WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives took up and passed four small business bills. All bills were favorably reported out of the Small Business Committee or the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support. Below is an overview of each bill.
Senate Amendment to H.R. 3462, SBA Cyber Awareness Act – sponsored by Reps. Crow and Kim.
- This bill directs the Small Business Administration (SBA) to conduct assessments of its cybersecurity infrastructure, including analysis of foreign risks and report the results annually to Congress. In the event of a cybersecurity attack or any other cyber incident, the SBA is required to report to Congress in a timely fashion. The SBA is also required to provide notice to affected individuals and small business concerns within thirty days.
H.R. 8844, the STEP Improvement Act of 2022 – sponsored by Reps. Evans, Kim, Newman, and Flood.
- The STEP Improvement Act of 2022 would reauthorize the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), which aims to increase the number of exporting small businesses and the value of small business exports, for 4 fiscal years (FY 2023 through FY 2026).
House Amendment to S. 1687, the Small Business Cyber Training Act of 2022 – sponsored by Senators Rubio, Shaheen, Hassan, Risch, and Cassidy.
- This legislation establishes a cyber counseling certification program for Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) in order to assist small businesses with planning and implementing cybersecurity measures.
S. 1617, the Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act – sponsored by Senators Risch, Shaheen, Hassan, Kennedy, and Braun.
- This creates a rural category for SBA declared disasters when a major disaster declaration is made by the President and requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on how rural areas are impacted by disasters. Additionally, this legislation requires an annual report from the SBA on all rural disaster declarations.
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