Next Generation Entrepreneurship Corps Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8851 To establish a Next Generation Entrepreneurship Corps program within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 3, 2020 Mr. CROW (for himself and Mr. BALDERSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a Next Generation Entrepreneurship Corps pro- gram within the Small Business Administration, 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 ‘‘Next Generation En- 4 trepreneurship Corps Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8851 IH (1) the United States has a successful fellow- 1 ship for building the next generation of public serv- 2 ants; and 3 (2) with the devastation facing small businesses 4 in the United States as a result of the novel 2019 5 Coronavirus (COVID–19), rebuilding Main Street 6 will require a new generation of entrepreneurial tal- 7 ent with the backing of the Federal Government. 8 SEC. 3. NEXT GENERATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP CORPS 9 PROGRAM. 10 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 11 amended— 12 (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 13 note) as section 50; and 14 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 15 657u) the following: 16 ‘‘SEC. 49. NEXT GENERATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP CORPS 17 PROGRAM. 18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 19 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Committee’ means the selection 20 committee established under subsection (k); 21 ‘‘(2) the term ‘community development financial 22 institution’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 23 tion 103 of the Riegle Community Development and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8851 IH Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 1 4702); 2 ‘‘(3) the term ‘distressed region’ means any 3 census tract or other area that is treated as a low- 4 income community for purposes of section 45D of 5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 6 ‘‘(4) the term ‘equity investment’— 7 ‘‘(A) means an investment for an owner- 8 ship interest in an entity, the financial return 9 with respect to which is principally aligned with 10 the financial return of the plurality of owner- 11 ship interests in the entity; and 12 ‘‘(B) includes a debt instrument that can 13 be converted to an equity ownership interest in 14 an entity based on future events; 15 ‘‘(5) the term ‘minority depository institution’ 16 has the meaning given the term in section 308 of the 17 Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and En- 18 forcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 1463 note); 19 ‘‘(6) the term ‘Program’ means the Next Gen- 20 eration Entrepreneurship Corps Program established 21 under subsection (b); 22 ‘‘(7) the term ‘qualified investor’ means a per- 23 son that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Dec 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8851 IH ‘‘(A) invests equity in a small business 1 concern owned and operated by a fellow under 2 the Program; and 3 ‘‘(B) has not more than $250,000,000 in 4 assets; 5 ‘‘(8) the term ‘SCORE’ means the Service 6 Corps of Retired Executives established under sec- 7 tion 8(b)(1)(B); 8 ‘‘(9) the term ‘State’ means any State of the 9 United States, the District of Columbia, and any 10 territory of the United States; 11 ‘‘(10) the term ‘veteran business outreach cen- 12 ter’ means a veteran business outreach center de- 13 scribed in section 32; and 14 ‘‘(11) the term ‘women’s business center’ means 15 a women’s business center operating pursuant to 16 section 29. 17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 19 the Administration an independent fellowship pilot 20 program to be known as the ‘Next Generation En- 21 trepreneurship Corps Program’ to foster entrepre- 22 neurship in the most distressed regions of the 23 United States, including distressed regions affected 24 by the COVID–19 pandemic. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8851 IH ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Program shall be 1 administered by the Office of Entrepreneurial Devel- 2 opment of the Administration. 3 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under the Program, 5 there shall be 1 group of fellows selected each 6 year for 5 years of the Program, with each 7 group serving for a 2-year period. 8 ‘‘(B) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 9 after the second group of fellows is selected 10 under the Program, and every 2 years there- 11 after, the Committee shall submit to Congress 12 an evaluation of the Program, along with any 13 recommendations and options to expand the 14 Program and make the Program permanent. 15 ‘‘(4) THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTS.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Entre- 17 preneurial Development of the Administration 18 may contract with third-party nonprofit organi- 19 zations that— 20 ‘‘(i) do or plan to do service work to 21 execute the Program; and 22 ‘‘(ii) the Committee determines have 23 relevant experience to carry out the Pro- 24 gram. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8851 IH ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad- 2 ministrator shall submit to Congress a report 3 on— 4 ‘‘(i) the requirements and plans relat- 5 ing to third-party contractors described in 6 subparagraph (A); and 7 ‘‘(ii) how those third-party contractors 8 will begin to carry out the Program. 9 ‘‘(c) STIPENDS.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, the Com- 11 mittee may select not more than 320 fellows to par- 12 ticipate in the Program and receive a 2-year stipend 13 of $120,000 to start and grow a new small business 14 concern. 15 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO REJECT.—The Assistant 16 Administrator of the Office of Entrepreneurial De- 17 velopment of the Administration shall have the au- 18 thority to reject any fellow selected by the Com- 19 mittee to participate in the Program. 20 ‘‘(3) ALLOWABLE USES.—The Committee shall 21 determine the allowable uses of a stipend awarded 22 under this subsection. 23 ‘‘(4) STIPEND AMOUNT.—The amount of a sti- 24 pend made under this subsection shall be adjusted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8851 IH every 3 years to reflect increases in the Consumer 1 Price Index for All Urban Consumers during that 2 period. 3 ‘‘(5) APPLICATIONS.—Each applicant for a sti- 4 pend made under this subsection shall— 5 ‘‘(A) propose a small business concern idea 6 that will be located in a distressed region; and 7 ‘‘(B) submit to the Committee a small 8 business concern plan that demonstrates— 9 ‘‘(i) that the applicant will have pri- 10 mary decision-making authority in the 11 small business concern; 12 ‘‘(ii) a need for the small business 13 concern of the applicant in the community 14 or how the small business concern solves 15 an economic or social problem in the area 16 to be served by the small business concern 17 or the United States; 18 ‘‘(iii) how the applicant plans to build 19 their small business concern to employ 20 local talent in entry-level and mid-level po- 21 sitions to ensure quality job growth; 22 ‘‘(iv) a vision for long-term growth in 23 the area to be served by the small business 24 concern; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8851 IH ‘‘(v) that the applicant does not, at 1 the time of application, have the resources 2 to start and grow a small business concern 3 on their own without assistance. 4 ‘‘(6) PREFERENCE.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall 6 give preference to applicants for a stipend 7 under this subsection that are— 8 ‘‘(i) individuals moving to a distressed 9 region to encourage new small business 10 concern owners in those areas post- 11 COVID–19; 12 ‘‘(ii) individuals who can demonstrate 13 a connection to the State or locality in 14 which the proposed small business concern 15 will be located and are willing to relocate 16 within 15 miles of the distressed region; 17 ‘‘(iii) owners of small business con- 18 cerns whose businesses were closed or who 19 had to significant change their business 20 model or services due to the COVID–19 21 public health crisis; 22 ‘‘(iv) entrepreneurs within populations 23 underrepresented among small business 24 concern owners in the United States, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8851 IH cluding women and racial and ethnic mi- 1 nority groups; 2 ‘‘(v) veterans; 3 ‘‘(vi) individuals who can demonstrate 4 residence of not less than 2 years in a low- 5 income census tract; 6 ‘‘(vii) individuals who have taken non- 7 traditional pathways for professional devel- 8 opment, including individuals without a 9 bachelor’s degree or who received Federal 10 Pell Grants under section 401 of the High- 11 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 12 1070a), who shall not be required to estab- 13 lish a small business concern in a dis- 14 tressed region; or 15 ‘‘(viii) individuals with business plans 16 that have potential, if successful, to be eli- 17 gible for any contracting assistance pro- 18 gram of the Administration, including the 19 business development program under sec- 20 tion 8(a), the Women Owned Small Busi- 21 ness Federal contracting program under 22 section 8(m), the service-disabled veteran- 23 owned small business program under sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8851 IH tion 36, and the HUBZone program under 1 section 31. 2 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—When evaluating 3 applicants for a stipend under this subsection, 4 the Committee— 5 ‘‘(i) shall differentiate between appli- 6 cants for a stipend under this subsection 7 that aim to be a high-growth startup and 8 a traditional small business concern; 9 ‘‘(ii) shall consider similar categories 10 of applicants concurrently; 11 ‘‘(iii) should seek to encourage both 12 high-growth and traditional startups across 13 all geographic areas; and 14 ‘‘(iv) shall— 15 ‘‘(I) not prioritize applicants with 16 prior experience with starting and 17 growing a small business concern over 18 applications without that experience; 19 and 20 ‘‘(II) give equal consideration to 21 applicants with and without the expe- 22 rience described in subclause (I). 23 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL METRICS.—The Com- 24 mittee shall establish additional metrics by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8851 IH which to evaluate applicants for a stipend under 1 this subsection, including by creating local and 2 State level applicant competitions. 3 ‘‘(7) NEW ENTREPRENEURS.—The Committee 4 may award stipends under this subsection to appli- 5 cants both at the beginning stages of building their 6 small business concern as well as to applicants who 7 have had limited prior business experience. 8 ‘‘(8) NUMBER OF FELLOWS PER SCORE CHAP- 9 TER.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Com- 11 mittee shall, to the maximum extent prac- 12 ticable, designate 1 fellow per SCORE chapter 13 in the United States, provided that the selection 14 process under this subsection remains competi- 15 tive. 16 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—The Committee 17 shall ensure a fair geographic distribution of 18 fellows selected under this subsection, including 19 between urban and rural areas, and may create 20 a process for ensuring that distribution if the 21 Committee determines necessary. 22 ‘‘(d) BENEFITS.— 23 ‘‘(1) STUDENT LOAN DEFERMENT.—For each 24 fellow under the Program who notifies the Com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8851 IH mittee that the fellow has a loan made, insured, or 1 guaranteed under part B, D, or E of title IV of the 2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et 3 seq.; 1087a et seq.; 1087aa et seq.) that is in repay- 4 ment— 5 ‘‘(A) the Committee shall— 6 ‘‘(i) inform the Secretary of Edu- 7 cation that the fellow is participating in a 8 fellowship through the Program; and 9 ‘‘(ii) provide any additional informa- 10 tion requested by the Secretary of Edu- 11 cation regarding the fellow and the loan; 12 and 13 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Education shall, for 14 the period of the fellowship— 15 ‘‘(i) in the case of a loan made under 16 part B or E of title IV of the Higher Edu- 17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et 18 seq.; 1087aa et seq.), require that the 19 holder of the loan place the loan in 20 deferment, in which interest shall accrue 21 and be paid by the Secretary, in the same 22 manner as a deferment made under section 23 428(b)(1)(M) of the Higher Education Act 24 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078(b)(1)(M)); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8851.IH H8851 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8851 IH ‘‘(ii) in the case of a loan made under 1 part D of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087a et 2 seq.), place the loan in deferment, during 3 which interest shall not accrue, in the 4 same manner as a deferment made under 5 section 455(f)(1) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6 1087e(f)(1)) for a Federal Direct Stafford 7 Loan under such part. 8 ‘‘(2) HEALTH CARE.—With respect to any fel- 9 low under the Program that is not otherwise covered 10 under a health care policy, the Administrator shall 11 provide or make available a basic health care policy 12 in accordance with section 140(d) of the National 13 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 14 12594(d)) for the [Text truncated for display. 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