Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2020

Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2020

This bill permanently authorizes the Minority Business Development Agency and provides funding for the agency to assist minority businesses affected by COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).

The agency shall award grants to certain private, nonprofit organizations that (1) primarily provide services to minority businesses (e.g., education or making grants), and (2) are unable to pay financial obligations such as payroll. Such organizations must also be unable to engage in the same level of fundraising as the preceding year due to effects of COVID-19 . The agency must give priority to recipients that will use grant funds for purposes that include (1) providing paid sick leave to employees unable to work because of COVID-19, (2) making payroll payments to retain employees, or (3) repaying obligations they cannot satisfy because of revenue losses due to COVID-19.

The agency must also conduct outreach to its business center network to provide guidance regarding other federal programs that are available to support minority businesses. The head of the agency shall be a member of the interagency Small Business Procurement Advisory Council.

The agency must report on its activity and make recommendations for actions to promote its purposes, and the Government Accountability Office must review and report on the effectiveness of agency programs, any failure by a grant recipient to comply with its requirements, and recommendations for program improvement.

The amounts provided by the bill are designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (PAYGO) and the Senate PAYGO rule.