Prison to Proprietorship Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5078 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 13, 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 incarcer- ated 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 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 5078 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prison to Proprietor- 2 ship Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND 4 TRAINING FOR INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS. 5 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 6 amended— 7 (1) by redesignating section 49 as section 50; 8 and 9 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 10 new section: 11 ‘‘SEC. 49. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING 12 AND TRAINING FOR INCARCERATED INDIVID- 13 UALS. 14 ‘‘(a) SERVICES REQUIRED.—The Administrator, in 15 coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 16 shall require women’s business centers and small business 17 development centers identified under the plan described in 18 subsection (b) to provide entrepreneurship counseling and 19 training services to covered individuals. 20 ‘‘(b) PLAN.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con- 22 sultation with an association formed to pursue mat- 23 ters of common concern to women’s business centers 24 and an association of small business development 25 centers formed pursuant to section 21(a)(3)(A), 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 5078 RFS shall develop a plan, which shall be updated annu- 1 ally, to match women’s business centers and small 2 business development centers with covered individ- 3 uals in Federal prisons who are eligible to receive 4 services under this section. 5 ‘‘(2) MATCHING.—In determining matches 6 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 7 prioritize matching the women’s business center or 8 small business development center in closest prox- 9 imity to the applicable Federal prison to provide 10 such services. 11 ‘‘(3) ASSOCIATION RESPONSIBILITIES.—If the 12 women’s business center or small business develop- 13 ment center identified under the plan in paragraph 14 (1) is unable to provide such services to covered in- 15 dividuals in such Federal prison, another women’s 16 business center or small business development cen- 17 ter, an association of women’s business centers, or 18 an association of small business development centers 19 shall provide such services in accordance with the re- 20 quirements of this section. 21 ‘‘(c) GOALS.—The goal of the services provided under 22 this section is to provide covered individuals with the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 5078 RFS ‘‘(1) Assistance and in-depth training on how to 1 start or expand a small business concern. 2 ‘‘(2) Tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to 3 identify a business opportunity, including how to— 4 ‘‘(A) draft a resume, business plan, and 5 transition plan; 6 ‘‘(B) identify sources of capital; and 7 ‘‘(C) connect with local resources for small 8 business concerns. 9 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The services 10 provided under this section shall include— 11 ‘‘(1) a presentation providing exposure to the 12 opportunities involved in self-employment and own- 13 ership of a small business concern; 14 ‘‘(2) a self-study course manual focused on the 15 basic skills of entrepreneurship, financial literacy, 16 the language of business, and the considerations and 17 life skills relevant to self-employment and ownership 18 of a small business concern; 19 ‘‘(3) five two-day sessions of in-depth classroom 20 instruction introducing the foundations of self-em- 21 ployment and ownership of small business concerns, 22 including guided discussions to explore personal en- 23 trepreneurial development interests; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 5078 RFS ‘‘(4) in-depth training delivered through one-on- 1 one mentorship, including individual support in the 2 development of a business plan, entrepreneurial 3 skills, and strategies for starting up a small business 4 concern; and 5 ‘‘(5) upon completion of the counseling and 6 training, a presentation of a certificate. 7 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—The Administrator shall, to the ex- 8 tent practicable, ensure that women’s business centers and 9 small business development centers prioritize providing en- 10 trepreneurship counseling and training services to covered 11 individuals who will be released from Federal custody not 12 later than 18 months after the date on which such a cov- 13 ered individual begins to receive such services. 14 ‘‘(f) CONTINUATION OF SERVICES.—A covered indi- 15 vidual receiving services under this section may continue 16 to receive such services after release from Federal custody. 17 ‘‘(g) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out this sec- 18 tion, the Administrator may, subject to appropriation, 19 award a grant to an association formed to pursue matters 20 of common concern to women’s business centers or small 21 business development centers to coordinate the services 22 described under this section, including to develop cur- 23 riculum, train mentors and instructors, and establish pub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 5078 RFS lic-private partnerships to support covered individuals and 1 identify opportunities to access capital. 2 ‘‘(h) CURRICULUM.—The Administration shall print 3 and make available to women’s business centers, small 4 business development centers, an association of women’s 5 business centers, or an association of small business devel- 6 opment centers any curriculum or course materials devel- 7 oped pursuant to this section. 8 ‘‘(i) SURVEY.—Each women’s business center or 9 small business development center that provided services 10 under this section shall survey covered individuals who re- 11 ceived such services to assess the satisfaction of such cov- 12 ered individuals with such services. 13 ‘‘(j) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 14 of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 15 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small 16 Business of the House of Representatives and the Com- 17 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 18 Senate a report on the performance and effectiveness of 19 the services provided under this section, which may be in- 20 cluded as part of another report submitted to such com- 21 mittees by the Administrator, and which shall include— 22 ‘‘(1) the number of covered individuals coun- 23 seled or trained under this section; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 5078 RFS ‘‘(2) the number of hours of counseling pro- 1 vided by each women’s business center and each 2 small business development center under this sec- 3 tion; 4 ‘‘(3) the number of certificates presented under 5 subsection (d)(5); 6 ‘‘(4) the demographics of covered individuals 7 who received services, including age, gender, race, 8 and ethnicity; 9 ‘‘(5) the level of understanding of business con- 10 cepts of covered individuals upon completion of the 11 counseling and training described under this section; 12 ‘‘(6) a summary and analysis of surveys con- 13 ducted under subsection (i); and 14 ‘‘(7) any additional information the Adminis- 15 trator may require. 16 ‘‘(k) COVERED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this sec- 17 tion, the term ‘covered individual’ means an individual in- 18 carcerated in a Federal prison that the Director of the 19 Bureau of Prisons has designated as a minimum, low, or 20 medium security prison. 21 ‘‘(l) FUNDING.—Subject to the availability of appro- 22 priations, the Administrator shall reimburse women’s 23 business centers, small business development centers, an 24 association of women’s business centers, or an association 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 5078 RFS of small business development centers for the costs relat- 1 ing to the services provided under the section.’’. 2 Passed the House of Representatives January 9, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS