S. 1093

119 S1093 IS: Coordinated Support for Rural Small Businesses Act
 U.S. Senate
 2025-03-24
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 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 1093  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    A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to enhance the Office of Rural Affairs, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Coordinated Support for Rural Small Businesses Act  .
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.
 .