Back to Basics Job Creation Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4471 To amend title XX of the Social Security Act to provide grants to support job creation initiatives, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Mr. LEWIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title XX of the Social Security Act to provide grants to support job creation initiatives, 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 ‘‘Back to Basics Job 4 Creation Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. BACK TO BASICS JOB CREATION GRANT PROGRAM. 6 Subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security Act (42 7 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4471.IH H4471 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4471 IH ‘‘SEC. 2010. BACK TO BASICS JOB CREATION GRANT PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta- 4 tion with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary 5 of Commerce, shall make grants to eligible entities 6 to assist low-income individuals and individuals who 7 have been unemployed for at least 3 months in de- 8 veloping self-employment opportunities. 9 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF GRANT AWARDS.—Not later 10 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 11 section, the Secretary shall obligate not less than 12 half of any funds appropriated for grants under this 13 section. 14 ‘‘(3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 15 this section, the Secretary shall give preference to el- 16 igible entities— 17 ‘‘(A) that serve communities that have ex- 18 perienced high levels of poverty and unemploy- 19 ment and low levels of reemployment, as deter- 20 mined by the Secretary using data reported by 21 the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor 22 Statistics; 23 ‘‘(B) that demonstrate an ability to admin- 24 ister activities using the grant funds without 25 acquiring new administrative structures or re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4471.IH H4471 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4471 IH sources, such as staffing, technology, evaluation 1 activities, training, research, and programming; 2 and 3 ‘‘(C) that have established partnerships 4 with other government agencies, community 5 based organizations, financial institutions, edu- 6 cational institutions, or business organizations. 7 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity awarded 9 a grant under this section shall use the grant— 10 ‘‘(A) to provide education and training for 11 business and financial literacy, certification, 12 small business plan development, entrepreneur- 13 ship, and patent and copyright processes; and 14 ‘‘(B) to provide funding for new small 15 businesses that pay employees at a living wage. 16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—An eligible entity awarded 17 a grant under this section may not use the grant— 18 ‘‘(A) to subsidize private or public employ- 19 ment; or 20 ‘‘(B) for any activity in violation of Fed- 21 eral, State, or local law. 22 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An eligible 23 entity awarded a grant under this section may use 24 not more than 10 percent of the grant funds for ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4471.IH H4471 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4471 IH ministrative expenses, except that none of the funds 1 may be used for salaries. 2 ‘‘(4) DEADLINE ON USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 3 An eligible entity awarded a grant under this section 4 shall expend the grant funds before December 31, 5 2021, except that the Secretary may provide an ex- 6 tension. 7 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS.— 8 For purposes of determining eligibility and benefit 9 amounts under any means-tested assistance program, any 10 assistance funded by a grant under this section shall be 11 disregarded. 12 ‘‘(d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 13 shall submit a report on the implementation of this section 14 to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 15 Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 16 Senate whenever either committee shall so request. 17 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 19 section $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020. The amounts 20 appropriated under this section are authorized to remain 21 available through December 31, 2020. 22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State, an 24 Indian tribe, or a local government; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4471.IH H4471 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4471 IH ‘‘(2) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 1 given such term by section 4 of the Indian Self-De- 2 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 3 U.S.C. 450b); and 4 ‘‘(3) the term ‘means-tested assistance pro- 5 gram’ means a benefit program for which eligibility 6 is based on income.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4471.IH H4471 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS