“To reauthorize the White House Conference on Small Business Authorization Act, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section reauthorizes the White House Conference on Small Business—originally authorized by Public Law 101-409 for a 1995 conference (i.e., a periodic national assembly of delegates to identify small business challenges and recommend federal policy changes)—by making the following changes: (1) conditioning the President's call for the conference on amounts collected under new funding provisions and updating the conference dates to not earlier than December 31, 2025, and not later than December 1, 2026 (from not earlier than May 1, 1995, and not later than September 30, 1995), with planning to begin October 1, 2025 (from March 1, 1994); (2) revising the conference purposes to emphasize prioritizing problems, including evaluation of Small Business Administration and other federal small business programs for potential improvements, and the contribution of small business to the national economy; (3) increasing the registration fee to $200 (from $10) and requiring national conference participants to be small business owners, officers, or employees selected as delegates, with delegates comprising one appointed by each Governor or state chief executive, one by each Member of Congress (including delegates and the Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner), 100 by the President, and those elected at state conferences, each with an alternate; (4) designating the conference director at GS-15 (from GS-18) and naming the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to certain duties; (5) requiring an electronic communication system for delegates and alternates before, during, and for at least four years after the conference to facilitate problem identification, solutions, prioritization, and monitoring of recommendations; and (6) replacing prior provisions with new authority for the Small Business Administration to cosponsor small business activities (without endorsing products or services), funding exclusively via gifts and donations from non-federal sources (prohibiting appropriations, with remaining funds returned to the Treasury upon termination), and a definition of "State" including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other territories.