MICROLOAN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS FOR INTERMEDIARIES SERVING ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED AREAS.

SEC. 208. MICROLOAN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS FOR INTERMEDIARIES SERVING ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED AREAS. (a) Grant Eligibility.—Section 7(m)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)(4)) is amended— 108 STAT. 4182 (1) in subparagraph (B), by inserting “except for a grant made to an intermediary that provides not less than 50 percent of its loans to small business concerns located in or owned by one or more residents of an economically distressed area,” after “under subparagraph (A),”; and (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking clause (i) and inserting the following: “(i) In general.—In addition to grants made under subparagraph (A), each intermediary shall be eligible to receive a grant equal to 5 percent of the total outstanding balance of loans made to the intermediary under this subsection if— “(I) the intermediary provides not less than 25 percent of its loans to small business concerns located in or owned by one or more residents of an economically distressed area; or “(II) the intermediary has a portfolio of loans made under this subsection that averages not more than $7,500 during the period of the intermediary’s participation in the program.”. (b) Definition.— Section 7(m)(ll) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)(lD) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting “;and”; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: “(D) the term ‘economically distressed area’, as used in paragraph (4), means a county or equivalent division of local government of a State in which the small business concern is located, in which, according to the most recent data available from the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, not less than 40 percent of residents have an annual income that is at or below the poverty level.”. (c) Termination.—The amendments made by this section shall remain in effect during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on October 1, 1997.