Congress mandates federal outreach to underrepresented small-business owners on capital raising
H.R. 3422 — Promoting Opportunities for Non-Traditional Capital Formation Act · Filed by Maxine Waters (D-CA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced May 15, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act to require the federal Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to provide educational resources and host events promoting capital-raising options for underrepresented small businesses—including women-owned, minority-owned, rural, and disaster-affected firms—and to meet annually with state securities regulators to coordinate support efforts.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward mandate requiring a federal official to perform outreach, education, and coordination work aimed at expanding capital-formation opportunities for underrepresented small businesses. It is a public-interest directive, not a tax provision, subsidy, or deregulation.
What the text implies
- The bill does not appropriate funds or specify budget; implementation depends on existing Advocate office resources, which may limit the scope and quality of educational events and materials.
- State securities commission coordination may surface regulatory gaps or inconsistencies in how underrepresented small businesses are treated across jurisdictions, potentially leading to future harmonization efforts.
- The mandate to raise awareness of capital-raising options (including non-traditional sources) may indirectly increase demand for alternative financing products (crowdfunding, peer lending, venture debt), benefiting fintech platforms and alternative lenders.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands access to capital-formation education and support for small-business owners historically excluded from mainstream financing networks. No restrictions on citizens' rights or remedies are imposed; the bill only mandates that a federal official perform outreach and coordination work that benefits underrepresented entrepreneurs.
Who stands to gain
- alternative lending platforms and fintech companies offering non-traditional capital products
- small-business consulting and advisory firms specializing in capital formation
Named in the bill
Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), State securities commissions, women-owned small businesses, minority-owned small businesses, rural small businesses, disaster-affected small businesses
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- May 15, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 15, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services”
- May 20, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- May 20, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 50 - 0”
- Jun 23, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required)…”
- Jun 23, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Downing moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. Those filings disclosed $18,215,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 159 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Maxine Waters, the sponsor, reported $453,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $17,960,000 on 1 filing
- Service Employees International Union Ctw-clc — $255,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 9, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,165 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 9, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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