To amend the Small Business Act to modify the women's business center program.

July 19, 2004

Mrs. KELLY (for herself, Mr. FROST, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. KLECZKA, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. BONNER, Mr. MOORE, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. REHBERG, and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

To amend the Small Business Act to modify the women's business center program.

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 `Women's Business Sustainability Extension Act of 2004'.

SEC. 2. WOMEN'S BUSINESS CENTERS.

(a) Funding Priority- Section 29(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(k)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following:

`(C) FUNDING PRIORITY- Subject to available funds, and reservation of funds, the Administration shall, for fiscal year 2004, allocate--

`(i) $150,000 for each eligible women's business center established under subsection (b), except for centers that request a lesser amount;

`(ii) from the funds reserved under subsection (k)(4)(A), not more than $125,000 to each eligible women's business center established under subsection (l); and

`(iii) any funds remaining after allocations are made under clauses (i) and (ii) to new eligible women's business centers and eligible women's business centers that did not receive funding in the prior fiscal year under subsection (b).'; and

(2) in paragraph (4)(A), by adding at the end the following:

`(v) For fiscal year 2004, 48 percent.'.

(b) Fundraising Plan- Section 29(l)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(l)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(F) for grants to be distributed after June 30, 2005, a plan that demonstrates a clear, fixed timeframe for fundraising and self-sufficiency, unless the Administrator grants an exception for an organization that serves low-income or other underserved areas.'.

(c) Reallocation of Unused Funds- Section 29(l) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(l)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(6) REALLOCATION OF UNUSED FUNDS- If, at the beginning of the third quarter of a women's business center funding year, the Administrator determines, based on credible evidence, that any portion of the amount made available to carry out this subsection is unlikely to be used by a women's business center, the Administration may use the unused portion to award supplemental grants of not more than $25,000 to any women's business center established under this section to carry out the purposes of this section, subject to the provisions of this section.'.

(d) Performance Evaluations- Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(m) Internal Program Performance Evaluations-

`(1) ACCESS AND USE OF INFORMATION- The Administrator of the Small Business Administration may access and use client contact information from women's business centers established under this section solely to conduct internal program performance evaluations and financial and programmatic audits.

`(2) PRIVACY REQUIREMENT- The Administrator of the Small Business Administration--

`(A) shall only use client information collected under paragraph (1) for internal program performance evaluations and financial and programmatic audits; and

`(B) shall not disclose or distribute any of the collected information for any other purpose.

`(3) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT- A women's business center shall notify each client--

`(A) that information about the client will be collected;

`(B) the purposes for which the client information may be used; and

`(C) that the client, if contacted, will be contacted solely for program performance evaluation or audit purposes.

`(4) REPORT TO CONGRESS- The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall include findings from any internal program performance evaluations in the Administration's annual report to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives.'.

END