21st Century Entrepreneurship Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 384 To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to encour- age entrepreneurship training in after school programs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To require the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis- tration to encourage entrepreneurship training in after school programs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘21st Century Entre- 4 preneurship Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) entrepreneurship creates new jobs, grows 8 the economy, increases productivity, and signifi- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S384.IS S384 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 384 IS cantly improves the quality of life of the people of 1 the United States; 2 (2) entrepreneurship rates in the United States 3 have declined substantially over the last several dec- 4 ades; 5 (3) children from disadvantaged communities 6 are less likely to become entrepreneurs and inven- 7 tors, hampering economic growth and harming com- 8 munities most in need; 9 (4) studies show that children with mentors in 10 entrepreneurship and inventorship are more likely to 11 pursue these fields in adulthood; and 12 (5) in order to promote growth in disadvan- 13 taged communities, increase entrepreneurship rates, 14 and improve the economy, volunteer mentors with 15 the SCORE program should be encouraged to en- 16 gage with children in community learning centers. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act— 19 (1) the term ‘‘community learning center’’ has 20 the meaning given the term in section 4201(b) of 21 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7171(b)); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S384.IS S384 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 384 IS (2) the term ‘‘inventorship’’ means the activity 1 of creating, designing, or otherwise originating a 2 new product or service; and 3 (3) the term ‘‘SCORE program’’ means the 4 Service Corps of Retired Executives described in sec- 5 tion 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 6 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)). 7 SEC. 4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION FOR DISADVAN- 8 TAGED YOUTH. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Small 10 Business Administration shall— 11 (1) develop a curriculum for volunteers with the 12 SCORE program to teach female students, minority 13 students, English learners, children with disabilities, 14 and low-income students who are often underrep- 15 resented in critical and enriching subjects about en- 16 trepreneurship and inventorship through community 17 learning centers; 18 (2) develop and implement a strategy to encour- 19 age partnerships between the SCORE program and 20 community learning centers to teach the curriculum 21 developed under paragraph (1) to the students de- 22 scribed in that paragraph through community learn- 23 ing centers; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S384.IS S384 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 384 IS (3) in developing the curriculum required under 1 paragraph (1), collaborate with education specialists, 2 entrepreneurship groups, business groups, and 3 groups with experience serving underrepresented 4 children. 5 (b) COLLABORATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.—In 6 carrying out the partnerships under subsection (a)(2), vol- 7 unteers with the SCORE program are encouraged to col- 8 laborate with other entrepreneurial development programs 9 of the Small Business Administration and other agencies, 10 including— 11 (1) small business development centers de- 12 scribed in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 13 U.S.C. 648); 14 (2) women’s business centers operating under 15 section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 16 656); 17 (3) centers overseen by the Minority Business 18 Development Agency of the Department of Com- 19 merce; and 20 (4) the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition 21 of the Administration carried out under section 24 22 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act 23 of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S384.IS S384 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 384 IS (c) SCORE PROGRAM.—Section 8(b)(1)(B) of the 1 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)) is amended, 2 in the first sentence, by inserting before the period at the 3 end the following: ‘‘and to carry out entrepreneurship and 4 inventorship programs under section 4(a) of the 21st Cen- 5 tury Entrepreneurship Act’’. 6 (d) COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTERS.—Part B of 7 title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 8 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7171 et seq.) is amended— 9 (1) in section 4201(a)(2) (20 U.S.C. 10 7171(a)(2)), by inserting ‘‘entrepreneurship and 11 inventorship (as defined in section 3 of the 21st 12 Century Entrepreneurship Act) programs,’’ after 13 ‘‘apprenticeship programs,’’; and 14 (2) in section 4205(a) (20 U.S.C. 7175(a))— 15 (A) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ 16 at the end; 17 (B) in paragraph (14), by striking the pe- 18 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(15) entrepreneurship and inventorship pro- 21 grams described in section 4(a) of the 21st Century 22 Entrepreneurship Act.’’. 23 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 24 of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S384.IS S384 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 384 IS the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 1 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En- 2 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 3 Business of the House of Representatives a report that— 4 (1) identifies each partnership between the 5 SCORE program and a community learning center 6 during the preceding 2-year period; 7 (2) documents the use of funds by the SCORE 8 program, and adherence by the SCORE program to 9 contract award and procurement procedures, relat- 10 ing to the implementation of this Act; 11 (3) documents any training or guidance pro- 12 vided to SCORE program chapter leadership on 13 properly using funds provided to carry out this Act; 14 (4) estimates the number of students who were 15 reached through the entrepreneurship curriculum de- 16 veloped under subsection (a); 17 (5) identifies any barriers to reaching additional 18 students; and 19 (6) identifies any plans for improving the cur- 20 riculum or implementing the strategy developed 21 under subsection (a). 22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 24 appropriated to the Administrator of the Small 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S384.IS S384 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 384 IS Business Administration $2,500,000 for each of fis- 1 cal years 2021 through 2025 to carry out this Act 2 and the amendments made by this Act. 3 (2) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Of amounts made 4 available to the Administrator of the Small Business 5 Administration to carry out this Act and the amend- 6 ments made by this Act, the Administrator may 7 transfer any portion of those amounts to the 8 SCORE program to carry out such provisions. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S384.IS S384 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS