[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2909 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2909

     To provide State programs to encourage employee ownership and 
participation in business decisionmaking throughout the United States, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 18, 2009

   Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Menendez) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To provide State programs to encourage employee ownership and 
participation in business decisionmaking throughout the United States, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Worker Ownership, Readiness and 
Knowledge Act'' or the ``WORK Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) In this Act:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        Employee Ownership and Participation.
            (2) Existing program.--The term ``existing program'' means 
        a program, designed to promote employee ownership and employee 
        participation in business decisionmaking, that exists on the 
        date the Director is carrying out a responsibility authorized 
        by this Act.
            (3) New program.--The term ``new program'' means a program, 
        designed to promote employee ownership and employee 
        participation in business decisionmaking, that does not exist 
        on the date the Director is carrying out a responsibility 
        authorized by this Act.
            (4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of 
        Employee Ownership and Participation established under section 
        3.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Labor.
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the 50 States 
        within the United States of America.

SEC. 3. OFFICE OF EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AND PARTICIPATION.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish within the 
Department of Labor an Office of Employee Ownership and Participation 
to promote employee ownership and employee participation in business 
decisionmaking.
    (b) Director.--The Secretary shall appoint a Director of Employee 
Ownership and Participation to head the Office.
    (c) Functions.--The functions of the Director are to--
            (1) support within the States existing programs designed to 
        promote employee ownership and employee participation in 
        business decisionmaking; and
            (2) facilitate within the States the formation of new 
        programs designed to promote employee ownership and employee 
        participation in business decisionmaking.
    (d) Duties.--To carry out the functions enumerated in subsection 
(c), the Director shall--
            (1) support new programs and existing programs by--
                    (A) making Federal grants authorized under section 
                5; and
                    (B)(i) acting as a clearinghouse on techniques 
                employed by new programs and existing programs within 
                the States, and disseminating information relating to 
                those techniques to the programs; or
                    (ii) funding projects for information gathering on 
                those techniques, and dissemination of that information 
                to the programs, by groups outside the Office; and
            (2) facilitate the formation of new programs, in ways that 
        include holding or funding an annual conference of 
        representatives from States with existing programs, 
        representatives from States developing new programs, and 
        representatives from States without existing programs.

SEC. 4. PROGRAMS REGARDING EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AND PARTICIPATION.

    (a) Establishment of Program.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program, 
administered by the Director, to encourage new and existing programs 
within the States, designed to foster employee ownership and employee 
participation in business decisionmaking throughout the United States.
    (b) Purpose of Program.--The purpose of the program established 
under subsection (a) is to encourage new and existing programs within 
the States that focus on--
            (1) providing education and outreach to inform employees 
        and employers about the possibilities and benefits of employee 
        ownership, business ownership succession planning, and employee 
        participation in business decisionmaking, including providing 
        information about financial education, employee teams, open-
        book management, and other tools that enable employees to share 
        ideas and information about how their businesses can succeed;
            (2) providing technical assistance to assist employee 
        efforts to become business owners, to enable employers and 
        employees to explore and assess the feasibility of transferring 
        full or partial ownership to employees, and to encourage 
        employees and employers to start new employee-owned businesses;
            (3) training employees and employers with respect to 
        methods of employee participation in open-book management, work 
        teams, committees, and other approaches for seeking greater 
        employee input; and
            (4) training other entities to apply for funding under this 
        section, to establish new programs, and to carry out program 
        activities.
    (c) Program Details.--The Secretary may include, in the program 
established under subsection (a), provisions that--
            (1) in the case of activities under subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) target key groups such as retiring business 
                owners, senior managers, unions, trade associations, 
                community organizations, and economic development 
                organizations;
                    (B) encourage cooperation in the organization of 
                workshops and conferences; and
                    (C) prepare and distribute materials concerning 
                employee ownership and participation, and business 
                ownership succession planning;
            (2) in the case of activities under subsection (b)(2)--
                    (A) provide preliminary technical assistance to 
                employee groups, managers, and retiring owners 
                exploring the possibility of employee ownership;
                    (B) provide for the performance of preliminary 
                feasibility assessments;
                    (C) assist in the funding of objective third-party 
                feasibility studies and preliminary business 
                valuations, and in selecting and monitoring 
                professionals qualified to conduct such studies; and
                    (D) provide a data bank to help employees find 
                legal, financial, and technical advice in connection 
                with business ownership;
            (3) in the case of activities under subsection (b)(3)--
                    (A) provide for courses on employee participation; 
                and
                    (B) provide for the development and fostering of 
                networks of employee-owned companies to spread the use 
                of successful participation techniques; and
            (4) in the case of training under subsection (b)(4)--
                    (A) provide for visits to existing programs by 
                staff from new programs receiving funding under this 
                Act; and
                    (B) provide materials to be used for such training.
    (d) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate regulations 
pursuant to this Act that require new and existing programs established 
or funded under this Act to be--
            (1) proactive in encouraging actions and activities that 
        promote employee ownership of, and participation in, 
        businesses; and
            (2) comprehensive in emphasizing both employee ownership 
        of, and participation in, businesses so as to increase 
        productivity and broaden capital ownership.

SEC. 5. GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--In carrying out the program established under 
section 4, the Director may make grants for use in connection with new 
programs and existing programs within a State for any of the following 
activities:
            (1) Education and outreach as provided in section 4(b)(1).
            (2) Technical assistance as provided in section 4(b)(2).
            (3) Training activities for employees and employers as 
        provided in section 4(b)(3).
            (4) Activities facilitating cooperation among employee-
        owned firms.
            (5) Training as provided in section 4(b)(4) for new 
        programs provided by participants in existing programs 
        dedicated to the objectives of this Act, except that, for each 
        fiscal year, the amount of the grants made for such training 
        shall not exceed 10 percent of the total amount of the grants 
        made under this Act.
    (b) Amounts and Conditions.--The Director shall determine the 
amount and any conditions for a grant made under this section. The 
amount of the grant shall be subject to subsection (f), and shall 
reflect the capacity of the applicant for the grant.
    (c) Applications.--Each entity desiring a grant under this section 
shall submit an application to the Director at such time, in such 
manner, and accompanied by such information as the Director may 
reasonably require.
    (d) State Applications.--Each State may sponsor and submit an 
application under subsection (c) on behalf of any local entity 
consisting of a unit of State or local government, State-supported 
institution of higher education, or nonprofit organization, meeting the 
requirements of this Act.
    (e) Applications by Entities.--
            (1) Entity applications.--If a State fails to support or 
        establish a program pursuant to this Act during any fiscal 
        year, the Director shall, in the subsequent fiscal years, allow 
        local entities described in subsection (d) from that State to 
        make applications for grants under subsection (c) on their own 
        initiative.
            (2) Application screening.--Any State failing to support or 
        establish a program pursuant to this Act during any fiscal year 
        may submit applications under subsection (c) in the subsequent 
        fiscal years but may not screen applications by local entities 
        described in subsection (d) before submitting the applications 
        to the Director.
    (f) Limitations.--A recipient of a grant made under this section 
shall not receive, during a fiscal year, in the aggregate, more than 
the following amounts:
            (1) For fiscal year 2010, $300,000.
            (2) For fiscal year 2011, $330,000.
            (3) For fiscal year 2012, $363,000.
            (4) For fiscal year 2013, $399,300.
            (5) For fiscal year 2014, $439,200.
    (g) Annual Report.--For each year, each recipient of a grant under 
this section shall submit to the Director a report describing how grant 
funds allocated pursuant to this section were expended during the 12-
month period preceding the date of the submission of the report.

SEC. 6. OFFICE REPORTING.

    Not later than the expiration of the 36-month period following the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall prepare and submit to 
Congress a report--
            (1) on progress related to employee ownership and 
        participation in businesses in the United States; and
            (2) containing an analysis of critical costs and benefits 
        of activities carried out under this Act.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for the 
purpose of making grants pursuant to section 5 the following:
            (1) For fiscal year 2010, $3,500,000.
            (2) For fiscal year 2011, $5,500,000.
            (3) For fiscal year 2012, $8,000,000.
            (4) For fiscal year 2013, $10,500,000.
            (5) For fiscal year 2014, $13,500,000.
    (b) Administrative Expenses.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated for the purpose of funding the Office, for each of fiscal 
years 2010 through 2014, an amount not in excess of--
            (1) $350,000; or
            (2) 5.0 percent of the maximum amount available under 
        subsection (a) for that fiscal year.
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