H.R. 8534

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8534 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8534

To amend the Small Business Act to establish an Office of Territorial 
Affairs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 27, 2026

Ms. Velazquez (for herself and Ms. King-Hinds) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to establish an Office of Territorial 
Affairs, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Territories Support 
Act''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF TERRITORIAL AFFAIRS OF THE SMALL BUSINESS 
ADMINISTRATION.

The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended by--
(1) redesignating section 49 as section 50; and
(2) inserting after section 48 the following new section:

``SEC. 49. OFFICE OF TERRITORIAL AFFAIRS.

``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Administration an 
Office of Territorial Affairs (hereafter in this section referred to as 
the `Office'), which shall establish a working relationship with small 
business concerns in the United States territories by targeting 
programs of the Administration relating to entrepreneurial development, 
contracting, disaster assistance, and capital access.
``(b) Assistant Administrator.--
``(1) In general.--The Office shall be administered by an 
Assistant Administrator who shall be an employee in the 
competitive service.
``(2) Qualifications.--The Assistant Administrator shall 
have--
``(A) knowledge of the governmental affairs, 
socioeconomic conditions, and political relationships 
of the territories; and
``(B) experience providing tailored small business 
development assistance to small business concerns 
located in the territories.
``(3) Duties.--The Assistant Administrator shall--
``(A) formulate policies, and promote policies and 
existing programs, to better address entrepreneurial 
development, capital access, disaster assistance, and 
contracting needs of small business concerns located in 
the territories;
``(B) serve as a liaison between small business 
concerns located in the territories and the 
Administration, resource partners, lenders, Federal and 
State agencies, and other interested persons;
``(C) periodically review and assess programs 
administered by and services from the Administration 
that are available to small business concerns located 
in the territories to ensure that--
``(i) the services offered under a lending 
program, entrepreneurial development program, 
or disaster assistance program administered by 
the Administration are adequate to address the 
challenges such small business concerns face; 
and
``(ii) such small business concerns have 
adequate access to contracting opportunities 
with the Federal Government and procurement 
programs administered by the Administration; 
and
``(D) host webinars and outreach events in the 
territories. as appropriate, including inviting 
representatives from district offices of the 
Administration, resource partners, Federal and State 
agencies, and other interested people to participate in 
such webinars and outreach events.
``(c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the Assistant 
Administrator shall submit to the Committee of Small Business of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the activities of the Office 
during the one year period preceding the date of submission of the 
report, including--
``(1) operational details of the activities of the Office;
``(2) a summary of the activities conducted by the Office;
``(3) the total number of small business concerns assisted 
by the Office, disaggregated by the type of assistance provided 
by the Office and by territory;
``(4) to the extent practicable, the total number of new 
businesses established as a result of assistance from the 
Office, disaggregated by territory; and
``(5) recommendations to help improve assistance provided 
by the Administration in serving the needs of small business 
concerns located in the territories.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Assistant administrator.--The term `Assistant 
Administrator' means the Assistant Administrator of the Office 
of Territorial Affairs appointed under subsection (b).
``(2) Resource partner.--The term `resource partner' 
means--
``(A) a small business development center;
``(B) a women's business center described in 
section 29;
``(C) a chapter of the Service Corps of Retired 
Executives authorized by section 8(b)(1); and
``(D) a Veteran Business Outreach Center described 
in section 32.
``(3) Territories.--The term `territories' means Puerto 
Rico, Guam, American Samoa, United States Virgin Islands, and 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.''.
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