1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Improving Opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Act of 2014”.
Improving Opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Act of 2014
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act and title 38, United States Code, to provide for a consolidated definition of a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans, and for other purposes.
2. Small Business definition of small business concern consolidated
Section 3(q) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q)) is amended—
by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
“(2) Small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans—The term small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans means a small business concern—
“(A)
“(i) not less than 51 percent of which is owned by one or more service-disabled veterans or, in the case of any publicly owned business, not less than 51 percent of the stock of which is owned by one or more service-disabled veterans; and
“(ii) the management and daily business operations of which are controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans or, in the case of a veteran with permanent and severe disability, the spouse or permanent caregiver of such veteran; or
“(B) not less than 51 percent of which is owned by one or more veterans with service-connected disabilities that are permanent and total who are unable to manage the daily business operations of such concern or, in the case of a publicly owned business, not less than 51 percent of the stock of which is owned by one or more such veterans.”
by adding at the end the following:
“(6) Treatment of Businesses After Death of Veteran-Owner
“(A) In general—If the death of a service-disabled veteran causes a small business concern to be less than 51 percent owned by one or more such veterans, the surviving spouse of such veteran who acquires ownership rights in such small business concern shall, for the period described in subparagraph (B), be treated as if the surviving spouse were that veteran for the purpose of maintaining the status of the small business concern as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.
“(B) Period described—The period referred to in subparagraph (A) is the period beginning on the date on which the service-disabled veteran dies and ending on the earliest of the following dates:
“(i) The date on which the surviving spouse remarries.
“(ii) The date on which the surviving spouse relinquishes an ownership interest in the small business concern.
“(iii) The date that—
“(I) in the case of a surviving spouse of a veteran with a service-connected disability rated as 100 percent disabling or who dies as a result of a service-connected disability, is 10 years after the date of the veteran's death; or
“(II) in the case of a surviving spouse of a veteran with a service-connected disability rated as less than 100 percent disabling who does not die as a result of a service-connected disability, is three years after the date of the veteran's death.”
3. Veterans Affairs Definition of small business concern consolidated
Section 8127 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
by striking subsection (h); and
in subsection (l)(2), by striking “means” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the following: “has the meaning given that term under section 3(q) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q)).”.
4. GAO report on verification of status
Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report—
evaluating whether it is practicable for the Administrator of the Small Business Administration or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to have Government-wide responsibility for verifying whether a business concern purporting to be a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans (as defined under section 3(q) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q)), as amended by this Act) qualifies as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans; and
making recommendations on the advisability of the Administrator of the Small Business Administration or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs having such Government-wide responsibility.