[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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