1. Short title This Act may be cited as the State Trade Expansion Program Modernization Act of 2024 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The State Trade Expansion Program established under section 22(l) of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 649(l) ) (in this section referred to as STEP ) was created by Congress in 2010 to grow the number of small business concerns (as defined under section 3 of such Act ( 15 U.S.C. 632 ) and in this section referred to as a small business concern ) that export, increase the value of goods exported by the small business sector, and help businesses identify new markets. (2) Helping small firms in the United States begin to export or build upon their existing export capacity generates investment in local economies and spurs employment. (3) Despite 95 percent of global consumers living outside of the United States, less than 4 percent of small business concerns in the United States export their products or services. (4) Many small business concerns in the United States that could grow by exporting lack the dedicated staff, required technical skills, and necessary budgetary resources for international expansion. (5) STEP provides vital assistance to small business concerns, particularly to those that have never had the opportunity to sell their products or services abroad. (6) According to data of the Bureau of the Census, there were approximately 5,900,000 employer firms in the United States as of 2021, of which more than 1,200,000, or approximately 22 percent, were women-owned. However, according to the data, of the 128,460 exporting small firms, only 21,626, or 17 percent, were women-owned firms, meaning that, of small firms, 5 times as many male-owned firms export as women-owned firms. The data show that the overall disparity in business ownership between men and women is even greater among exporting businesses. (7) According to research conducted by the Small Business Administration, smaller firms tend to produce fewer outputs and are less likely to export than larger