[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6446 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6446

      To reauthorize the White House Conference on Small Business 
               Authorization Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 2018

   Mr. Blum (for himself, Mrs. Murphy of Florida, and Mr. Lawson of 
   Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To reauthorize the White House Conference on Small Business 
               Authorization Act, 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 ``White House Conference on Small 
Business Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON SMALL 
              BUSINESS.

    Public Law 101-409 (the White House Conference on Small Business 
Authorization Act; 15 U.S.C. 631 note) is amended--
            (1) in section 2(a)--
                    (A) by striking ``The President'' and inserting 
                ``Subject to amounts collected under section 10, the 
                President'';
                    (B) by striking ``not earlier than May 1, 1995, and 
                not later than September 30, 1995'' and inserting ``not 
                earlier than December 31, 2018, and not later than 
                December 1, 2019''; and
                    (C) by striking ``March 1, 1994'' and inserting 
                ``October 1, 2018'';
            (2) in section 3--
                    (A) by striking ``contribution of small business'' 
                and inserting ``contribution of small business to the 
                national economy'';
                    (B) by striking ``to identify the problems'' and 
                inserting ``to identify and prioritize the problems 
                impacting'';
                    (C) by striking ``particularly'' and inserting 
                ``including'';
                    (D) by striking ``as may be appropriate for 
                maintaining and encouraging'' and inserting ``that 
                maintain, encourage, and expand'';
                    (E) by inserting ``to evaluate the small business 
                assistance programs of the Small Business 
                Administration and other Federal agencies and recommend 
                potential improvements for those programs;'' after 
                ``Nation;''; and
                    (F) by striking ``1986'' and inserting ``1995'';
            (3) in section 4--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``$10'' and 
                inserting ``$200'';
                    (B) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
    ``(b) Participants.--
            ``(1) National conference.--An individual may not 
        participate in the National Conference unless such individual 
        has been selected as a delegate by a State conference and by a 
        regional meeting of delegates and is an owner, officer, or 
        employee of a small business.
            ``(2) Delegates.--Delegates to the National Conference 
        shall include--
                    ``(A) one delegate appointed by each Governor or 
                chief executive official of a State;
                    ``(B) one delegate appointed by each Member of the 
                Senate, each Member of the House of Representatives, 
                each Delegate to the House of Representatives, and the 
                Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico;
                    ``(C) one hundred delegates appointed by the 
                President; and
                    ``(D) the delegates elected by participants at each 
                State Conference.
            ``(3) Alternates.--Each delegate shall have an alternate, 
        appointed or elected in the same manner as the delegate.'';
            (4) in section 5--
                    (A) by striking ``Subsequent to the date of 
                enactment of this Act, but not later than 30 days after 
                the date of enactment of this Act, the'' and inserting 
                ``The'';
                    (B) by striking ``GS-18'' each place such term 
                appears and inserting ``GS-15''; and
                    (C) in subsection (h), by striking ``Chairperson'' 
                and inserting ``Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
                Business Administration'';
            (5) in section 6(a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(4) shall establish an electronic communication system 
        for use by delegates and alternates for communication before, 
        during, and for at least 4 years after the National Conference 
        to allow State delegations and issue area groups to 
        collaboratively define the problems faced by small businesses, 
        refine suggested solutions to those problems, prioritize and 
        select final recommendations, and monitor later legislative or 
        regulatory action on the recommendations.''; and
            (6) by striking section 9 and inserting the following:

``SEC. 9. CO-SPONSORSHIP OF ACTIVITIES.

    ``(a) Authorization.--The Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration, after consultation with the General Counsel of the 
Small Business Administration, may sponsor activities or cosponsor 
activities with an eligible entity, including recognition events, for 
small businesses.
    ``(b) Eligible Entity.--In this section, the term `eligible entity' 
means any for-profit or not-for-profit entity, any State, or local 
government official, or any State, or local government entity.
    ``(c) Prohibition on Endorsements.--The Administrator shall ensure 
that any eligible entities that cosponsor activities receive 
appropriate recognition for such cosponsorship, and that such 
recognition is not considered to be an endorsement by the Small 
Business Administration of any product or service of such eligible 
entity.

``SEC. 10. FUNDING NATIONAL CONFERENCE.

    ``(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--The activities authorized 
by this Act shall be funded, to the extent and in the amount provided 
in advance in appropriations Acts, exclusively by amounts (if any) 
collected under subsection (b). No other amounts are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act.
    ``(b) Authority To Accept Gifts.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), for 
        purposes of carrying out this Act, the Commission, the 
        Administrator of the Small Business Administration, and the 
        Administrator of the General Service Administration may--
                    ``(A) solicit ownership, accept, and hold gifts, 
                devises, and bequests of cash, property (including 
                tangible, intangible, real and personal), or 
                subsistence from non-Federal sources; and
                    ``(B) enter into an agreement with any organization 
                described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 
                Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 
                501(a) of such Code to solicit the donations described 
                under subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Conflict of interest.--No gift, devise, or bequest 
        shall be solicited or accepted under the authority of this 
        subsection if such solicitation or acceptance would, in the 
        determination of the Inspector General of the Small Business 
        Administration create a conflict of interest.
    ``(c) Funds Remaining at Termination.--On the date of termination 
of the National Conference, any unobligated amounts collected under 
this section shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.

``SEC. 11. STATE DEFINED.

    ``For purposes of this Act, the term `State' includes the several 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 
any other territory or possession of the United States.''.
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