[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5634 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5634
To establish a grant program under the Small Business Administration,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 19 (legislative day, December 16), 2024
Mr. Markey introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program under 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 ``Small Business Opportunity Grants
Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
(b) Community Development Financial Institution.--The term
``community development financial institution'' has the meaning given
the term in section 103 of the Riegle Community Development and
Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702).
(c) Covered Lender.--The term ``covered lender'' means a lender
authorized under section 3(a)(2)(B).
(d) Covered Grant.--The term ``covered grant'' means a grant issued
by a covered lender.
(e) Eligible Recipient.--The term ``eligible recipient'' means an
eligible small business concern.
(f) Minority Depository Institution.--The term ``minority
depository institution'' has the meaning given the term in section 308
of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of
1989 (12 U.S.C. 1463 note).
(g) Rural Area.--The term ``rural area'' means any county or other
political subdivision of a State, the District of Columbia, or a
territory or possession of the United States that is designated as a
rural area by the Bureau of the Census.
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Grant Program.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall establish a grant
program in accordance with this subsection for the purpose of
awarding grants to individuals or entities who meet the
criteria established under paragraph (2).
(2) Eligibility criteria.--
(A) Grant recipients.--The Administrator shall, in
accordance with the limits described in paragraph (4),
award a grant to an eligible recipient if--
(i) the eligible recipient is located in--
(I) a low- to moderate-income
community;
(II) a HUBZone, as that term is
defined in section 31(b) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a(b));
(III) a rural area; or
(IV) any area for which a disaster
declaration or determination described
in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (E)
of section 7(b)(2) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) has
been made that has not terminated more
than 2 years before the date (or later,
as determined by the Administrator) on
which a grant is made to the small
business concern under the program,
except that, in the case of a major
disaster described in subsection
(b)(2)(A) of such section, that period
shall be 5 years;
(ii) more than 50 percent of the employees
of the eligible recipient reside in a low- or
moderate-income community;
(iii) the eligible recipient is a new
business;
(iv) the eligible recipient is owned and
controlled by socially and economically
disadvantaged individuals, as described in
paragraphs (5) and (6)(A), respectively, of
section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 637(a)) which the Administrator, in
carrying out the program, shall presume
includes Black Americans, Hispanic Americans,
Native Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, and
other minorities;
(v) the eligible recipient is owned and
controlled by women;
(vi) the eligible recipient is owned and
controlled by veterans or spouses of veterans;
(vii) the eligible recipient is owned and
controlled by a member of an Indian Tribe
individually identified (including
parenthetically) in the most recent list
published pursuant to section 104 of the
Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of
1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131);
(viii) the eligible recipient is owned and
controlled by an individual who has completed a
term of imprisonment in a Federal, State, or
local jail or prison; or
(ix) the eligible recipient is owned and
controlled by an individual with a disability,
as that term is defined in section 3 of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 12102).
(B) Lenders.--The Administrator shall, in
accordance with the limits described in paragraph (4),
award a grant to a lender if the lender is--
(i) a community development financial
institution;
(ii) a minority depository institution;
(iii) a lender under the Microloan Program
established under subsection (m) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m));
(iv) a development company that is
certified under title V of the Small Business
Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et seq.);
or
(v) a Community Advantage Small Business
Lending Company, as described in section 120.10
of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) Limits.--
(A) Number of grants.--The number of grants awarded
under this subsection shall not exceed 1,000,000
grants.
(B) Amount of forgiveness.--The amount of a grant
awarded to an eligible recipient under this subsection
shall not exceed $20,000.
(C) No limit on other loans or grants.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, small
business concerns receiving a covered grant under this
Act shall not be prohibited from receiving another loan
or grant.
(b) Technical Assistance Grant Program.--The Administrator shall
establish a grant program to provide management and technical
assistance to covered lenders making grants under this Act.
(c) Regulations.--The Administrator shall promulgate regulations
related to the grant programs under this section not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section
for fiscal year 2025.
SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS.
(a) Data Collection.--With respect to each covered grant under this
Act, the Administrator shall collect data on the eligible recipient of
the covered grant, which shall include the gender, race, ethnicity,
sex, age, Tribal affiliation, socioeconomic status, and disability
status of each eligible recipient.
(b) Publication.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall make publicly
available on the website of the Small Business Administration,
in a disaggregated format, the data collected under subsection
(a), which shall be updated not later than 7 days after the
date on which a covered grant is approved.
(2) Privacy considerations.--In publishing the data under
paragraph (1), the Administrator shall take all necessary steps
to protect the privacy of any individual whose personally
identifiable information is included in that data.
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