(A) the governor may submit not more than 1 
                petition in a fiscal year unless the Administrator 
                determines that an additional petition from the State 
                of the governor is appropriate;
                    ``(B) the governor may not submit a petition for 
                more than 30 percent of the total number of census 
                tracts in the State of the governor; and
                    ``(C) if the Administrator grants the petition and 
                designates 1 or more census tracts as a HUBZone, the 
                governor shall, not less frequently than annually, 
                submit data to the Administrator certifying that each 
                census tract continues to meet the criteria 
                establishing the eligibility of the tract under the 
                HUBZone program.
            ``(4) Process.--The Administrator shall establish 
        procedures to--
                    ``(A) ensure that the Administration accepts 
                petitions under paragraph (2) from all States each 
                fiscal year; and
                    ``(B) provide technical assistance, before the 
                filing of a petition under paragraph (2), to a governor 
                who is interested in filing such a petition.''.
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