Small Business Export Opportunity Development Act of 2009
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. (text of measure as introduced: continuing resolutionA stopgap law funding the government at existing levels when the annual appropriations bills are not done by October 1.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) S6268-6271)
Small Business Export Opportunity Development Act of 2009 - Amends the Small Business Act to establish within the Small Business Administration (SBA) an Office of Export Development and Promotion (Office), headed by an Associate Administrator for Export Development and Promotion, to undertake specified activities with respect to the development and promotion of small business goods and services abroad. Requires the Associate Administrator to: (1) develop a program through which SBA export finance specialists, regional and local loan officers, and small business development center (SBDC) personnel facilitate the access of small businesses to relevant export financing programs of the Export-Import Bank and to export and pre-export financing programs available through the SBA and the private sector; (2) provide international trade counseling for small businesses; (3) set up export assistance programs within each SBDC; (4) establish an export development grant program for small businesses; (5) develop performance measures to support Office export growth goals; and (6) discharge SBA export promotion responsibilities.
Directs the SBA Administrator to fill certain vacant positions at Export Assistance Centers (as established under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988).
Allows the Administrator to guarantee small business loans of up to $5 million for the purpose of developing foreign markets.
Makes eligible under the SBA's Preferred Lenders Program any lender participating in the Delegated Authority Lender Program of the Export-Import Bank.
Authorizes the Administrator to guarantee the timely payment of an express (expedited) loan of up to $500,000 made to a small business for an export development activity.
Increases the maximum amount of small business international trade loans.
Directs the Administrator to expand the network of lenders participating in export loan programs.
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to establish within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) the position of Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Small Business, with specified duties.
Directs the Administrator to carry out a program to provide technical assistance, counseling, and reference materials to small businesses relating to resources, procedures, and requirements for mechanisms to resolve international trade disputes or address unfair international trade practices under international trade agreements or federal law.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on June 8, 2009. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 8, 2009: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6268-6271)
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 111th Congress (2009-10), 383 of the 10,778 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.6 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced it on June 8, 2009. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 8, 2009, 6303 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 6303 days ago, on June 8, 2009.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 111th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2011 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIntroduced, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers