United States Statutes at Large, Volume 129, 114th Congress, 1st Session

[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 129, 114th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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. <>

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 ``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 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) <>  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 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:
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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.