BPC Action-Supported Small Business Bills in the 118th Congress

26 Oct 2023 BPC Action-Supported Small Business Bills in the 118th Congress in Small Business

The following bipartisan bills align with Bipartisan Policy Center small business recommendations and are endorsed by BPC Action. This list is continuously updated.

H.R. 6002 and S. 1222, the 21^st Century Entrepreneurship Act

Led in the House by Reps. Dean Phillips (D-MN), French Hill (R-AR), and Sharice Davids (D-KS)
Led in the Senate by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Requires the SBA to develop a curriculum for volunteers with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to teach underrepresented students (e.g., minority students, English learners, and children with disabilities) about entrepreneurship

H.R. 6058 and S. 2094, the Interagency Committee on Women’s Business Enterprise Act

Led in the House by Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY) and Maria Salazar (R-FL)
Led in the Senate by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
Reauthorizes the Interagency Committee on Women’s Business Enterprise

H.R. 5333 and S. 4759, the Investing in All of America Act

Led in the House by Reps. Dan Meuser (R-PA) and Hillary Scholten (D-MI)
Led in the Senate by Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Roger Marshall (R-KS)
Increases capital available to small businesses in rural or low-income areas and those operating in the national security sector by not counting dollars invested in these businesses against small business investment companies’ leverage cap

H.R. 5147 and S. 2146, the Investing in VETS Act

Led in the House by Reps. Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA), Frank Mrvan (D-IN), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Donald Davis (D-NC), and Brittany Pettersen (D-CO)
Led in the Senate by Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Increases the government-wide procurement goal for service-disabled veterans from 3% to 5%

H.R. 3717 and S. 1157, the MicroCap Small Business Investing Act

Led in the House by Reps. Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Young Kim (R-CA)
Led by Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), James Risch (R-ID), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)
Authorizes the SBA to issue up to ten Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) licenses each year to certain applicants

H.R. 3056 and S. 1396, the Research Advancing to Market Production (RAMP) for Innovators Act

Led in the House by Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Troy Balderson (R-OH)
Led in the Senate by Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Aims to improve commercialization outcomes from SBIR and STTR grants by including an assessment of commercial potential when evaluating grant applications, expanding the use of grant funds to include commercialization activities, and providing technical assistance and commercialization support to grantees

H.R. 2602 and S. 673, the Small Business Child Care Investment Act

Led in the House by Reps. Susie Lee (D-NV) and Pete Stauber (R-MN)
Led in the Senate by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Allows nonprofit child care providers that qualify as small businesses to participate in SBA loan programs

H.R. 1730 and S. 936, the Supporting Small Business Career and Technical Education Act

Led in the House by Reps. Roger Williams (R-TX) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA)
Led in the Senate by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Chris Coons (D-DE)
Amends the Small Business Act to direct Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) to increase their services to assist small businesses in hiring graduates from career and technical education programs; also supports career and technical education graduates by directing SBDCs and WBCs to assist them in starting up a small business

S. 1345, the 504 Credit Risk Management Improvement Act

Led by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Streamlines oversight and increases transparency and reporting for SBA’s 504 loan program

S. 1352, the 504 Modernization and Small Manufacturer Enhancement Act

Led by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Todd Young (R-IN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Update the SBA’s 504 loan guarantee program and enhance small manufacturers’ ability to access affordable capital

S. 866, the American Innovation and Jobs Act

Led by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Todd Young (R-IN), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Barrasso (R-WY), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Restores incentives for long-term R&D investment by ensuring that companies can fully deduct R&D expenses each year, raises the cap over time for the refundable R&D tax credit for small businesses and startups, and expands eligibility for the refundable R&D tax credit

S. 1003, the FAST Fix Act

Led by Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Hoeven (R-ND) Mike Crapo (R-ID), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Makes changes to the Federal and State Technology (FAST) program application to help organizations in underserved states win more FAST grant funding

S. 2677, the Small Business Broadband and Emerging Information Technology Enhancement Act

Led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Kennedy (R-LA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jim Risch (R-ID), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Directs the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation to designate a senior employee to serve as the broadband and emerging information technology (BEIT) coordinator, provides SBA employees with BEIT training to help small businesses use such technologies, and authorizes SBDCs to help businesses access and use BEIT

S. 2740, the Small Business Cyber Resiliency Act

Led by Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)
Helps small businesses defend against cyber threats by ensuring cybersecurity training and resources for small businesses are effective, accessible, and relevant; establishing a Central Small Business Cybersecurity Unit at SBA; and creating a clearinghouse for small business cybersecurity resources

S. 2330, the Small Business Technological Advancement Act

Led by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Ted Budd (R-NC), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Clarifies that small businesses may use 7(a) loans to finance technology that supports daily operations, including inventory management, product delivery, and accounting systems

H.R. 1644, the 7(a) Loan Agent Oversight Act

Led by Reps. Dan Meuser (R-PA) and Dean Phillips (D-MN)
Requires SBA’s Office of Credit Risk Management to submit an annual report regarding the performance of and risk associated with loans generated through loan agent activity

H.R. 7103, the Agency Accountability Act

Led by Reps. Pete Stauber (R-MN), Morgan McGarvey (D-KY), and Nick LaLota (R-NY)
Requires federal agencies to testify before Congress if they receive below an “A” grade on SBA’s annual procurement scorecard

H.R. 2673, the American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act

Led by Reps. Ron Estes (R-KS), John Larson (D-CT), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Jodey Arrington (R-TX), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)
Eliminates the five-year amortization requirement for research and experimental expenditures and allows for continued expensing of such expenditures in the taxable years in which they are incurred

H.R. 6156, the Child Care Small Business Insight and Improvement Act

Led by Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Julia Letlow (R-LA)
Requires the SBA to designate a point-person within SBA whose focus is supporting for-profit child care providers, conduct a study on the needs and challenges of for-profit child care providers, identify what resources the SBA currently provides to for-profit child care providers, and make recommendations to address the challenges faced by for-profit child care providers

H.R. 986, the COLLABORATE Act

Led by Reps. Chris Pappas (D-NH) and Maria Salazar (R-FL)
Implements recommendations made by GAO and DOD to improve contracting processes and expand the adoption of best practices related to SBDC/APEX Accelerator (formerly PTAC) coordination

H.R. 5424, the Main Street Competes Act

Led by Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), and Claudia Tenney (R-NY)
Aims to counter market concentration and anticompetitive behavior that harms small businesses by requiring the DOJ and FTC to submit data to the SBA’s Office of Advocacy, which will create an annual report on the state of the competitive landscape alongside policy recommendations for Congress

H.R. 449, the Microloan Transparency and Accountability Act

Led by Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI)
Requires SBA to report disbursement metrics for micro-loans and incentivize engagement with rural businesses by offering a 5% technical assistance grant for microloan intermediaries that make at least 25% of their loans to rural small businesses

H.R. 3511, the Service-Disabled Veteran Opportunities in Small Business Act

Led by Reps. Nick LaLota (R-NY) and Morgan McGarvey (D-KY)
Directs SBA and VA to provide training to employees at agencies that fail to meet the SDVOB procurement goal on how to increase the number of contracts awarded to these small businesses

H.R. 1651, the Small Business 7(a) Loan Agent Transparency Act

Led by Reps. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Dan Meuser (R-PA)
Establishes a registration system for 7(a) loan agents and collects relevant data

H.R. 5939, the Small Business Succession Planning Act

Led by Reps. Jason Crown (D-CO) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY)
Directs the SBA to create an online business succession planning toolkit that walks small businesses through the process of creating a business succession plan with the help of SBA or resource partners. It would also require the SBA to provide trained staff or partners to help small businesses create their plan

H.R. 1541, the Small Business Workforce Pipeline Act

Led by Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), and Maria Salazar (R-FL)
Expands the list of SBDC-provided services to include information on how small businesses can establish and improve work-based learning and apprenticeship programs

H.R. 3716, the SPUR Act