[114th Congress Public Law 38]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 129 STAT. 437]]

Public Law 114-38
114th Congress

                                 An Act


 
   To amend the Small Business Act to increase access to capital for 
       veteran entrepreneurs, to help create jobs, and for other 
            purposes. <<NOTE: July 28, 2015 -  [H.R. 2499]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Veterans 
Entrepreneur- ship Act of 2015. 15 USC 631 note.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 
2015''.
SEC. 2. PERMANENT SBA EXPRESS LOAN GUARANTEE FEE WAIVER FOR 
                    VETERANS.

    Section 7(a)(31) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(31)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(G) Guarantee fee waiver for veterans.--
                          ``(i) Guarantee fee waiver.--The Administrator 
                      may not collect a guarantee fee described in 
                      paragraph (18) in connection with a loan made 
                      under this paragraph to a veteran or spouse of a 
                      veteran on or after October 1, 2015.
                          ``(ii) Exception.--If the President's budget 
                      for the upcoming fiscal year, submitted to 
                      Congress pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31, 
                      United States Code, includes a cost for the 
                      program established under this subsection that is 
                      above zero, the requirements of clause (i) shall 
                      not apply to loans made during such upcoming 
                      fiscal year.
                          ``(iii) Definition.--In this subparagraph, the 
                      term `veteran or spouse of a veteran' means--
                                    ``(I) a veteran, as defined in 
                                section 3(q)(4);
                                    ``(II) an individual who is eligible 
                                to participate in the Transition 
                                Assistance Program established under 
                                section 1144 of title 10, United States 
                                Code;
                                    ``(III) a member of a reserve 
                                component of the Armed Forces named in 
                                section 10101 of title 10, United States 
                                Code;
                                    ``(IV) the spouse of an individual 
                                described in subclause (I), (II), or 
                                (III); or
                                    ``(V) the surviving spouse (as 
                                defined in section 101 of title 38, 
                                United States Code) of an individual 
                                described in subclause (I), (II), or 
                                (III) who died while serving on active 
                                duty or as a result of a disability that 
                                is service-connected (as defined in such 
                                section).''.

[[Page 129 STAT. 438]]

SEC. 3. REPORT ON ACCESSIBILITY AND OUTREACH TO FEMALE VETERANS BY 
                    THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator shall submit to Congress a report assessing the level of 
outreach to and consultation with female veterans regarding access to 
capital by women's business centers (as described in section 29 of the 
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656)) and Veterans Business Outreach 
Centers (as referred to in section 32 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 657b)).
SEC. 4. BUSINESS LOANS PROGRAM.

    (a) Section 7(a) Funding Levels.--The third proviso under the 
heading ``business loans program account'' under the heading ``Small 
Business Administration'' under title V of division E of the 
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 
113-235; 128 Stat. 2371) is amended by striking ``$18,750,000,000'' and 
inserting ``$23,500,000,000''.
    (b) Loan Limitations.--Section 7(a)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 636(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by striking ``No financial assistance'' and 
                inserting the following:
                          ``(i) In general.--No financial assistance''; 
                      and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                          ``(ii) Liquidity.--On and after October 1, 
                      2015, the Administrator may not guarantee a loan 
                      under this subsection if the lender determines 
                      that the borrower is unable to obtain credit 
                      elsewhere solely because the liquidity of the 
                      lender depends upon the guaranteed portion of the 
                      loan being sold on the secondary market.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Lending limits of lenders.--On and after 
                October 1, 2015, the Administrator may not guarantee a 
                loan under this subsection if the sole purpose for 
                requesting the guarantee is to allow the lender to 
                exceed the legal lending limit of the lender.''.

    (c) Reporting.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    (A) the term ``Administrator'' means the 
                Administrator of the Small Business Administration;
                    (B) the term ``business loan'' means a loan made or 
                guaranteed under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act 
                (15 U.S.C. 636(a));
                    (C) the term ``cancellation'' means that the 
                Administrator approves a proposed business loan, but the 
                prospective borrower determines not to take the business 
                loan; and
                    (D) the term ``net dollar amount of business loans'' 
                means the difference between the total dollar amount of 
                business loans and the total dollar amount of 
                cancellations.
            (2) <<NOTE: Time period. Effective date.>>  Requirement.--
        During the 3-year period beginning on the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Committee on Small 
        Business and Entrepreneurship and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business 
        and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives a quarterly report

[[Page 129 STAT. 439]]

        regarding the loan programs carried out under section 7(a) of 
        the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)), which shall include--
                    (A) for the fiscal year during which the report is 
                submitted and the 3 fiscal years before such fiscal 
                year--
                          (i) the weekly total dollar amount of business 
                      loans;
                          (ii) the weekly total dollar amount of 
                      cancellations;
                          (iii) the weekly net dollar amount of business 
                      loans--
                                    (I) for all business loans; and
                                    (II) for each category of loan 
                                amount described in clause (i), (ii), or 
                                (iii) of section 7(a)(18) of the Small 
                                Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(18));
                    (B) for the fiscal year during which the report is 
                submitted--
                          (i) the amount of remaining authority for 
                      business loans, in dollar amount and as a 
                      percentage; and
                          (ii) estimates of the date on which the net 
                      dollar amount of business loans will reach the 
                      maximum for such business loans based on daily net 
                      lending volume and extrapolations based on year to 
                      date net lending volume, quarterly net lending 
                      volume, and quarterly growth trends;
                    (C) the number of early defaults (as determined by 
                the Administrator) during the quarter covered by the 
                report;
                    (D) the total amount paid by borrowers in early 
                default during the quarter covered by the report, as of 
                the time of purchase of the guarantee;
                    (E) the number of borrowers in early default that 
                are franchisees;
                    (F) the total amount of guarantees purchased by the 
                Administrator during the quarter covered by the report; 
                and
                    (G) a description of the actions the Administrator 
                is taking to combat early defaults administratively and 
                any legislative action the Administrator recommends to 
                address early defaults.

    Approved July 28, 2015.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 2499:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 114-187 (Comm. on Small Business).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 161 (2015):
            July 13, considered and passed House.
            July 23, considered and passed Senate, amended.
            July 27, House concurred in Senate amendment.

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