PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 23, 2017
Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2017
This bill amends the Small Business Act with respect to the authority of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to use certain SBA programs, including the small business development center (SBDC) program, to provide grants, financial assistance, loans, export assistance, and subcontracting opportunities on federal contracts to specified small businesses, organizations, state governments, universities, companies, and other entities that assist smaller enterprises.
The SBA shall use such programs only to deliver entrepreneurial development services, entrepreneurial education, support for the development and maintenance of clusters, or business training. Such program requirements shall not apply to services provided to assist small businesses owned by an Indian tribe.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
The SBA shall not prohibit SBDC grant recipients from marketing and advertising their services to individuals and small business concerns.
The SBA shall establish a Data Collection Working Group to determine the best way to capture data collection and create or revise existing systems dedicated to data collection.
The bill: (1) increases the portion of certain available funds the SBA may use to pay the expenses of the National Small Business Development Center Advisory Board, the information sharing system, and the SBDC association for conducting an SBCD accreditation program; and (2) removes a limitation on the amount the SBA may use to pay the examination expenses of the SBDC accreditation program.
The SBA may not award grants (including contracts and cooperative agreements) under the SBDC program to entities other than those that received them before September 30, 2015, and seek to renew them after that date, with an exception for not-for-profit institutions of higher education.
People & committees
Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-2] · D–PA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3806-3807)
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H3806-3807)
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 1702.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3806-3808)
Mr. Chabot moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.1702 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.1702 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.1702 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.1702 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.