Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988

(Measure passed Senate, amended)

Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 - Title I: Congressional Findings and Purposes - Sets forth congressional findings and purposes with respect to small businesses owned and controlled by women.

Title II: Demonstration Projects - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide financial assistance to private organizations to conduct demonstration projects giving financial, management, and marketing assistance to small businesses, including start-up businesses, owned and controlled by women. Describes application criteria. Requires the SBA to report to the congressional Small Business Committees on the projects. Terminates authority for this pilot program on October 1, 1991. Authorizes appropriations.

Title III: Access to Capital - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to permit the Federal Reserve Board to exempt from such Act's provisions any class of transactions that are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, or business or commercial loans made available by a financial institution, but only after specific determinations are made. Limits to five years any exemption authorized under the circumstances specified in this Act, unless a subsequent determination is made that the exemption remains appropriate.

Requires lenders to keep records relating to loans and to provide written notice to applicants of their right to receive notice of reasons for a loan denial.

Authorizes the SBA to establish a certified loan program for lenders that display knowledge and proficiency with respect to SBA regulations and programs. Directs the SBA to encourage small business loans of $50,000 or less under both this new program and the preferred lenders program in FY 1989 through 1991 by permitting participating lenders to: (1) use their own forms without regard to SBA paperwork; and (2) retain one-half of the loan guarantee fee. Requires SBA reporting to specified congressional committees in connection with the certified loan program.

Directs the Federal Reserve Board, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Department of Commerce, and the SBA jointly to study levels of availability of and demand for debt and equity capital by small businesses, as well as innovative financing techniques to meet any unmet demand. Requires reporting to the congressional Small Business Committees.

Title IV: National Women's Business Council - Establishes the National Women's Business Council to review the status of women-owned businesses nationwide and to develop detailed multiyear plans in connection with both private and public sector actions to assist and promote such businesses. Requires annual reporting to both the President and the Congress.

Terminates all provisions of this title five years after this Act's enactment.

Title V: Statistical Data and Effect on Other Programs - Directs: (1) the Bureau of Labor Statistics to include in its census reports on women-owned businesses specified information on sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations; (2) the Bureau of the Census to include in its Business Census data the number of corporations that are 51 percent or more owned by women; (3) the SBA's Office of the Chief Counsel for Advocacy to report on the most cost-effective and accurate ways to gather and present the statistics required in these census reports; and (4) Federal agencies to report to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy the number of first-time contract recipients that are small businesses owned and controlled either by women or by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Requires the President's annual Report on Small Business and Competition to include in separate detail information relevant to small businesses owned and controlled either by women or by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.