HR828-119

What This Bill Does

The SERV Act amends the Small Business Act to require the SBA Administrator, alongside annual budget justification documents, to report on appointments to and activities of the veterans interagency task force. The report must identify and outline an outreach and promotion plan for programs and services for veterans, including Veteran Business Outreach Centers, Boots to Business, Boots to Business Reboot, Service-Disabled Entrepreneurship Development Training Program, Veteran Institute for Procurement, Women Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Program, and Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship.

The bill also requires the Comptroller General to report within one year on the ability of covered-individual-owned small businesses to access credit. Covered individuals include veterans, service-disabled veterans, Reservists, spouses of those individuals, and spouses of Armed Forces members. GAO must analyze sources of credit, average credit shares, default rates compared with small businesses generally, available federal lending programs, gaps not filled by government or private lenders, access obstacles, deployment and military-responsibility effects on credit history, and awareness of federal credit programs. No additional funds are authorized.

Who Benefits and How

Veteran entrepreneurs, service-disabled veteran business owners, Reservist business owners, military spouse business owners, Veteran Business Outreach Centers, Boots to Business participants, Women Veteran Entrepreneurship Training participants, Veteran Institute for Procurement participants, Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee staff, House Veterans' Affairs Committee staff, and congressional small-business committees benefit because the bill exposes whether veteran entrepreneurship outreach and credit programs are reaching the intended groups.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Small Business Administration, SBA veteran-business program staff, veterans interagency task force members, SBA budget staff, Government Accountability Office analysts, federal lending program managers, private lenders, and covered small business owners surveyed by GAO must prepare reports, collect lending data, analyze default rates and credit gaps, document outreach plans, respond to GAO information requests, and carry out the work without additional appropriations.

Key Provisions

• Requires annual SBA reporting on veterans interagency task force appointments and activities.
• Requires SBA outreach plans for Veteran Business Outreach Centers, Boots to Business, service-disabled entrepreneurship training, Veteran Institute for Procurement, and women veteran entrepreneurship programs.
• Requires GAO to report within one year on credit access for covered-individual-owned small businesses.
• Requires GAO analysis of credit sources, default rates, federal lending programs, gaps, obstacles, deployment effects, and program awareness.
• Defines covered individuals to include veterans, service-disabled veterans, Reservists, military spouses, and spouses of veterans or Reservists.
• Bars additional appropriations for implementation.