II
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3020
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 23, 2010
Ms. Snowe (for herself, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Bond, and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to reform and improve the HUBZone program for small business concerns, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the HUBZone Improvement Act of
2010
.
Definitions
In this Act—
the terms Administration and Administrator mean the Small Business Administration and the Administrator thereof, respectively;
the terms HUBZone and HUBZone small business concern and HUBZone map have the meanings given those terms in section 3(p) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)), as amended by this Act; and
the term recertification means a determination by the Administrator that a business concern that was previously determined to be a qualified HUBZone small business concern is a qualified HUBZone small business concern under section 3(p)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(5)).
Purpose; findings
Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to reform and improve the HUBZone program of the Administration.
Findings
Congress finds that—
the HUBZone program was established under the HUBZone Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–135; 111 Stat. 2627) to stimulate economic development through increased employment and capital investment by providing Federal contracting preferences to small business concerns in those areas, including inner cities and rural counties, that have low household incomes, high unemployment, and suffered from a lack of investment; and
according to the Government Accountability Office, the weakness in the oversight of the HUBZone program by the Administration has exposed the Government to fraud and abuse.
HUBZone improvements
The Administrator shall—
ensure the HUBZone map—
is accurate and up-to-date; and
revised as new data is made available to maintain the accuracy and currency of the HUBZone map;
implement policies for ensuring that only HUBZone small business concerns determined to be qualified under section 3(p)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(5)) are participating in the HUBZone program, including through the appropriate use of technology to control costs and maximize, among other benefits, uniformity, completeness, simplicity, and efficiency;
submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report regarding any application to be designated as a HUBZone small business concern or for recertification for which the Administrator has not made a determination as of the date that is 60 days after the date on which the application was submitted or initiated, which shall include a plan and timetable for ensuring the timely processing of the applications; and
develop measures and implement plans to assess the effectiveness of the HUBZone program that—
require the identification of a baseline point in time to allow the assessment of economic development under the HUBZone program, including creating additional jobs; and
take into account—
the economic characteristics of the HUBZone; and
contracts being counted under multiple socioeconomic subcategories.
Employment percentage
Section 3(p) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)) is amended—
in paragraph (5), by adding at the end the following:
Employment percentage during interim period
Definition
In this subparagraph, the term interim period means the period beginning on the date on which the Administrator determines that a HUBZone small business concern is qualified under subparagraph (A) and ending on the day before the date on which a contract under the HUBZone program for which the HUBZone small business concern submits a bid is awarded.
Interim period
During the interim period, the Administrator may not determine that the HUBZone small business is not qualified under subparagraph (A) based on a failure to meet the applicable employment percentage under subparagraph (A)(i)(I), unless the HUBZone small business concern—
has not attempted to maintain the applicable employment percentage under subparagraph (A)(i)(I); or
does not meet the applicable employment percentage—
on the date on which the HUBZone small business concern submits a bid for a contract under the HUBZone program; or
on the date on which the HUBZone small business concern is awarded a contract under the HUBZone program.
; and
by adding at the end the following:
HUBZone program
The term HUBZone program means the program established under section 31.
HUBZone map
The term HUBZone map means the map used by the Administration to identify HUBZones.
.
Redesignated areas
Section 3(p)(4)(C)(i) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(4)(C)(i)) is amended to read as follows:
3 years after the first date on which the Administrator publishes a HUBZone map that is based on the results from the 2010 decennial census; or
.