Trial Engrossment of Amendment A05783 to House Bill 2452 P.N. 3637, Regular Session 2019-2020

A05783

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

2452

Session of

2020

INTRODUCED BY CIRESI, SNYDER, HOHENSTEIN, YOUNGBLOOD, MURT,

ULLMAN, KOSIEROWSKI, FREEMAN, CEPHAS, SANCHEZ, ISAACSON,

HANBIDGE, SCHLOSSBERG, RAVENSTAHL, SHUSTERMAN, OTTEN, HILL-

EVANS, CONKLIN, MULLINS, DALEY, WILLIAMS, MALAGARI, SCHWEYER,

A. DAVIS, FRANKEL, CALTAGIRONE, ROZZI, GALLOWAY, DERMODY,

DONATUCCI, LEE, MADDEN, ROEBUCK AND STURLA, APRIL 27, 2020

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, APRIL 27, 2020

AN ACT

Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled

"An act relating to the finances of the State government;

providing for cancer control, prevention and research, for

ambulatory surgical center data collection, for the Joint

Underwriting Association, for entertainment business

financial management firms, for private dam financial

assurance and for reinstatement of item vetoes; providing for

the settlement, assessment, collection, and lien of taxes,

bonus, and all other accounts due the Commonwealth, the

collection and recovery of fees and other money or property

due or belonging to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

including escheated property and the proceeds of its sale,

the custody and disbursement or other disposition of funds

and securities belonging to or in the possession of the

Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims against the

Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and appeals to the

courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to the

Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth and

all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting

moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,

authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes

to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of

section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of

Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of

certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every

department, board, commission, and officer of the State

government, every political subdivision of the State, and

certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,

association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or

collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws

imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or

other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,

every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the

Commonwealth," providing for small business grant program,

imposing duties on the Department of Community and Economic

Development; and making an appropriation.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. The act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known

as The Fiscal Code, is amended by adding an article to read:

ARTICLE I-B

SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM

Section 101-B. Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this article

shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Department." The Department of Community and Economic

Development of the Commonwealth.

"Regional network." A department economic development

service provider, including, but not limited to, industrial

development organizations, local development districts and small

business development centers.

"Small business." An A retail or personal service employer

within this Commonwealth:

(1) whose gross annual receipts for the prior fiscal

year did not exceed $3,000,000; and $1,500,000; or

(2) that employs no more than 30 10 full-time employees.

Section 102-B. Grants and funding.

(a) Purpose.--The department shall provide grants in

accordance with this article to regional networks for the

purpose of administering and funding a regional small business

grant program pursuant to which grants will be provided to small

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businesses that are adversely affected financially due to the

coronavirus pandemic and the proclamation of disaster emergency

issued by the Governor on March 6, 2020, published in 50 Pa.B.

1644 (March 21, 2020), and any renewal of the state of disaster

emergency.

(b) Regional small business grant program.--Regional

networks awarded a grant under this article shall operate their

regional small business grant program in accordance with

guidelines developed by the department under section 107-B.

(b) (c) Amount.--Subject to the availability of State money,

a grant from a regional network to a small business under this

section shall not exceed $15,000.

Section 103-B. Application form.

regional small business (a) Development of forms.--The

department shall develop a grant application form for small

businesses to apply to regional networks for a grant under this

article.

(b) Contents of form.--At a minimum, the regional small

business grant application form shall contain the following

information:

(1) The name, address and contact information of the

small business.

(2) The amount of grant money requested.

(3) The proposed use for the grant money requested.

(4) The financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and

the proclamation of disaster emergency issued by the Governor

on March 6, 2020, published in 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21,

2020), and any renewal of the state of disaster emergency, on

the small business.

(5) Any other information that the department deems

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necessary and appropriate.

Section 104-B. Public notice.

The department shall provide information regarding the

availability and award of grant money on the department's

publicly accessible Internet website.

Section 105-B. Award of grants.

(a) Criteria.--After review of the information specified

under section 103-B and within 20 days of the submission of the

grant application, the department regional network shall

determine whether to award grant money to the small business

and, if so, the amount of the grant money awarded.

(b) Considerations.--In awarding grant money to a small

business, the department regional network :

(1) Shall consider the geographic and demographic

diversity of the small businesses applying for the grant

money.

(2) Shall consider how the small business and other

persons would be served through the award of the grant to the

small business.

(3) May require documentation of gross annual receipts

and employee information for the small business.

(1) The department regional network shall provide

written notice to the small business of the award or denial

of the grant money.

(2) Notice of the award of grant money shall include the

amount of the grant money awarded and any conditions or

restrictions on the use of the grant money.

(3) Notice of the denial of all or part of the grant

money requested shall include the reasons for the full or

A05783 - 4 -

partial denial.

(4) The regional network shall provide copies of all

notices to the department when they are provided to the small

businesses and shall provide other documents, information and

data to the department immediately upon request.

Section 106-B. Reports.

(a) Preparation.--By September 30, 2020, or 60 days after

the expiration of this article, whichever occurs later, the

department shall prepare a report that lists each regional

network and small business that received grant money under this

article and a summary of the information specified under section

103-B(b).

(b) Publication.--The report under this section shall be

posted on the department's publicly accessible Internet website.

Section 107-B. Guidelines.

The department may promulgate guidelines for the

implementation and administration of this article.

Section 108-B. Appropriation.

The sum of $50,000,000 is hereby appropriated to the

department to carry out the provisions of administer and fund

the grant program created by this article.

Section 109-B. Expiration.

This article shall expire on September 30, 2020, or 30 days

after the termination of the declaration of disaster emergency

under 35 Pa.C.S. § 7301(c) (relating to general authority of

Governor), whichever occurs later.

Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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