Innovation Centers Acceleration Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 871 To strengthen American economic resiliency and equitably expand economic opportunity by launching a national competition, promoting State and local strategic planning, encouraging innovation by the public and private sectors, and by substantially investing Federal resources in research and development. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2021 Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To strengthen American economic resiliency and equitably expand economic opportunity by launching a national competition, promoting State and local strategic plan- ning, encouraging innovation by the public and private sectors, and by substantially investing Federal resources in research and development. 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 ‘‘Innovation Centers Ac- 4 celeration Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 871 IS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 3 means the Innovation Center Selection Committee 4 established under section 3. 5 (2) ELIGIBLE AREA.—The term ‘‘eligible area’’ 6 means a metropolitan statistical area that— 7 (A) has a population of not less than 8 500,000; and 9 (B) is not designated as an established 10 tech hub. 11 (3) ESTABLISHED TECH HUB.—The term ‘‘es- 12 tablished tech hub’’ means the 9 metropolitan statis- 13 tical areas in the United States with the largest 14 total number of innovation sector jobs in 2019. 15 (4) HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 16 term ‘‘Hispanic-serving institution’’ has the meaning 17 given the term in section 502 of the Higher Edu- 18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a). 19 (5) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI- 20 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 21 university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 22 institution’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 23 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 871 IS (6) INNOVATION CENTER.—The term ‘‘innova- 1 tion center’’ means an eligible area designated by 2 the Committee under section 3(e). 3 (7) INNOVATION SECTOR JOB.—The term ‘‘in- 4 novation sector job’’ means a job in the following re- 5 search and development sectors, as categorized 6 under the North American Industry Classification 7 System: 8 (A) Basic chemical manufacturing (3251). 9 (B) Pesticide, fertilizer, and other agricul- 10 tural chemical manufacturing (3253). 11 (C) Pharmaceutical and medicine manufac- 12 turing (3254). 13 (D) Computer and peripheral equipment 14 manufacturing (3341). 15 (E) Communications equipment manufac- 16 turing (3342). 17 (F) Semiconductor and other electronic 18 components manufacturing (3344). 19 (G) Navigational, measuring, 20 electromedical, and control instruments manu- 21 facturing (3345). 22 (H) Aerospace product and parts manufac- 23 turing (3364). 24 (I) Software publishers (5112). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 871 IS (J) Satellite telecommunications (5174). 1 (K) Data processing, hosting, and related 2 services (5182). 3 (L) Other information services (5191). 4 (M) Scientific research and development 5 services (5417). 6 (8) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, 7 technology, engineering, and mathematics. 8 SEC. 3. INNOVATION CENTER SELECTION COMMITTEE. 9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Inno- 10 vation Center Selection Committee, which shall— 11 (1) establish the global competitive edge of the 12 United States in the 21st century across a range of 13 innovation sectors critical to national and economic 14 security; 15 (2) enable 9 metropolitan statistical areas in 16 the United States to become innovation centers for 17 global innovation leadership and models for inclusive 18 growth, equal opportunity, and rising living stand- 19 ards for disadvantaged populations; 20 (3) inspire, within metropolitan statistical areas 21 in the United States across the country, new and 22 constructive collaboration among local, State, and 23 Federal Government entities, academia, and private 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 871 IS industry by issuing a call for innovation center pro- 1 posals with clear, ambitious objectives; 2 (4) carry out a transparent, competitive, fair, 3 and rigorous process for selecting innovation centers; 4 (5) ensure the transparent, efficient and effec- 5 tive use of taxpayer funds; and 6 (6) empirically evaluate the effectiveness of in- 7 novation centers through release of publicly available 8 reports and data. 9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 10 (1) COMPOSITION.— 11 (A) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Committee 12 shall be composed of the following voting mem- 13 bers: 14 (i) The Secretary of Commerce, who 15 shall serve as chairperson of the Com- 16 mittee. 17 (ii) The Administrator of the Small 18 Business Administration. 19 (iii) The Deputy Secretary for Hous- 20 ing and Urban Development. 21 (iv) The Director of the Community 22 Development Financial Institution Fund. 23 (v) The Director of the National 24 Science Foundation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 871 IS (vi) The Director of the National In- 1 stitute of Standards and Technology. 2 (vii) The Director of the National 3 Economic Council. 4 (viii) The Assistant Secretary of Com- 5 merce for Economic Development. 6 (ix) The Assistant Secretary for Em- 7 ployment and Training. 8 (x) The Director of the Office of 9 Science and Technology Policy. 10 (xi) The Under Secretary of Defense 11 for Research and Engineering. 12 (xii) The Under Secretary for Science 13 of the Department of Energy. 14 (xiii) The Director of the National In- 15 stitutes of Health. 16 (xiv) The Under Secretary for Science 17 and Technology of the Department of 18 Homeland Security. 19 (xv) The Administrator of the Na- 20 tional Aeronautics and Space Administra- 21 tion. 22 (2) NONVOTING MEMBERS.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall 24 have 8 nonvoting members, of which, from 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 871 IS among leaders of labor organizations or re- 1 search institutions, or leaders from private in- 2 dustry or professional societies— 3 (i) two shall be appointed by the ma- 4 jority leader of the Senate; 5 (ii) two shall be appointed by the mi- 6 nority leader of the Senate; 7 (iii) two shall be appointed by the 8 Speaker of the House of Representatives; 9 and 10 (iv) two shall be appointed by the mi- 11 nority leader of the House of Representa- 12 tives. 13 (B) TERM.—The nonvoting members ap- 14 pointed under subparagraph (A)— 15 (i) shall serve for a term of 5 years; 16 and 17 (ii) may be reappointed to subsequent 18 terms. 19 (C) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the non- 20 voting membership of the Committee shall be 21 filled in the same manner as the original ap- 22 pointment, but the individual appointed to fill 23 the vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 871 IS portion of the term for which the individual’s 1 predecessor was appointed. 2 (D) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENTS.—The 3 nonvoting members of the Committee shall be 4 appointed under this paragraph not later than 5 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 6 (3) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days 7 after the date on which all members of the Com- 8 mittee are appointed, the Committee shall hold its 9 first meeting. 10 (c) COMPENSATION.—A nonvoting member of the 11 Committee appointed under subsection (b)(2) shall be al- 12 lowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of sub- 13 sistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies 14 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 15 Code, while away from their homes or regular places of 16 business in the performance of services for the Committee. 17 (d) STAFF.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee may appoint 19 a staff director and other personnel as necessary to 20 carry out the duties of the Committee. 21 (2) MEMBER AGENCIES.—The Department of 22 Commerce, the Department of Labor, the Depart- 23 ment of the Treasury, the Department of Housing 24 and Urban Development, the Department of De- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 871 IS fense, the Department of Energy, the Department of 1 Health and Human Services, the Small Business 2 Administration, and the Department of Transpor- 3 tation shall provide necessary staffing support to the 4 Committee, as determined by the Committee. 5 (e) SELECTION OF INNOVATION CENTERS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall select 7 9 eligible areas to serve as innovation centers and 8 receive the Federal innovation supports described in 9 section 4. 10 (2) APPLICATION.— 11 (A) REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.—Not later 12 than 3 months after the date of enactment of 13 this Act, the Committee shall issue a request 14 for applications from eligible entities. 15 (B) SUBMISSION.—Each eligible area de- 16 siring to be selected as an innovation center 17 shall submit to the Committee an application 18 through a proposal committee created by the el- 19 igible area, which shall include representation 20 from each State located in the eligible area and 21 each municipal government representing not 22 less than 200,000 individuals located in the eli- 23 gible area. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 871 IS (3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting innova- 1 tion centers under this section, the Committee shall 2 evaluate each applicant based on— 3 (A) the performance of the applicant in— 4 (i) STEM spending per capita; 5 (ii) the number of patents per 6 100,000 residents; 7 (iii) the share of the population with 8 a Bachelor of Arts degree or a higher de- 9 gree; and 10 (iv) the number of STEM university 11 degrees per capita; 12 (B) a plan to use data-driven strategies to 13 promote innovation-based, advanced sector 14 takeoff, focused on local interplay of university, 15 Federal research institution, and industry core 16 competencies; 17 (C) a plan to increase innovation readi- 18 ness, including expanding research and tech- 19 nology development facilities and developing the 20 local STEM workforce, including through part- 21 nerships with entities with demonstrated suc- 22 cess of administering apprenticeship and other 23 workforce development models; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 871 IS (D) a plan to build or improve areas that 1 attract and support workers and firms; 2 (E) a plan to foster racial equity and inclu- 3 sive growth, including by leveraging minority 4 serving institutions, preventing gentrification, 5 combatting segregation, promoting the inclusion 6 of underrepresented residents, and ensuring af- 7 fordable housing options; 8 (F) a plan to invest the financial resources 9 of the applicant; 10 (G) a plan to partner with local workforce 11 development boards to scale up training to meet 12 new workforce demands; 13 (H) a plan to incorporate and bring 14 growth and opportunity to a broad geographic 15 area beyond the limits of the metropolitan sta- 16 tistical area, including rural areas, through im- 17 proved transportation, high speed internet ac- 18 cess, other investments, and partnerships; and 19 (I) the relative potential for the selection 20 of the innovation center to reverse a decline, or 21 accelerate growth, in innovation sector jobs. 22 (4) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In selecting in- 23 novation centers under this section, the Committee 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 871 IS shall ensure a broad geographic representation of 1 the United States. 2 (5) SITE VISITS.—The Committee may conduct 3 site visits to eligible areas that are finalists for selec- 4 tion as an innovation center. 5 (6) TIMELINE FOR SELECTION.—The Com- 6 mittee shall, by secret ballot, vote to select the 9 in- 7 novation centers not later than 12 months after the 8 date of enactment of this Act. 9 (7) EVALUATION AND RENEWAL.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the 12 Committee shall establish evaluation and re- 13 newal criteria to measure— 14 (i) the progress of an innovation cen- 15 ter toward becoming a center for tech- 16 nology innovation; 17 (ii) the effectiveness of an innovation 18 center in translating innovation sector 19 growth into broadly shared economic op- 20 portunity within the innovation center; and 21 (iii) the ethical and efficient use of 22 Federal funds. 23 (B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Beginning in 24 the third full year following the date of enact- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S871.IS S871 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 871 IS ment of this Act, and not less frequently than 1 once every 3 years thereafter, the Committee 2 shall submit to Congress and each agency rep- 3 resented on the Committee, and make publicly 4 available, a report on the progress of each inno- 5 vation center in meeting the objectives de- 6 scribed in paragraph (3). 7 (C) EVALUATION.— 8 (i) IN GENERAL.—During the third 9 year in which an innovation center is in ex- 10 istence, the Committee shall conduct an 11 evaluation based on established bench- 12 marks for achieving the objectives de- 13 scribed in paragraph (3) to determine 14 whether the designation as an innovation 15 center shall be renewed for 3 additional 16 years. 17 (ii) FAILURE TO MEET BENCH- 18 [Text truncated for display. 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