Washington, D.C.— Today, the House Small Business Committee, under Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), passed a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) for four fiscal years and make numerous improvements to the program.
“Since its inception, STEP has helped thousands of small businesses break into the international marketplace. By expanding the number of small firms that export, we can grow both the small business and U.S. economy,” said Chairwoman Velázquez. “This bipartisan bill will ensure that the STEP can help more entrepreneurs export their products abroad moving forward and institute a number of improvements that will help the program better meet the needs of small businesses.
H.R. 8844, “STEP Improvement Act of 2022”
Introduced by Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) and Rep. Young Kim (R-CA)
The legislation would reauthorize STEP for 4 fiscal years (FY 2023 through FY 2026). The legislation would improve the implementation of the program by creating a standardized application process, increasing spending flexibility for grant recipients, improving communication between SBA and States, collecting performance metrics and reporting to Congress. In addition, the legislation would allow businesses less than one year old to participate in the program.
During the markup, the committee also reported House Resolution 1298, introduced by Ranking Member Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), to the House without recommendation. House Resolution 1298 is a resolution of inquiry directing the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit certain documents to the House relating to the role of the Department of Treasury in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
