SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.

SEC. 502. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. (a) In General.— Section 21(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1)— (A) by inserting “any women’s business center operating pursuant to section 29,” after “credit or finance corporation,”; (B) by inserting “or a women’s business center operating pursuant to section 29” after “other than an institution of higher education”; and (C) by inserting “and women’s business centers operating pursuant to section 29” after “utilize institutions of higher education”; (2) in paragraph (3)— (A) by striking “, but with” and all that follows through “parties.” and inserting the following: “for the delivery of programs and services to the small business community. Such programs and services shall be jointly developed, negotiated, and agreed upon, with full participation of both parties, pursuant to an executed cooperative agreement between the Small Business Development Center applicant and the Administration.”; and (B) by adding at the end the following: “(C) On an annual basis, the Small Business Development Center shall review and coordinate public and private partnerships and cosponsorships with the Administration for the purpose of more efficiently leveraging available resources on a National and a State basis.”; (3) in paragraph (4)(C)— (A) by striking clause (i) and inserting the following: “(i) In general.— “(I) Grant amount.— Subject to subclauses (II) and (III), the amount of a grant received by a State under this section shall be equal to the greater of $500,000, or the sum of — “(aa) the State’s pro rata share of the national program, based upon the population of the State as compared to the total population of the United States; and 111 STAT. 2623 “(bb) $300,000 in fiscal year 1998, $400,000 in fiscal year 1999, and $500,000 in each fiscal year thereafter. “(II) Pro rata reductions.— If the amount made available to carry out this section for any fiscal year is insufficient to carry out subclause (I)(bb), the Administration shall make pro rata reductions in the amounts otherwise payable to States under subclause (I)(bb). “(III) Matching requirement.— The amount of a grant received by a State under this section shall not exceed the amount of matching funds from sources other than the Federal Government provided by the State under subparagraph (A).”; and (B) in clause (iii), by striking “(iii)” and all that follows through “1997.” and inserting the following: “(iii) National program.— There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the national program under this section— “(I) $85,000,000 for fiscal year 1998; “(II) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; and “(III) $95,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and each fiscal year thereafter.”; and (4) in paragraph (6)— (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking “and” at the end; (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the comma at the end and inserting “; and”; and (C) inserting after subparagraph (B) the following: “(C) with outreach, development, and enhancement of minority-owned small business startups or expansions, HUBZone small business concerns, veteran-owned small business startups or expansions, and women-owned small business startups or expansions, in communities impacted by base closings or military or corporate downsizing, or in rural or underserved communities;”. (b) SBDC Services.— Section 21(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(c)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (3)— (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking “businesses;” and inserting “businesses, including— “(i) working with individuals to increase awareness of basic credit practices and credit requirements; “(ii) working with individuals to develop business plans, financial packages, credit applications, and contract proposals; “(iii) working with the Administration to develop and provide informational tools for use in working with individuals on pre-business startup planning, existing business expansion, and export planning; and “(v) working with individuals referred by the local offices of the Administration and Administration participating lenders;”; (B) in each of subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (M), (N), (O), (Q), and (R) by moving each margin 2 ems to the left; and (C) in subparagraph (C), by inserting “and the Administration” after “Center”; 111 STAT. 2624 (2) in paragraph (5)— (A) by moving the margin 2 ems to the right; (B) by striking “paragraph (a)(1)” and inserting “subsection (a)(1)”; (C) by striking “which ever” and inserting “whichever”; and (D) by striking “last,,” and inserting “last,”; (3) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (7) as paragraphs (5) through (8), respectively; and (4) in paragraph (3), in the undesignated material following subparagraph (R), by striking “A small” and inserting the following: “(4) A small”. (c) Competitive Awards.— Section 21(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “If any contract or cooperative agreement under this section with an entity that is covered by this section is not renewed or extended, any award of a successor contract or cooperative agreement under this section to another entity shall be made on a competitive basis.”. (d) Prohibition on Certain Fees.— Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(m) Prohibition on Certain Fees.— A small business development center shall not impose or otherwise collect a fee or other compensation in connection with the provision of counseling services under this section.”.