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A new bipartisan bill aims to create a grant program for minority business owners who are college students.

Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams introduced a bipartisan bill on November 17, 2023, to establish a new federal grant program at historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions that would support entrepreneurial initiatives, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program Act of 2023 aims to provide resource grants of up to $250,000 for student entrepreneurs through the Small Business Administration. Representatives Alma Adams (NC-12), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), and Norma Torres (CA-35) are co-leading the program.

"Too often, Black and brown entrepreneurs face enormous barriers to accessing the capital needed to launch and sustain businesses," Williams said in a statement about the legislation. "The Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program will help to break down those barriers and ensure that the next generation of minority business owners have a fair shot at the promise of America."

However, the bill is likely to face a tough road in the Republican-controlled House, the Journal-Constitution notes. Since the Supreme Court upended Affirmative Action earlier this year, activist groups have been testing the constitutionality of DEI programs through various lawsuits against companies, governments, and venture capitalists.

In September, a federal judge in Tennessee struck down a provision of the Small Business Administration's 8(a) Business Development Program that offered billions in government contracts for historically disadvantaged groups. In October, a federal judicial panel in Atlanta blocked Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm, from providing grants to women founders of color from its foundation. The fund has invested nearly $27 million in around 40 businesses led by women of color and awarded another $3.7 million in grants.

"Investing in minority-owned businesses is also one path on the journey to close the racial wealth gap," says Williams. "I am proud to advance legislation to continue creating equity in entrepreneurship opportunity for everyone--no matter your ZIP Code, no matter your bank account."

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