[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1093 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 37
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1093
To amend the Small Business Act to enhance the Office of Rural Affairs,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 24, 2025
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship
April 1 (legislative day, March 31), 2025
Reported by Ms. Ernst, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to enhance the Office of Rural Affairs,
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 ``Coordinated Support for Rural Small
Businesses Act''.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF RURAL AFFAIRS OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.
Section 26 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 653) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``Establishment.--''
before ``There'';
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
``(b) Appointment of Assistant Administrator.--
``(1) In general.--The Office shall be administered by an
Assistant Administrator, who shall--
``(A) be appointed by the Administrator; and
``(B) serve as a noncareer appointee, as defined in
section 3132(a)(7) of title 5, United States Code.
``(2) Qualification.--The position of Assistant
Administrator shall be a Senior Executive Service position
under section 3132(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code.'';
(3) in subsection (c)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
inserting ``Duties.--'' before ``The Office'';
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``small business
concerns located in rural areas'' and inserting ``rural
small business concerns'';
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``concerning
the'' and all that follows through the semicolon at the
end and inserting the following: ``on the policies and
programs of the Administration and of other Federal
departments and agencies for assisting rural small
business concerns;'';
(D) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(E) in paragraph (5)--
(i) by striking ``the United States Tourism
and Travel Administration'' and inserting ``the
National Travel and Tourism Office of the
Department of Commerce'';
(ii) by striking ``small businesses in
rural areas'' and inserting ``rural small
business concerns''; and
(iii) by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(F) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) host outreach events for rural small business
concerns as described in subsection (d).''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Outreach.--The Assistant Administrator shall--
``(1) host outreach events in various regions of the United
States for rural small business concerns; and
``(2) invite representatives from district offices of the
Administration, resource partners, Federal and State agencies,
and other interested persons to participate in such outreach
events.
``(e) Interagency Cooperation.--The Assistant Administrator shall
coordinate with the Department to--
``(1) conduct outreach regarding programs of the
Administration and the Department and to improve awareness and
utilization of the existing programs and services of each
agency; and
``(2) convene interagency working groups to address issues
including--
``(A) capital access and investment in rural areas
of the United States, which may include--
``(i) identifying areas of overlap between
the business loan programs of the
Administration and the Department of
Agriculture, including where intermediaries may
be able to participate in programs at both
agencies;
``(ii) assessing opportunities for
coordination between the Administration and the
Department on programs for rural communities of
each agency through the district offices of the
Administration, relationships with rural
lenders, resource partners of the
Administration, and joint outreach and
marketing efforts;
``(iii) improving information sharing and
discussion of best practices between the
Administration and the Department;
``(iv) examining coordination between the
small business investment company program under
part A of title III of the Small Business
Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 681 et seq.)
and related programs at the Department,
including the Rural Business Investment Program
of the Department;
``(v) examining opportunities for
coordination between the disaster assistance
programs of the Administration and the
Department; and
``(vi) addressing barriers and examining
opportunities for cooperatives to participate
in programs and access resources of the
Administration that are similar to the
financing programs of the Department that serve
cooperatives; and
``(B) assisting rural small business concerns,
which may include--
``(i) identifying overlap and fragmentation
among the rural markets identified by the
Department and rural census tracts identified
by the Administration;
``(ii) exploring opportunities to support
innovation in rural areas;
``(iii) coordinating effective support
initiatives that benefit Native Americans; and
``(iv) collaborating on technical
assistance, especially with respect to
exportation and procurement.
``(f) Updates.--Not later than 7 days after any change to or new
issuance of a memorandum of understanding between the Administration
and the Department, the Administration shall notify the appropriate
congressional committees.
``(g) Report.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter,
the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees and make publicly available on a website of the
Administration a report on the activities of the Office during
the 1-year period immediately preceding the date of submission
of the report.
``(2) Contents.--Each report required under paragraph (1)
shall include the following:
``(A) The operational details of the Office,
including the name of the Assistant Administrator, the
budget of the Office, and the number of full-time
employees employed by or detailed to the Office.
``(B) A summary of the activities conducted under
subsection (c).
``(C) The number of outreach events conducted by
the Administration to promote policies and programs
described in paragraph (3) of subsection (c) and to
provide information described in paragraph (4) of such
subsection.
``(D) An analysis of the lending programs of the
Administration in serving the needs of rural small
business concerns.
``(E) A summary of activities conducted under
subsection (e), including--
``(i) the status of any memorandum of
understanding between the Administration and
the Department of Agriculture to further the
goals of improving service delivery, advice,
and assistance for rural small business
concerns;
``(ii) a summary of outreach efforts under
subsection (e)(1);
``(iii) a summary of working groups created
under subsection (e)(2), including any areas of
overlap identified in capital access programs
under subparagraph (A) of such subsection; and
``(iv) efforts to assist rural small
business concerns under subsection (e)(2)(B).
``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(A) the Committees on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship and the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and
``(B) the Committee on Small Business and the
Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives.
``(2) Assistant administrator.--The term `Assistant
Administrator' means the Assistant Administrator of the Office
of Rural Affairs appointed under subsection (b).
``(3) Department.--The term `Department' means the
Department of Agriculture.''.
Calendar No. 37
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1093
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to enhance the Office of Rural Affairs,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
April 1 (legislative day, March 31), 2025
Reported without amendment