Sponsors (2)
Official title: To amend the Small Business Act to improve the women's business center program, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 21, 2026 by Hillary Scholten · Last progress July 21, 2026
The bill expands access, oversight, and short‑term funding stability for Women’s Business Centers and women entrepreneurs, but it raises trade‑offs—higher matching requirements, grant caps, accreditation/admin constraints, and compressed transition/rulemaking timelines could limit participation and create implementation risks for resource‑strained centers.
Women entrepreneurs and women-owned small businesses gain targeted counseling, training, and access to capital through strengthened Women's Business Center (WBC) grants, improving business formation and growth opportunities.
More types of organizations (state/regional/local economic development organizations, institutions of higher education, state finance corporations, and consortia) can operate WBCs, increasing geographic reach and capacity of services to underserved and rural areas.
Provides greater funding stability for centers through multi-year grant terms (initial and continuation awards, up to five years at set annual amounts) plus short-term continuation/transition grants to prevent abrupt funding losses.
The requirement that non‑Federal matching funds ramp up to a 1:1 match risks excluding resource-poor communities and smaller organizations that cannot raise matching private funds, reducing access in exactly the areas WBCs aim to serve.
Capping individual grants at $300,000 annually may prevent centers in high‑cost or high‑demand areas from scaling services to meet local needs.
An accreditation requirement within two years could disqualify existing centers from continuation grants if standards are onerous or inaccessible, threatening continuity of services.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Modernizes the Women’s Business Center program: expands eligible operators, updates services and definitions, and requires SBA rulemaking with a 60-day comment period.
Reestablishes and modernizes the Women’s Business Center (WBC) program within the Small Business Act by rewriting the statute that governs WBCs, expanding which entities may operate centers, clarifying service requirements, and preserving a limited transition path for current nonprofit grantees. It directs the Small Business Administration to adopt implementing rules within 270 days with a 60-day public comment period.