[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4960 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4960

   To require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct an assessment and 
analysis relating to the decline in the business formation rate in the 
                             United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 31, 2019

  Mr. Hill of Arkansas (for himself, Mr. Foster, Mr. Schweikert, Mrs. 
Murphy of Florida, Mr. Veasey, and Mr. Chabot) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct an assessment and 
analysis relating to the decline in the business formation rate in the 
                             United States.

    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 ``Enhancing Entrepreneurship for the 
21st Century Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Recent research has demonstrated that--
                    (A) new businesses (commonly referred to as 
                ``startups'')--
                            (i) are disproportionately responsible for 
                        the innovations that drive economic growth; and
                            (ii) account for virtually all net new job 
                        creation;
                    (B) the rate of formation of United States 
                businesses has fallen significantly in recent years; 
                and
                    (C) as determined by widely cited research, the 
                decline in the rate described in subparagraph (B) is 
                occurring in all 50 States, in all but a handful of 360 
                metro areas examined, and across a broad range of 
                industry sectors.
            (2) Before policymakers can identify ways in which the 
        decline in the rate described in paragraph (1)(B) may be 
        counteracted, the underlying causes of the decline must be 
        identified.
            (3) Economists have identified several factors that may 
        explain the decline in the rate described in paragraph (1)(B), 
        including--
                    (A) demographic changes caused by an aging 
                workforce and slowing population growth;
                    (B) increased industry concentration that may make 
                it more difficult for new market entrants to compete 
                with established companies;
                    (C) increased risk-aversion following the financial 
                crisis and recession that occurred in 2008 and 2009 and 
                deterioration of household balance sheets;
                    (D) difficulties relating to access to capital, 
                particularly difficulties encountered by underserved 
                populations, women, and members of minority groups;
                    (E) the concentration of venture capital in only a 
                few cities;
                    (F) record levels of student debt; and
                    (G) inefficiencies or other difficulties relating 
                to the commercialization of federally funded research 
                and innovation.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
                House of Representatives.
            (2) Entrepreneur.--The term ``entrepreneur'' means an 
        individual who founded, or is a member of a group that founded, 
        a United States business.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce.
            (4) United states business.--The term ``United States 
        business'' means a corporation, partnership, association, 
        joint-stock company, business trust, unincorporated 
        organization, or sole proprietorship that--
                    (A) has its principal place of business in the 
                United States; or
                    (B) is organized under the laws of a State of the 
                United States or a territory, possession, or 
                commonwealth of the United States.

SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS.

    (a) Assessment and Analysis Required.--Not later than 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with 
the Director of the Bureau of the Census and the Director of the Bureau 
of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, shall conduct an 
assessment and analysis regarding the reasons for the state of the 
formation of new United States businesses during a period--
            (1) that the Secretary determines appropriate based on the 
        data described in subsection (b)(1)(A); and
            (2) ending on the date on which the assessment and analysis 
        is conducted.
    (b) Considerations and Consultation.--
            (1) In general.--In conducting the assessment and analysis 
        required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
                    (A) notwithstanding any other provision of Federal 
                law, and subject to paragraph (2), review data 
                collected and maintained by--
                            (i) the Bureau of the Census;
                            (ii) the Bureau of Economic Analysis;
                            (iii) the Bureau of Labor Statistics;
                            (iv) the Small Business Administration;
                            (v) the Department of the Treasury;
                            (vi) the Board of Governors of the Federal 
                        Reserve System; and
                            (vii) any other Federal or State agency, or 
                        public or private sector organization, that the 
                        Secretary determines appropriate;
                    (B) with respect to the formation of new United 
                States businesses, consider the impact of--
                            (i) demographic changes caused by an aging 
                        workforce and slowing population growth;
                            (ii) increased industry concentration and 
                        whether such concentration may make it more 
                        difficult for new market entrants to compete 
                        with established companies;
                            (iii) increased risk-aversion following the 
                        financial crisis and recession that occurred in 
                        2008 and 2009 and deterioration of household 
                        balance sheets;
                            (iv) difficulties relating to access to 
                        capital, particularly difficulties encountered 
                        by underserved populations, women, and members 
                        of minority groups;
                            (v) the concentration of venture capital in 
                        only a few cities;
                            (vi) record levels of student debt;
                            (vii) inefficiencies or other difficulties 
                        relating to the commercialization of federally 
                        funded research and innovation;
                            (viii) regulatory burden, overlap, 
                        complexity, and uncertainty at the Federal and 
                        State levels;
                            (ix) aspects of the Internal Revenue Code 
                        of 1986 that penalize, obstruct, or otherwise 
                        disadvantage new businesses, or investors in 
                        new businesses, relative to incumbent 
                        businesses, or investors in incumbent 
                        businesses, respectively;
                            (x) foreign-born entrepreneurs and the 
                        impact of those entrepreneurs on job creation; 
                        and
                            (xi) any other factor that the Secretary 
                        determines appropriate; and
                    (C) consult with--
                            (i) the heads of any agencies and offices 
                        of the Federal Government that the Secretary 
                        determines appropriate, including--
                                    (I) the Secretary of the Treasury;
                                    (II) the Secretary of Labor;
                                    (III) the Administrator of the 
                                Small Business Administration;
                                    (IV) the Chief Counsel of the 
                                Office of Advocacy of the Small 
                                Business Administration; and
                                    (V) the Board of Governors of the 
                                Federal Reserve System;
                            (ii) entrepreneurs, including entrepreneurs 
                        who are women or members of minority groups, 
                        especially those entrepreneurs who founded 
                        United States businesses that experienced rapid 
                        growth; and
                            (iii) representatives from consumer, 
                        community, and entrepreneurship advocacy 
                        organizations.
            (2) Confidentiality.--With respect to data reviewed by the 
        Secretary under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall ensure 
        that the data is subject to the same confidentiality 
        requirements and protections as the confidentiality 
        requirements and protections of the agency or entity, as 
        applicable, providing the data.
    (c) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 
committees of Congress a report regarding the findings of the Secretary 
with respect to the assessment and analysis conducted under subsection 
(a).
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