119-s1093

[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