IIB
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1839
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 19, 2009
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
AN ACT
To amend the Small Business Act to improve SCORE, and for other purposes.
Expansion of volunteer representation and benchmark reports
Expansion of volunteer representation
Section 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)) is amended—
by inserting (i)
after
(B)
; and
by adding at the end the following:
The Administrator shall ensure that SCORE, established under this subparagraph, carries out a plan to increase the proportion of mentors who are from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds and, on an annual basis, reports to the Administrator on the implementation of this subparagraph.
.
Benchmark reports
Section 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)), as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
The Administrator shall ensure that SCORE, established under this subparagraph, establishes benchmarks for use in evaluating the performance of its activities and of its volunteers. The benchmarks shall include benchmarks relating to the demographic characteristics and the geographic characteristics of persons assisted by SCORE, benchmarks related to the hours spent mentoring by volunteers, and benchmarks relating to the performance of the persons assisted by SCORE. SCORE shall report, on an annual basis, to the Administrator the extent to which the benchmarks established under this clause are being attained.
.
Mentoring and networking
Section 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)), as amended, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
The Administrator shall ensure that SCORE, established under this subparagraph, establishes a mentoring program for small business concerns that provides one-on-one advice to small business concerns from qualified counselors. For purposes of this clause, qualified counselors are counselors with at least 10 years experience in the industry sector or area of responsibility of the small business concern seeking advice.
The Administrator shall carry out a networking program through SCORE, established under this subparagraph, that provides small business concerns with the opportunity to make business contacts in their industry or geographic region.
.
Name of program changed to SCORE
Name change
The Small Business Act is amended as follows:
In section 8(b)(1)(B) (15 U.S.C.
637(b)(1)(B)), by striking Executives (SCORE)
and inserting Executives (in this Act referred to as
.SCORE
)
In section 7(m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII)
(15 U.S.C.
636(m)(3)(A)(i)(VIII)), by striking the Service Corps of
Retired Executives
and inserting SCORE
.
In section 20 (15 U.S.C. 631 note)—
in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking
the Service Corps of Retired Executives program
and inserting
SCORE
; and
in subsection (e)(1)(E), by striking
the Service Corps of Retired Executives program
and inserting
SCORE
.
In section 33(b)(2) (15 U.S.C.
657c(b)(2)), by striking Service Corps of Retired
Executives
and inserting SCORE
.
Elimination of ACE
Section 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C.
637(b)(1)(B)), as amended, is further amended by striking
and an Active Corps of Executive (ACE)
.
Authorization of appropriations
Section 20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is amended by inserting the following new subsection after subsection (e):
Authorization of appropriations for SCORE
There is authorized to be appropriated $7,000,000 for SCORE under section 8(b)(1) for each of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.
.
Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 2009.
Lorraine C. Miller,
Clerk.