STEP Improvement Act of 2023
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
STEP Improvement Act of 202 3
This bill reauthorizes through FY2028 the Small Business Administration's (SBA) State Trade Expansion Program, which provides foreign trade assistance to small businesses, and it revises provisions related to the administration of the program.
Specifically, the SBA must establish a time frame for, and provide certain information related to, the application process, and it must conduct an annual survey to solicit feedback on the program. The SBA must collect data on certain performance metrics such as the (1) total number of small businesses assisted by the program, (2) total dollar amount of export sales by participating small businesses, and (3) number of small businesses that have created new jobs through their participation in the program.
The bill also requires applicants for participation to include a budget plan that outlines their intended use of funds awarded under the program.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on January 25, 2023. 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 January 25, 2023: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
- 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 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 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?
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced it on January 25, 2023. 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 January 25, 2023, 1324 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1324 days ago, on January 25, 2023.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers