This bill would add a new Office of Territorial Affairs inside the Small Business Administration (SBA). The Office would focus on small businesses in Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. It would be run by an Assistant Administrator hired through the competitive civil service. The Assistant Administrator must know territorial government and economic conditions and have experience helping small businesses in the territories.
The Office's duties in the bill include: targeting SBA programs for entrepreneurial development, capital access, disaster assistance, and federal contracting; acting as a liaison between territorial small businesses and the SBA, lenders, resource partners, and other agencies; reviewing SBA programs to check that services meet territorial needs and that territorial firms can access contracting opportunities; and hosting webinars and outreach events in the territories. The Office must send a report to the House and Senate small business committees within 180 days of enactment and annually after that. The reports must describe Office activities, list how many businesses were helped (by type of help and by territory), give the number of new businesses helped where practicable, and offer recommendations to improve SBA assistance. The bill also defines "resource partner" and lists the territories covered.
No publicly available information on the cost to create or operate the Office, or on any funding changes or appropriations, is included in the bill text or metadata provided.
No publicly available information on proponents' statements, detailed arguments, or fiscal estimates is included in the bill text or metadata provided.
No publicly available information on opponents' statements, detailed criticisms, or fiscal concerns is included in the bill text or metadata provided.