[Senate Report 117-104]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 279
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-104
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INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN'S BUSINESS ENTERPRISE ACT OF 2022
_______
May 3, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Cardin, from the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[To accompany S. 2042]
The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, to
which was referred the bill (S. 2042) to reauthorize the
Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise, and for
other purposes, reports favorably thereon, with an amendment in
the nature of a substitute, and recommends that the bill, as
amended, do pass.
I. INTRODUCTION
A bill to reauthorize the Interagency Committee on Women's
Business Enterprise, (S. 2042) was introduced by Senators
Tammie Duckworth, Tim Scott, Ben Cardin, and Susan Collins on
June 14, 2021.
This bill amends Title IV of the Women's Business Ownership
Act to reauthorize the Interagency Committee on Women Business
Enterprise (ICWBE), in order to better provide assistance and
decrease barriers for women owned businesses.
During the markup of the bill, the Cardin substitute
amendment was approved by a voice vote as part of a manager's
package. The Cardin substitute amends the bill in various ways
including changing the title from 2021 to 2022. Additionally,
it clarifies that the ICWBE may use published research and
policy independently developed by the National Women's Business
Council (Council). This ensures the Council and ICWBE maintain
a working relationship while also maintaining their
independence of one another. The amendment also updates the
list of participants on the ICWBE by replacing the Bureau of
Labor Statistics and the Department of Homeland Security with
the Minority Business Development Agency and the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of the Department of the
Interior. The amendment designates the SBA Administrator to be
the Chairperson of the ICWBE. This also eliminates the need for
a vacancy provision as the President does not have to appoint a
Chairperson. The amendment also updates the due date of the
first annual report to September 30, 2022 and makes other
technical changes. The bill, as amended, was also approved by a
voice vote as part of a manager's package.
II. HISTORY (PURPOSE & NEED FOR LEGISLATION)
Executive Order #12138 (The Order) established the ICWBE in
1979. The Order served to acknowledge the impact women-owned
small businesses and women entrepreneurs could play in the
growth of the U.S. economy, recognition of the many obstacles
women entrepreneurs faced at the time, and the need to aid and
stimulate women's business enterprise. The Order stated all
Executive Branch departments and agencies were to take actions
to support women-owned businesses, including by providing
management, technical, financial, and procurement assistance,
business-related education training, counseling and information
dissemination, and federal procurement opportunities. Congress
codified and expanded upon the ICWBE by adopting the Small
Business Administration Reauthorization and Amendments Act of
1994 (P.L. 103-403). Congress last reauthorized the ICWBE
through the Small Business Administration Reauthorization Act
of 1997 (P.L. 105-135).
The ICWBE's work supplemented the efforts of several
Federal agencies and departments in developing policies focused
on assisting women business owners but the ICWBE has been
inactive since 2000 with no chairperson appointed to operate
it.
III. HEARINGS & ROUNDTABLES
In the 117th Congress the Committee held a hearing titled
``Women Entrepreneurs: An Economic Growth Engine for America.''
The hearing highlighted the valuable contributions women
entrepreneurs and small business owners make to the American
economy, underscored successes of female entrepreneurs and
women-owned businesses achieved through private initiative and
industriousness, and also identified barriers women face. Some
of these barriers include child care, access to capital,
finding mentors, and securing government contracts. The ICWBE
was mentioned as one way to overcome these barriers and ensure
women can participate in the economy on equal footing with
their male counterparts.
IV. DESCRIPTION OF BILL
This bill, as amended, reauthorizes the Interagency
Committee on Women Business Enterprise by amending Title IV of
the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988. Under section
402(a) it adds a new duty for the ICWBE to monitor the plans,
programs, and operations of the departments and agencies of the
Federal Government to identify barriers to new business
formation by women entrepreneurs, or barriers experienced by
women-led startups in accessing and participating in the plans,
programs, and operations of the departments and agencies of the
Federal Government. The bill amends section 402(b) to state
that meetings of the ICWBE shall meet at the call of the
executive director of the National Women's Business Council or
the chairperson of the ICWBE. The bill amends section 402(c) to
clarify that when consulting with the Council, the ICWBE may
use published research and policy independently developed by
the Council to carry out its duties.
The bill amends section 403 to make the SBA Administrator
and the executive director of the Council permanent members of
the ICWBE. It also amends section 403 to add one representative
each from NASA, EPA, OMB, MBDA, the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior,
and the VA to the ICWBE, and makes the SBA Administrator the
chairperson.
Finally, the bill updates reporting requirements by
changing dates from ``1995'' to ``2022'' and makes other
technical corrections.
V. COMMITTEE VOTE
In compliance with rule XXVI (7)(b) of the Standing Rules
of the Senate, the following vote was recorded on February 15,
2022.
A motion to adopt S. 2042, a bill to reauthorize the
Interagency Committee on Women Business Enterprise, as amended
by the Cardin substitute amendment, was agreed to by a majority
voice vote of a quorum present as part of a manager's package.
Senators Paul, Ernst, Hawley, and Marshall asked to be recorded
as voting no.
VI. COST ESTIMATE
The Committee has not yet received the Congressional Budget
Office's estimate of the cost of S. 2042 as ordered reported.
When the Congressional Budget Office completes its cost
estimate, it will be posted on the Internet at www.cbo.gov.
VII. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
In compliance with rule XXVI (11)(b) of the Standing Rules
of the Senate, it is the opinion of the Committee that no
significant additional regulatory impact will be incurred in
carrying out the provisions of this legislation.
VIII. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
This section designates the act as the ``Interagency
Committee on Women's Business Enterprise Act of 2022''.
Sec. 2. Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise
This section reauthorizes the Interagency Committee on
Women Business Enterprise (ICWBE). It adds a new duty for the
ICWBE to monitor the plans, programs, and operations of the
departments and agencies of the Federal Government to identify
barriers to women-led businesses in accessing and participating
in government programs. Clarifies that meetings of the ICWBE
shall meet at the call of the executive director of the
National Women's Business Council (Council) or the chairperson
of the ICWBE, and that the ICWBE may use published research and
policy independently developed by the Council to carry out its
duties.
The section also makes the SBA Administrator the
chairperson of the ICWBE and add them and the executive
director of the Council as permanent members. It adds one
representative each from NASA, EPA, OMB, MBDA, the Office of
the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of the Department of
the Interior, and the VA to the ICWBE. Finally, the section
updates reporting requirements and makes other technical
corrections.
VIV. MINORITY VIEWS
Minority Views of Senator Paul
In the ensuing decades since the creation of the ICWBE,
women have made significant strides in our economy, though not
as a result of the ICWBE. The ICWBE has been inactive since
2000 but women are majority owners of nearly 40 percent of
privately held firms. This represents a nearly 15 percent
increase since 2007, after the ICWBE had ceased operations.
Thankfully, female business ownership is growing at a rapid
pace. The number of women-owned private firms is growing, not
shrinking, rendering the purpose of the ICWBE counterintuitive
at best and needless at worst.
The already-existing support infrastructure for female
entrepreneurs makes reviving the ICWBE an unnecessary use of
taxpayer dollars. Female entrepreneurs currently receive public
support from the federal government through special set-asides
and services exclusive to female entrepreneurs and women-owned
businesses. For example, the federal government operates the
Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contracting Program,
providing special access to federal contracts for WOSBs.
Further, the Small Business Administration's Office of Women's
Business Ownership (OWBO) spends taxpayer dollars almost
exclusively on women-owned businesses, providing services
including but not limited to entrepreneurial training, business
counseling, as well as special access to credit and capital.
Historically, women faced unique barriers to owning and
operating businesses but the women entrepreneurs of today are
on equal footing with male counterparts. This view was
discussed in the 117th Congress on February 1, 2022 in a
hearing entitled, ``Review of SBA Entrepreneurial Development
Programs and Initiatives'' during which Ms. Hannah Cox of the
Foundation for Economic Education discussed the progress of
female entrepreneurs, the successes of the businesses they own,
and the manner in which the government itself often serves as a
barrier to entrepreneurship for women and men alike. Women-
owned small businesses have equal access to the full range of
small business programs and face no barriers to obtaining
private financing or technical assistance. Therefore, reviving
the ICWBE is an unnecessary endeavor which needlessly
duplicates already-existing antiquated federal programs.
Rand Paul,
Ranking Member.
[all]