I 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5805 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 17, 2012 Mrs. Capps introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To direct the Secretary of Labor to establish alternate guidelines for measuring the progress of State and local performance for entrepreneurial training services under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Entrepreneurial Training Improvement Act of 2012.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Entrepreneurship represents an important part of the economic recovery. According to the 2012 Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, adults in the United States created an average of 543,000 new businesses each month in 2011, among the highest levels of entrepreneurship in the last 16 years. (2)Of the estimated 27.5 million small businesses in the United States, 21.4 million had no employees in 2008 according to Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. (3)According to a January 2010 report entitled Think Entrepreneurs: A Call to Action prepared by the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education for the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Entrepreneurship is not well established in Federal and statewide policy and execution strategies. The report continues to state that Workforce Investment Board staff lacks information and training about self-employment as a career option, including accessibility to resources, technical assistance, outreach efforts, available partnerships, assessment processes, and coordination of available funding options and that Boards report that self-employment outcomes are hard to document for [Department of Labor] regulations; self-employment does not fit into current methods for measuring performance. (4)In Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 12–10, issued November 15, 2010, the Employment and Training Administration noted that Certain types of employment, particularly self-employment, are generally not covered by State [unemployment insurance] wage records, and the system has noted this as a challenge in providing entrepreneurship training. However, supplemental data options for some performance measures, combined with performance target negotiations, offer flexibility to accommodate entrepreneurship training within the workforce system. (5)There are many existing supplemental data sources and authorities that can be used to better measure the success of an entrepreneurial training program. (6)All reasonable effort should be made by the Secretary of Labor to reduce regulatory barriers and disincentives that discourage local Workforce Investment Boards from offering entrepreneurial training programs.

3.

Rulemaking

(a)

In general

Not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall establish alternate guidelines for measuring the progress of State and local performance for entrepreneurial training services, as authorized in section 134 subsection (d)(4)(D)(vi) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(d)(4)(D)(vi)), and provide the State and local Workforce Investment Boards with specific guidance on successful approaches to collecting performance information on entrepreneurial self employment. (b)

Considerations

In determining the alternate guidelines, the Secretary shall consider utilizing existing authorities granted under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, including a State’s waiver authority, as authorized in section 189(i)(4) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2939(i)(4)). (c)

Report

Not later than 12 months after publication of the final rule, the Secretary shall issue a report on the progress of Workforce Investment Boards in implementing new entrepreneurial training programs and any ongoing challenges to offering entrepreneurial training programs, with recommendations to Congress on how best to address those challenges.