- § 5701. Definitions
- § 5702. Federal funds allocated to States
- § 5703. Approving States for participation
- § 5704. Approving State capital access programs
- § 5705. Approving collateral support and other innovative credit access and guarantee initiatives for small businesses and manufacturers
- § 5706. Reports
- § 5707. Remedies for State program termination or failures
- § 5708. Implementation and administration
- § 5709. Regulations
- § 5710. Oversight and audits
The term “enrolled loan” means a loan made by a financial institution lender that is enrolled by a participating State in an approved State capital access program in accordance with this chapter.
The term “Federal contribution” means the portion of the contribution made by a participating State to, or for the account of, an approved State program that is made with Federal funds allocated to the State by the Secretary under section 5702 of this title.
The term “financial institution” means any insured depository institution, insured credit union, or community development financial institution, as those terms are each defined in section 4702 of this title.
The term “participating State” means any State that has been approved for participation in the Program under section 5703 of this title.
The term “Program” means the State Small Business Credit Initiative established under this chapter.
The term “State program” means a State capital access program or a State other credit support program.
The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Treasury.
The term “community development financial institution” has the meaning given that term under section 4702 of this title.
The term “minority depository institution” has the meaning given that term under section 308(b) of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989.
The term “socially and economically disadvantaged individual” means an individual who is a socially disadvantaged individual or an economically disadvantaged individual, as such terms are defined, respectively, under section 637 of title 15 and the regulations thereunder.
The term “Tribal government” means the recognized governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, component band, or component reservation, individually identified (including parenthetically) in the list published most recently as of March 11, 2021, pursuant to section 5131 of title 25.
There is established the State Small Business Credit Initiative, to be administered by the Secretary. Under the Program, the Secretary shall allocate Federal funds to participating States and make the allocated funds available to the participating States as provided in this section for the uses described in this section.
Not later than 30 days after March 11, 2021, the Secretary shall allocate Federal funds to participating States so that each State is eligible to receive an amount equal to what the State would receive under the 2021 allocation, as determined under paragraph (2).
With respect to States other than Tribal governments, the Secretary shall determine the 2021 allocation by allocating Federal funds among the States in the proportion that each such State’s 2020 State employment decline bears to the aggregate of the 2020 State employment declines for all States.
The Secretary shall adjust the allocations under subparagraph (A) for each State to the extent necessary to ensure that no State receives less than 0.9 percent of the Federal funds.
With respect to States that are Tribal governments, the Secretary shall determine the 2021 allocation by allocating $500,000,000 among the Tribal governments in the proportion the Secretary determines appropriate, including with consideration to available employment and economic data regarding each such Tribal government.
If the Secretary determines that employment data with respect to a State is unavailable from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor, the Secretary shall consider such other economic and employment data that is otherwise available for purposes of determining the employment data of such State.
The Secretary may withhold the transfer of any successive ⅓ pending results of a financial audit.
The Inspector General of the Department of the Treasury shall carry out an audit of the participating State’s use of allocated Federal funds transferred to the State.
The allocation agreement between the Secretary and the participating State shall provide that the Secretary shall recoup any allocated Federal funds transferred to the participating State if the results of the an audit include a finding that there was an intentional or reckless misuse of transferred funds by the State.
Any participating State that is found to have intentionally misstated any report issued to the Secretary under the Program shall be ineligible to receive any additional funds under the Program. Funds that had been allocated or that would otherwise have been allocated to such participating State shall be paid into the general fund of the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.
In this subparagraph, the term “participating State” shall include a municipality given special permission to participate in the Program, under section 5703(d) of this title.
The Secretary may, in the Secretary’s discretion, transfer the full amount of the participating State’s allocated amount to the State in a single transfer if the participating State applies to the Secretary for approval to use the full amount of the allocation as collateral for a qualifying loan or swap funding facility.
Each amount transferred to a participating State under this section shall remain available to the State until used by the State as permitted under paragraph (3).
Any amount deemed by the Secretary to be no longer allocated to a State and no longer available to such State under subparagraph (A) may be reallocated by the Secretary to other participating States. In making such a reallocation, the Secretary shall not take into account the minimum allocation requirements under subsection (b)(2)(B) or the specific allocation for Tribal governments described under subsection (b)(2)(C).
The amounts transferred to a participating State under this section shall not be considered assistance for purposes of subtitle V of title 31.
Of the amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2021 to carry out the Program, the Secretary shall set aside $1,000,000,000 for an incentive program under which the Secretary shall increase the second ⅓ and last ⅓ allocations for States that demonstrate robust support, as determined by the Secretary, for business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in the deployment of prior allocation amounts.
Of the amounts appropriated to carry out the Program, the Secretary shall allocate not less than $500,000,000 to States from funds allocated under this section to be expended for very small businesses.
Any State may apply to the Secretary for approval to be a participating State under the Program and to be eligible for an allocation of Federal funds under the Program.
If a State does not, within 60 days after March 11, 2021, file with the Secretary a notice of its intent to apply for approval by the Secretary of a State program or within 9 months after March 11, 2021, file with the Secretary a complete application for approval of a State program, the Secretary may grant to municipalities of that State a special permission that will allow them to apply directly to the Secretary without the State for approval to be participating municipalities.
To qualify for the special permission, a municipality of a State shall be required, within 12 months after March 11, 2021, to file with the Secretary a complete application for approval by the Secretary of a State program.
A municipality of a State may combine with 1 or more other municipalities of that State to file a joint notice of intent to file and a joint application.
The general approval criteria in paragraphs (2) and (4) shall apply.
If more than 3 municipalities, or combination of municipalities as provided in paragraph (3), of a State apply for approval by the Secretary to be participating municipalities under this subsection, and the applications meet the approval criteria in paragraph (4), the Secretary shall allocate Federal funds to the 3 municipalities with the largest populations.
If 3 or fewer municipalities, or combination of municipalities as provided in paragraph (3), of a State apply for approval by the Secretary to be participating municipalities under this subsection, and the applications meet the approval criteria in paragraph (4), the Secretary shall allocate Federal funds to each applicant municipality or combination of municipalities.
If the Secretary approves municipalities to be participating municipalities under this subsection, the Secretary shall apportion the full amount of the Federal funds that are allocated to that State to municipalities that are approved under this subsection in amounts proportionate to the population of those municipalities, based on the most recent available decennial census.
If the Secretary approves municipalities to be participating municipalities under this subsection, the Secretary shall take into account the additional considerations in section 5705(d) of this title in making the determination under section 5704 or 5705 of this title that the State program or programs to be implemented by the participating municipalities, including a State capital access program, is eligible for Federal contributions to, or for the account of, the State program.
A participating State that establishes a new, or has an existing, State capital access program that meets the eligibility criteria in subsection (c) may apply to Secretary to have the State capital access program approved as eligible for Federal contributions to the reserve fund.
A State capital access program approved under this section will be eligible for receiving Federal contributions to the reserve fund in an amount equal to the sum of the amount of the insurance premium charges paid by the borrowers and by the financial institution to the reserve fund for loans that meet the requirements in subsection (c)(4). A participating State may use the Federal contribution to make its contribution to the reserve fund of an approved State capital access program.
The participating State shall determine for each financial institution that participates in the State capital access program, after consultation with the appropriate Federal banking agency or, in the case of a financial institution that is a nondepository community development financial institution, the Community Development Financial Institution Fund, that the financial institution has sufficient commercial lending experience and financial and managerial capacity to participate in the approved State capital access program. The determination by the State shall not be reviewable by the Secretary.
Subject to applicable State law, the participating State may invest, or cause to be invested, funds held in a reserve fund by establishing a deposit account at the financial institution lender in the name of the participating State. In the event that funds in the reserve fund are not deposited in such an account, such funds shall be invested in a form that the participating State determines is safe and liquid.
A loan to be filed for enrollment in an approved State capital access program may be made with such interest rate, fees, and other terms and conditions, and the loan may be enrolled in the approved State capital access program and claims may be filed and paid, as agreed upon by the financial institution lender and the borrower, consistent with applicable law.
A loan to be filed for enrollment in the State capital access program shall require the financial institution lender to have a meaningful amount of its own capital resources at risk in the loan.
The insurance premium charges payable to the reserve fund by the borrower and the financial institution lender shall be prescribed by the financial institution lender, within minimum and maximum limits that require that the sum of the insurance premium charges paid in connection with a loan by the borrower and the financial institution lender may not be less than 2 percent nor more than 7 percent of the amount of the loan enrolled in the approved State capital access program.
In enrolling a loan in an approved State capital access program, the participating State may make a contribution to the reserve fund to supplement Federal contributions made under this Program.
In this paragraph, the terms “executive officer”, “director”, “principal shareholder”, “immediate family”, and “related interest” refer to the same relationship to a financial institution lender as the relationship described in part 215 of title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor to such part.
At the time that a State applies to the Secretary to have the State capital access program approved as eligible for Federal contributions, the State shall deliver to the Secretary a report stating how the State plans to use the Federal contributions to the reserve fund to provide access to capital for small businesses in low- and moderate-income, minority, and other underserved communities, including women- and minority-owned small businesses.
A participating State that establishes a new, or has an existing, credit support program that meets the eligibility criteria in subsection (c) may apply to the Secretary to have the State other credit support program approved as eligible for Federal contributions to, or for the account of, the State program.
A State other credit support program approved under this section will be eligible for receiving Federal contributions to, or for the account of, the State program in an amount consistent with the schedule describing the apportionment of allocated Federal funds among State programs delivered by the State to the Secretary under the allocation agreement.
The Secretary shall, by regulation or other guidance, prescribe Program requirements for approved State other credit support programs.
In prescribing minimum Program requirements for approved State other credit support programs, the Secretary shall take into consideration, to the extent the Secretary determines applicable and appropriate, the minimum Program requirements for approved State capital access programs in section 5704(e) of this title.
Not later than 30 days after the beginning of each calendar quarter, beginning after the first full calendar quarter to occur after the date the Secretary approves a State for participation, the participating State shall submit to the Secretary a report on the use of Federal funding by the participating State during the previous calendar quarter.
The reports and data filed under subsections (a) and (b) shall be in such form as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s sole discretion, may require.
The requirement to submit reports under subsections (a) and (b) shall terminate for a participating State with the submission of the completed reports due on the first March 31 to occur after 5 complete 12-month periods after the State is approved by the Secretary to be a participating State.
If, after 13 months, any portion of the amount of Federal funds allocated to a participating State is deemed by the Secretary to be no longer allocated to the State after actions taken by the Secretary under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall reallocate that portion among the participating States, excluding the State whose allocated funds were deemed to be no longer allocated, as provided in section 5702(b) of this title.
There is hereby appropriated to the Secretary, out of funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $1,500,000,000 to carry out the Program, including to pay reasonable costs of administering the Program.
The authorities and duties of the Secretary to implement and administer the Program shall terminate at the end of the 7-year period beginning on March 11, 2021.
During the 1-year period beginning on March 11, 2021, the Secretary may enter into contracts without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts, for purposes of carrying out this chapter.
The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, shall issue such regulations and other guidance as the Secretary determines necessary or appropriate to implement this chapter including to define terms, to establish compliance and reporting requirements, and such other terms and conditions necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
The Inspector General of the Department of the Treasury shall conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the use of funds made available under the Program.
With respect to funds received by a participating State under the Program, any financial institution that receives a loan, a loan guarantee, or other financial assistance using such funds after March 11, 2021, shall certify that such institution is in compliance with the requirements of section 103.121 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, a regulation that, at a minimum, requires financial institutions, as that term is defined in section 5312(a)(2) and (c)(1)(A) of title 31, to implement reasonable procedures to verify the identity of any person seeking to open an account, to the extent reasonable and practicable, maintain records of the information used to verify the person’s identity, and determine whether the person appears on any lists of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations provided to the financial institution by any government agency.
With respect to funds received by a participating State under the Program, any private entity that receives a loan, a loan guarantee, or other financial assistance using such funds after March 11, 2021, shall certify to the participating State that the principals of such entity have not been convicted of a sex offense against a minor (as such terms are defined in section 20911 of title 34).
None of the funds made available under this chapter may be used to pay the salary of any individual engaged in activities related to the Program who has been officially disciplined for violations of subpart G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch for viewing, downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child pornography, on a Federal Government computer or while performing official Federal Government duties.