Prison to Proprietorship for Formerly Incarcerated Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5065 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 9, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship AN ACT To amend the Small Business Act to provide re-entry entre- preneurship counseling and training services for formerly incarcerated individuals, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.RFS H5065 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 5065 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prison to Proprietor- 2 ship for Formerly Incarcerated Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND 4 TRAINING FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED 5 INDIVIDUALS. 6 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 7 amended— 8 (1) by redesignating section 49 as section 50; 9 and 10 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 11 new section: 12 ‘‘SEC. 49. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING 13 AND TRAINING FOR FORMERLY INCARCER- 14 ATED INDIVIDUALS. 15 ‘‘(a) SERVICES REQUIRED.—The Administrator, in 16 coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 17 shall require the Service Corps of Retired Executives to 18 provide entrepreneurship counseling and training services 19 to individuals formerly incarcerated in a Federal prison 20 (hereinafter referred to as ‘covered individuals’) on a na- 21 tionwide basis. 22 ‘‘(b) GOALS.—The goal of the services provided under 23 this section is to provide covered individuals with the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.RFS H5065 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 5065 RFS ‘‘(1) Mentoring, workshops, and instructional 1 videos designed specifically for covered individuals 2 on how to start or expand a small business concern. 3 ‘‘(2) Tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to 4 identify a business opportunity, including how to— 5 ‘‘(A) draft a skills profile, business plan, 6 and transition plan; 7 ‘‘(B) identify sources of capital; and 8 ‘‘(C) connect with local resources for small 9 business concerns. 10 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The services 11 provided under this section shall include— 12 ‘‘(1) regular individualized mentoring sessions, 13 to take place over the course of a year, to support 14 development of the business plans of covered individ- 15 uals and the growth of covered individuals as entre- 16 preneurs; 17 ‘‘(2) assistance with identifying of local re- 18 sources for small business concerns for covered indi- 19 viduals; 20 ‘‘(3) assistance with identifying sources of cap- 21 ital, and when appropriate, assistance with pre- 22 paring applications for loans and other funding op- 23 portunities; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.RFS H5065 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 5065 RFS ‘‘(4) workshops on topics specifically tailored to 1 meet the needs of covered individuals. 2 ‘‘(d) SURVEY.—The Service Corps of Retired Execu- 3 tives shall survey covered individuals who received services 4 under this section to assess the satisfaction of such cov- 5 ered individuals with such services. 6 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 7 of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 8 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small 9 Business of the House of Representatives and the Com- 10 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 11 Senate a report on the performance and effectiveness of 12 the services provided under this section, which may be in- 13 cluded as part of another report submitted to such com- 14 mittees by the Administrator, and which shall include— 15 ‘‘(1) the number of covered individuals 16 mentored under this section; 17 ‘‘(2) the number of hours of mentorship pro- 18 vided by the Service Corps of Retired Executives 19 under this section; 20 ‘‘(3) the demographics of covered individuals 21 who received services, including age, gender, race, 22 and ethnicity; 23 ‘‘(4) a summary and analysis of surveys con- 24 ducted under subsection (d); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.RFS H5065 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 5065 RFS ‘‘(5) any additional information the Adminis- 1 trator may require.’’. 2 Passed the House of Representatives January 8, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.RFS H5065 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS