[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3528 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3528

     To amend the Small Business Act to establish the position of 
 Coordinator for Disabled Small Business Concerns within the Office of 
      Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights of the Small Business 
                Administration, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 14, 2023

Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Mr. Braun) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 
                          and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Small Business Act to establish the position of 
 Coordinator for Disabled Small Business Concerns within the Office of 
      Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights of the Small Business 
                Administration, 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 ``Supporting Disabled Entrepreneurs 
Act''.

SEC. 2. COORDINATOR FOR DISABLED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

    The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 note) as 
        section 50; and
            (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 657u) the 
        following:

``SEC. 49. ASSISTANCE FOR DISABLED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

    ``(a) Coordinator for Disabled Small Business Concerns.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--There is established within the 
        Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights of the 
        Administration the position of Coordinator for Disabled Small 
        Business Concerns (referred to in this section as the 
        `Coordinator'), the occupant of which shall be responsible for 
        the planning, coordination, implementation, evaluation, and 
        improvement of the efforts of the Administrator to enhance 
        support for disabled small business concerns across capital, 
        counseling, and contracting programs.
            ``(2) Coordinator.--
                    ``(A) Designation.--Not later than 180 days after 
                the date of enactment of the Supporting Disabled 
                Entrepreneurs Act, the Administrator shall designate to 
                serve as Coordinator an individual who--
                            ``(i) may be, as of the date of that 
                        designation, an employee of the Administration; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) has--
                                    ``(I) demonstrated experience 
                                working with and knowledge of disabled 
                                small business concerns; and
                                    ``(II) experience providing access 
                                to capital, contracting opportunities, 
                                or counseling to disabled small 
                                business concerns.
                    ``(B) Duties.--The Coordinator shall--
                            ``(i) create and implement strategies and 
                        programs that support the activities, 
                        development, and growth of disabled small 
                        business concerns;
                            ``(ii) facilitate outreach to disabled 
                        small business concerns through the entities 
                        described in clauses (i) through (iii) of 
                        subparagraph (C);
                            ``(iii) develop technical support and 
                        training programs for disabled small business 
                        concerns that the entities described in clauses 
                        (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (C) may use 
                        when conducting the outreach described in 
                        clause (ii) of this subparagraph;
                            ``(iv) establish partnerships within the 
                        Administration and with relevant Federal 
                        agencies to advance the goal of supporting the 
                        economic success of disabled small business 
                        concerns;
                            ``(v) review the effectiveness and impact 
                        of Administration programs for disabled small 
                        business concerns;
                            ``(vi) when appropriate, advocate on behalf 
                        of disabled small business concerns within the 
                        Administration;
                            ``(vii) not less frequently than once every 
                        6 months beginning 1 year after the date of 
                        enactment of the Supporting Disabled 
                        Entrepreneurs Act, hold public meetings with 
                        relevant stakeholders to assess the 
                        effectiveness of the strategies and programs of 
                        the Administration designed to support disabled 
                        small business concerns and any gaps in those 
                        programs of the Administration; and
                            ``(viii) not later than 2 years after the 
                        date of enactment of the Supporting Disabled 
                        Entrepreneurs Act, submit to Congress a report 
                        that describes the major activities of the 
                        Coordinator, contains recommendations for 
                        congressional action to further support 
                        disabled small business concerns, and addresses 
                        the potential for growth within the areas in 
                        which the Coordinator operates.
                    ``(C) Consultation.--In carrying out the duties 
                under this paragraph, the Coordinator shall consult 
                with--
                            ``(i) district offices of the 
                        Administration;
                            ``(ii) regional offices of the 
                        Administration;
                            ``(iii) resource partners of the 
                        Administration, including small business 
                        development centers, women's business centers 
                        described in section 29, chapters of the 
                        Service Corps of Retired Executives described 
                        in section 8(a)(1)(A), and Veteran Business 
                        Outreach Centers described in section 32; and
                            ``(iv) other relevant Federal agencies, 
                        including the National Council on Disability, 
                        Department of Health and Human Services, the 
                        Department of Justice, the Department of Labor, 
                        the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 
                        Department of Education, the Social Security 
                        Administration, the Access Board, and the 
                        Minority Business Development Agency.
    ``(b) Reporting.--To the extent possible, the Administration shall 
publicly report, including in weekly reports on lending approvals, data 
on services provided to disabled small business concerns across 
programs of the Administration.
    ``(c) Data Collection.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of the Supporting Disabled Entrepreneurs Act, the 
Administrator shall collect data across programs of the Administration 
regarding the disability status of small business concerns, on a 
voluntary basis, through program intake forms.''.
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