[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5065 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5065

 To amend the Small Business Act to provide re-entry entrepreneurship 
counseling and training services for formerly incarcerated individuals, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 2019

 Mr. Jeffries (for himself and Mr. Burchett) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Small Business Act to provide re-entry entrepreneurship 
counseling and training services for formerly incarcerated individuals, 
                        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 ``Prison to Proprietorship for 
Formerly Incarcerated Act''.

SEC. 2. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND TRAINING FOR FORMERLY 
              INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS.

    The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 49 as section 50; and
            (2) by inserting after section 48 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 49. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND TRAINING FOR 
              FORMERLY INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS.

    ``(a) Services Required.--The Administrator, in coordination with 
the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, shall require the Service Corps 
of Retired Executives to provide entrepreneurship counseling and 
training services to individuals formerly incarcerated in a Federal 
prison (hereinafter referred to as `covered individuals') on a 
nationwide basis.
    ``(b) Goals.--The goal of the services provided under this section 
is to provide covered individuals with the following:
            ``(1) Mentoring, workshops, and instructional videos 
        designed specifically for covered individuals on how to start 
        or expand a small business concern.
            ``(2) Tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to identify a 
        business opportunity, including how to--
                    ``(A) draft a skills profile, business plan, and 
                transition plan;
                    ``(B) identify sources of capital; and
                    ``(C) connect with local resources for small 
                business concerns.
    ``(c) Additional Requirements.--The services provided under this 
section shall include--
            ``(1) regular individualized mentoring sessions, to take 
        place over the course of a year, to support development of the 
        business plans of covered individuals and the growth of covered 
        individuals as entrepreneurs;
            ``(2) assistance with identifying of local resources for 
        small business concerns for covered individuals;
            ``(3) assistance with identifying sources of capital, and 
        when appropriate, assistance with preparing applications for 
        loans and other funding opportunities; and
            ``(4) workshops on topics specifically tailored to meet the 
        needs of covered individuals.
    ``(d) Survey.--The Service Corps of Retired Executives shall survey 
covered individuals who received services under this section to assess 
the satisfaction of such covered individuals with such services.
    ``(e) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the Administrator 
shall submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the performance and 
effectiveness of the services provided under this section, which may be 
included as part of another report submitted to such committees by the 
Administrator, and which shall include--
            ``(1) the number of covered individuals mentored under this 
        section;
            ``(2) the number of hours of mentorship provided by the 
        Service Corps of Retired Executives under this section;
            ``(3) the demographics of covered individuals who received 
        services, including age, gender, race, and ethnicity;
            ``(4) a summary and analysis of surveys conducted under 
        subsection (d); and
            ``(5) any additional information the Administrator may 
        require.''.
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