HONEST Enterprise Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8880 To establish the Compassionate Capitalist Award to recognize organizations that substantially benefit the well-being of their employees, stakeholders, and communities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 4, 2020 Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself, Mr. EVANS, Mr. CASE, and Ms. CRAIG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To establish the Compassionate Capitalist Award to recognize organizations that substantially benefit the well-being of their employees, stakeholders, and communities, 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 ‘‘Honoring Organiza- 4 tions Nationally for Ethics, Sustainability, and Trust Act’’ 5 or the ‘‘HONEST Enterprise Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8880.IH H8880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8880 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPASSIONATE CAPI- 1 TALIST AWARD. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Compas- 3 sionate Capitalist Award (in this section referred to as the 4 ‘‘award’’), which shall be evidenced by a certificate and 5 a medal that— 6 (1) bear the inscriptions the ‘‘Compassionate 7 Capitalist Award’’ and ‘‘Doing Business Better’’; 8 and 9 (2) incorporate such design and materials, and 10 bears such additional inscriptions, as the Secretary 11 of Commerce (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec- 12 retary’’) determines appropriate. 13 (b) PRESENTATION OF AWARD.—The President or 14 the Secretary shall annually present, with such ceremonies 15 as the President or Secretary determines appropriate, the 16 award to organizations nominated under subsection (d) 17 that the Secretary determines are deserving of recognition 18 for substantially benefitting the well-being of their employ- 19 ees, stakeholders, and communities with respect to the fol- 20 lowing areas: 21 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.—The de- 22 gree to which an organization has in place practices 23 to manage the environmental impact of its oper- 24 ations, supply chain, and distribution channels, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8880.IH H8880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8880 IH cluding with respect to air, water, land, biodiversity, 1 and climate effects. 2 (2) GOVERNANCE.—The mission, ethics, and 3 transparency of an organization, including, if appli- 4 cable, the organization’s corporate leadership struc- 5 ture and executive compensation. 6 (3) SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—The degree to 7 which an organization contributes to the commu- 8 nities in which it operates and obtains resources 9 from, including the organization’s practices with re- 10 spect to diversity, equity, inclusion, civic engage- 11 ment, charitable giving, and refraining from doing 12 business with exploitative countries. 13 (4) WORKER EMPOWERMENT.—The degree to 14 which an organization contributes to the financial 15 security, workplace safety, healthcare coverage, 16 wellness, engagement, satisfaction, and career devel- 17 opment of employees, and the degree to which an or- 18 ganization provides a fair and living wage. 19 (c) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President or the Sec- 21 retary shall present the award to at least one organi- 22 zation each year in each of the following categories: 23 (A) Small businesses (at least 10 and 24 fewer than 50 employees). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8880.IH H8880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8880 IH (B) Midsized businesses (at least 50 and 1 fewer than 250 employees). 2 (C) Large businesses (at least 250 employ- 3 ees and fewer than 1,000 employees). 4 (D) Very large businesses (at least 1,000 5 employees). 6 (2) TOTAL NUMBER OF AWARDS.—Not more 7 than 18 awards may be awarded each year. 8 (3) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 9 (1), no award shall be awarded in a given category 10 if the Secretary determines that no organization 11 qualifies for the award with respect to such cat- 12 egory. 13 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 15 a board of directors to nominate organizations for 16 the award and assist with administration of the 17 award. 18 (2) COMPOSITION.—The board shall be com- 19 posed of the following: 20 (A) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce 21 for Economic Development, who shall serve as 22 chairperson of the board. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8880.IH H8880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8880 IH (B) The Administrator of the Wage and 1 Hour Division of the Department of Labor, who 2 shall serve as vice chairperson of the board. 3 (C) At least 6 individuals appointed by the 4 Secretary of Commerce, who shall include— 5 (i) 2 individuals representing inde- 6 pendent nonprofit entities that have dem- 7 onstrated leadership and excellence in the 8 field of standard setting and measurement 9 with respect to stakeholder impact; 10 (ii) 2 individuals representing cor- 11 porate business entities that have dem- 12 onstrated a history of service to society; 13 and 14 (iii) 2 individuals representing orga- 15 nized labor entities. 16 (3) DIVERSITY.—In making appointments to 17 the board, the Secretary shall take actions to ensure 18 the diversity of the membership with respect to race, 19 ethnicity, and gender. 20 (4) EVALUATION TOOL.—The board shall seek 21 to enter into contracts with appropriate entities to 22 develop an online evaluation tool that— 23 (A) is based on standards specific to the 24 category of business an organization qualifies as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8880.IH H8880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8880 IH under subsection (c)(1) that are developed in 1 consultation with such entities; 2 (B) provides for each organization consid- 3 ered for an award a numerical score with re- 4 spect to each of the areas specified in sub- 5 section (b), using the standards described in 6 subparagraph (A); 7 (C) provides for each organization consid- 8 ered for an award a total numerical score; and 9 (D) assists the board in making nomina- 10 tions under paragraph (1). 11 (5) ADDITIONAL VERIFICATION.—The board 12 shall take actions to verify the accuracy of the facts 13 presented by organizations seeking nomination for 14 the award, including by soliciting employee feedback. 15 (6) ANNUAL REPORT.—The board shall annu- 16 ally submit to the Secretary a report that includes— 17 (A) nominations for the award; and 18 (B) an assessment of the process for pre- 19 senting awards under this section, including 20 recommendations for improving such process. 21 (e) AWARD ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 22 (1) APPLICATION.—An organization may be 23 considered for an award upon submitting to the Sec- 24 retary an application in such form, at such time, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8880.IH H8880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8880 IH and containing such information as the Secretary 1 determines appropriate, including information nec- 2 essary for purposes of the evaluation tool described 3 in subsection (d)(4). 4 (2) PRIOR RECIPIENT QUALIFICATION.—An or- 5 ganization that has previously received the award is 6 eligible to receive an additional award if at least 5 7 years have elapsed from the date such organization 8 previously received the award. 9 (f) MODIFICATION OF AREAS.—The Secretary may, 10 on the basis of recommendations made by the board, make 11 modifications to the areas specified in subsection (b), 12 which shall be effective 30 days after the date on which 13 the Secretary submits a detailed description of such modi- 14 fications to Congress. 15 (g) INFORMATION TRANSFER.—The Secretary shall 16 issue to each organization that applies for the award— 17 (1) the results of the evaluation with respect to 18 such organization; and 19 (2) information with respect to the organiza- 20 tions to whom the award was presented and the 21 practices that the Secretary used as a basis to 22 present such award to such organizations. 23 (h) FUNDING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8880.IH H8880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8880 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may solicit 1 and accept gifts from public and private entities, 2 and may use such gifts without further appropria- 3 tion, to carry out this section. 4 (2) DONOR AWARD INELIGIBILITY.—An entity 5 that makes a gift under this subsection shall not be 6 eligible to receive the award after such gift has been 7 made. 8 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 9 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 10 the President and Congress a report on the progress made 11 with respect to the award and any recommendations relat- 12 ing to the process of presenting such award. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8880.IH H8880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS