Sec. 3. SCORE Program provisions and requirements
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Section 8 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 637 ) is amended— in subsection (b)(1)(B)— by striking a Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and inserting the SCORE program ; and by striking SCORE may and inserting the SCORE Association may ; and by striking subsection
(c)and inserting the following: The Administrator shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the SCORE Association to carry out the SCORE program, which shall include the following requirements: The Administrator shall— every 2 years, conduct a financial examination of the SCORE Association to ensure that any costs paid for with Federal funds are allowable, allocable, and reasonable; review and approve contracts entered into by the SCORE Association to provide goods or services for the SCORE program of a value greater than an amount determined by the Administrator; maintain a system through which the SCORE Association provides documentation relating to those contracts; and not later than 30 days after the receipt of a quarterly report on the achievements of the SCORE program submitted by the SCORE Association, reconcile differences between that report and the performance results of the SCORE program reported in a management information system of the Office of Entrepreneurial Development. The SCORE Association shall— manage nationwide chapters of the SCORE program; provide annual training to employees of the SCORE Association on generating and using program income from the SCORE program; submit documentation to the Administrator verifying the annual training is completed; maintain separation of funds donated to the SCORE Association from program income and funds received pursuant to a cooperative agreement; and maintain and enforce requirements for volunteers participating in the SCORE program, including requirements that each volunteer shall— based on the business experience and knowledge of the volunteer— provide personal counseling, mentoring, and coaching on the process of starting, expanding, managing, buying, and selling a business at no cost to individuals who own, or aspire to own, small business concerns; and facilitate free or low-cost education workshops for individuals who own, or aspire to own, small business concerns; and as appropriate, use tools, resources, and expertise of other organizations to carry out the SCORE program. The Administrator, in consultation with the SCORE Association, shall ensure that the SCORE program and each chapter of the SCORE program— develop and implement plans and goals to effectively and efficiently provide services to individuals in rural areas, economically disadvantaged communities, or other traditionally underserved communities, including plans for virtual, remote, and web-based initiatives, chapter expansion, partnerships, and the development of new skills by volunteers participating in the SCORE program; and reinforce an inclusive culture by recruiting diverse volunteers for the chapters of the SCORE program. In addition to providing in-person services, the SCORE Association shall maintain and expand online counseling services including webinars, electronic mentoring platforms, and online toolkits to further support entrepreneurs. The SCORE Association shall— maintain a centralized accounting and financing system for each chapter of the SCORE program; maintain a uniform policy and procedures to manage Federal funds received pursuant to a cooperative agreement described in paragraph (1); and maintain an employee of the SCORE Association to serve as a compliance officer to ensure expenditures of the SCORE program are fully compliant with any law, regulation, or cooperative agreement relating to the SCORE program. The SCORE Association shall— maintain a documented compensation policy that— specifies the maximum rate of pay allowable for any individual in the SCORE Association; specifies the maximum percent of the aggregate salaries of employees of the SCORE Association that may be spent on individual performance awards to employees of the SCORE Association; and shall be reviewed annually by the SCORE Association and the Administrator; prohibit payment of salaries or performance awards that exceed the limits set by the SCORE Association compensation policy; and prohibit members of the Board of Directors of the SCORE Association or any employees of the SCORE Association from simultaneously serving on the Board of Directors of, or receiving compensation from, the SCORE Foundation without written approval from the Administrator. The SCORE Association shall— annually update all manuals or other documents applicable to employees and volunteers of the SCORE Association or the SCORE program to include requirements relating to reporting procedures and protections for whistleblowers; and conduct an annual training for employees and volunteers of the SCORE Association or the SCORE program on the requirements described in subparagraph
(A)and encourage the use of the hotline established by the Office of the Inspector General of the Administration to submit whistleblower reports. The SCORE Association shall ensure all published materials include written acknowledgment of Administration support of the SCORE program if those materials are paid for in whole or in part by Federal funds. Neither the Administrator nor the SCORE Association may disclose the name, email address, address, or telephone number of any individual or small business concern receiving assistance from the SCORE Association without the consent of the individual or small business concern, unless— the Administrator is ordered to make a disclosure by a court in any civil or criminal enforcement action initiated by a Federal or State agency; or the Administrator determines that a disclosure is necessary for the purpose of conducting a financial audit of the SCORE program, in which case disclosure shall be limited to the information necessary for the audit. This paragraph shall not— restrict the access of the Administrator to SCORE program activity data; or prevent the Administrator from using SCORE program client information to conduct client surveys. The Administrator shall, after opportunity for notice and comment, establish standards for— disclosures with respect to financial audits described in subparagraph (A)(ii); and conducting client surveys, including standards for oversight of the surveys and for dissemination and use of client information. The standards issued under this subparagraph shall, to the extent practicable, provide for the maximum amount of privacy protection. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the SCORE for Small Business Act of 2023 and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report on the performance and effectiveness of the SCORE program, which may be included as part of another report submitted to those committees by the Administrator, and which shall include— the total number and the number of unique clients counseled or trained under the SCORE program; the total number of hours of counseling or training provided under the SCORE program; the total number of local workshops provided under the SCORE program; the total number of clients attending local workshops provided under the SCORE program; to the extent practicable, the demographics of SCORE program clients and volunteers, which may include the gender, race, ethnicity, and age of each client or volunteer; the number of SCORE program clients and volunteers who are veterans; the number of referrals of SCORE program clients to other resources and programs of the Administration; the results of SCORE program client satisfactory surveys, including a summary of any comments received from those clients; the number of new businesses started by SCORE program clients; the percentage of new revenue growth realizing by businesses assisted by the SCORE program; to the extent practicable, the number of jobs created with assistance from the SCORE program; the total cost of the SCORE program; any recommendations of the Administrator to improve the SCORE program; an explanation of how the SCORE program has been integrated with— small business development centers; women’s business centers described in section 29; Veteran Business Outreach Centers described in section 32; other offices of the Administration; and other public and private entities engaging in entrepreneurial and small business development; the SCORE compensation policy for the relevant fiscal year, including— a list of any changes to the compensation policy since the previous fiscal year; and justification if the maximum rate of pay allowable for any individual in the SCORE Association exceeds the maximum rate of pay allowable for an individual in the career Senior Executive Service employed at the Administration; the names, positions, and salaries of any employees of the SCORE Association whose salaries exceed the maximum rate of pay allowable per the SCORE compensation policy; the percent of the aggregate salaries of employees of the SCORE Association spent on individual performance awards to employees of the SCORE Association, with a justification if this amount exceeds 10 percent; the total amount of performance awards that have been disbursed or will be disbursed after the last day of the fiscal year in which the awards were earned and a justification for any awards that have been disbursed or will be disbursed outside the fiscal year in which the awards were earned; and the names, positions, and salaries of any members of the Board of Directors of the SCORE Association or any employees of the SCORE Association that simultaneously serve on the Board of Directors of, or receive compensation from, the SCORE Foundation without written approval of the Administrator. .
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Sec. 3
SCORE Program provisions and requirements
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