[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8534 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8534
To amend the Small Business Act to establish an Office of Territorial
Affairs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 27, 2026
Ms. Velazquez (for herself and Ms. King-Hinds) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to establish an Office of Territorial
Affairs, 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 ``Small Business Territories Support
Act''.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF TERRITORIAL AFFAIRS OF THE SMALL BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION.
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended by--
(1) redesignating section 49 as section 50; and
(2) inserting after section 48 the following new section:
``SEC. 49. OFFICE OF TERRITORIAL AFFAIRS.
``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Administration an
Office of Territorial Affairs (hereafter in this section referred to as
the `Office'), which shall establish a working relationship with small
business concerns in the United States territories by targeting
programs of the Administration relating to entrepreneurial development,
contracting, disaster assistance, and capital access.
``(b) Assistant Administrator.--
``(1) In general.--The Office shall be administered by an
Assistant Administrator who shall be an employee in the
competitive service.
``(2) Qualifications.--The Assistant Administrator shall
have--
``(A) knowledge of the governmental affairs,
socioeconomic conditions, and political relationships
of the territories; and
``(B) experience providing tailored small business
development assistance to small business concerns
located in the territories.
``(3) Duties.--The Assistant Administrator shall--
``(A) formulate policies, and promote policies and
existing programs, to better address entrepreneurial
development, capital access, disaster assistance, and
contracting needs of small business concerns located in
the territories;
``(B) serve as a liaison between small business
concerns located in the territories and the
Administration, resource partners, lenders, Federal and
State agencies, and other interested persons;
``(C) periodically review and assess programs
administered by and services from the Administration
that are available to small business concerns located
in the territories to ensure that--
``(i) the services offered under a lending
program, entrepreneurial development program,
or disaster assistance program administered by
the Administration are adequate to address the
challenges such small business concerns face;
and
``(ii) such small business concerns have
adequate access to contracting opportunities
with the Federal Government and procurement
programs administered by the Administration;
and
``(D) host webinars and outreach events in the
territories. as appropriate, including inviting
representatives from district offices of the
Administration, resource partners, Federal and State
agencies, and other interested people to participate in
such webinars and outreach events.
``(c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the Assistant
Administrator shall submit to the Committee of Small Business of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the activities of the Office
during the one year period preceding the date of submission of the
report, including--
``(1) operational details of the activities of the Office;
``(2) a summary of the activities conducted by the Office;
``(3) the total number of small business concerns assisted
by the Office, disaggregated by the type of assistance provided
by the Office and by territory;
``(4) to the extent practicable, the total number of new
businesses established as a result of assistance from the
Office, disaggregated by territory; and
``(5) recommendations to help improve assistance provided
by the Administration in serving the needs of small business
concerns located in the territories.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Assistant administrator.--The term `Assistant
Administrator' means the Assistant Administrator of the Office
of Territorial Affairs appointed under subsection (b).
``(2) Resource partner.--The term `resource partner'
means--
``(A) a small business development center;
``(B) a women's business center described in
section 29;
``(C) a chapter of the Service Corps of Retired
Executives authorized by section 8(b)(1); and
``(D) a Veteran Business Outreach Center described
in section 32.
``(3) Territories.--The term `territories' means Puerto
Rico, Guam, American Samoa, United States Virgin Islands, and
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.''.
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