[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 609 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 609

      To establish a pilot program awarding competitive grants to 
organizations administering entrepreneurial development programming to 
         formerly incarcerated individuals, and other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 1, 2023

  Mr. Cardin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To establish a pilot program awarding competitive grants to 
organizations administering entrepreneurial development programming to 
         formerly incarcerated individuals, and 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 ``Necessary Entrepreneurship Workshops 
via the SBA to Transform and Assist Re-entry Training Act of 2023'' or 
the ``NEW START Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) according to the Department of Justice, every year, 
        over 600,000 individuals are released from prison and return 
        home to their communities, and almost 77 percent of those 
        individuals will reoffend within 5 years;
            (2) according to the Brookings Institution, an estimated 
        48.5 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals will remain 
        unemployed or earn a negligible income for a period of 1 year 
        post-incarceration, increasing the risk for recidivism;
            (3) according to the Florida State University Institute for 
        Justice Research and Development, formerly incarcerated 
        individuals see a reduction in earnings of 25 percent since 
        criminal records make it difficult to find stable employment;
            (4) self-employment can provide economic stability for 
        those who are otherwise locked out of the labor market; and
            (5) according to a paper entitled ``Entrepreneurship as a 
        Response to Labor Market Discrimination for Formerly 
        Incarcerated People''--
                    (A) the average individual without a criminal 
                record has a 7.09 percent likelihood of becoming an 
                entrepreneur, but justice-impacted individuals were 
                found to be more than 50 percent likely to choose 
                entrepreneurship with a 12.69 percent likelihood of 
                becoming an entrepreneur;
                    (B) entrepreneurship reduces the likelihood of 
                recidivism by 5.3 percent, which was a 32.5 percent 
                decrease from average recidivism rates for regular 
                employees who have been previously incarcerated; and
                    (C) formerly incarcerated individuals who choose 
                entrepreneurship make $2,700 more annually than 
                formerly incarcerated employees and that the income gap 
                between formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs and 
                entrepreneurs with no criminal record was 38 percent 
                lower than the income gap between formerly incarcerated 
                employees and employees with no criminal record.

SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) Definitions.--In this Act--
            (1) the terms ``Administration'' and ``Administrator'' mean 
        the Small Business Administration and the Administrator 
        thereof, respectively;
            (2) the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Small Business and 
                Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
                Representatives;
            (3) the term ``covered individual'' means an individual 
        who--
                    (A) completed a term of imprisonment in Federal, 
                State, or local jail or prison; and
                    (B) meets the offense eligibility requirements set 
                forth in any applicable policy notice or other guidance 
                issued by the Small Business Administration for the 
                program established under section 7(m) of the Small 
                Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m));
            (4) the terms ``intermediary'' and ``microloan'' have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 7(m)(11) of the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)(11));
            (5) the term ``microloan intermediary'' means an 
        intermediary that is eligible to participate in the program 
        established under section 7(m) of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 636(m));
            (6) the term ``pilot program'' means the pilot program 
        established under subsection (b); and
            (7) the term ``small business development center'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 3 of the Small Business Act 
        (15 U.S.C. 632).
    (b) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a pilot 
program to award grants to organizations over a 5-year period to create 
or support existing entrepreneurship development programs to provide 
assistance to covered individuals.
    (c) Grant Requirements.--The Administrator shall--
            (1) award grants under the pilot program to organizations, 
        or partnerships of organizations, which shall each receive a 
        grant in an amount greater than $100,000 and less than $500,000 
        annually over the 5-year period in which the pilot program is 
        in existence; and
            (2) allocate grants under the pilot program to ensure that 
        the recipients are geographically varied throughout the United 
        States.
    (d) Partnerships.--An applicant for a grant under the pilot program 
may form partnerships with other organizations for the purposes of the 
application submitted under subsection (e) and for conducting 
entrepreneurial development programming.
    (e) Application.--
            (1) In general.--An organization or partnership of 
        organizations desiring a grant under the pilot program shall 
        submit an application to the Administrator in such form, in 
        such manner, and containing such information as the 
        Administrator may reasonably require.
            (2) Contents.--An application submitted under paragraph (1) 
        shall--
                    (A) demonstrate that the applicant is a microloan 
                intemediary or an organization that administers the 
                Community Advantage Pilot Program of the 
                Administration, or has a partnership with such an 
                intermediary or organization, that may provide 
                microloans to qualified covered individuals, or, to the 
                extent that the applicant is a national organization in 
                multiple different markets, that a separate microloan 
                intermediary may be used in each such market;
                    (B) demonstrate strong community ties, including 
                those with the covered individual community, local 
                businesses, and political leaders;
                    (C) demonstrate an ability to provide a full range 
                of entrepreneurial development programming on an 
                ongoing basis;
                    (D) include a plan for reaching covered 
                individuals, including by identifying particular target 
                populations within the community;
                    (E) clearly define entrepreneurial development 
                capabilities, including coordination with existing 
                local resource partners of the Administration for 
                additional training as necessary;
                    (F) present an entrepreneurship development 
                curriculum, which may be a nationally recognized model 
                or based upon such a model;
                    (G) include a list of each partner organization; 
                and
                    (H) include a comprehensive plan for the use of 
                grant funds, including estimates for administrative and 
                outreach costs of running and evaluating the 
                entrepreneurship development program.
    (f) Priority.--In determining whether to award a grant under the 
pilot program, the Administrator may give priority to applicants based 
on--
            (1) whether the application includes a commitment from an 
        existing or new non-Federal funding source to meet the matching 
        requirement under subsection (g);
            (2) whether the application takes into account local 
        economies and markets as a part of the educational component of 
        the entrepreneurship development program;
            (3) the ability or plan of the applicant to provide 
        entrepreneurial development services concurrent with employment 
        or job training services; and
            (4) whether the applicant has a history of effectively 
        providing entrepreneurial training or access to capital to 
        covered individuals.
    (g) Matching Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--As a condition of a grant provided under 
        the pilot program, the Administrator shall require the 
        recipient of the grant to contribute an amount equal to 25 
        percent of the amount of the grant, obtained solely from 
        existing or new non-Federal sources.
            (2) Form.--In addition to cash or other direct funding, the 
        contribution required under paragraph (1) may include indirect 
        costs or in-kind contributions paid for under non-Federal 
        programs.
    (h) Responsibilities.--A recipient of a grant under the pilot 
program shall, to the maximum extent possible, connect covered 
individuals to a range of Federal resources, including--
            (1) the program established under section 7(m) of the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m));
            (2) the Community Advantage Pilot Program of the 
        Administration;
            (3) small business development centers;
            (4) women's business centers described in section 29 of the 
        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656);
            (5) chapters of the Service Corps of Retired Executives 
        established under section 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act 
        ((15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B));
            (6) Veteran Business Outreach Centers described in section 
        32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657b); and
            (7) business centers established by the Minority Business 
        Development Agency.
    (i) Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
        which the Administrator establishes the pilot program, and 
        every year thereafter until the pilot program terminates, the 
        Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 
        activities of the pilot program, including--
                    (A) a list of each grantee organization and each 
                partner organization;
                    (B) the characteristics of covered individuals 
                assisted under the entrepreneurship development 
                programs, including race and ethnicity, gender, age, 
                marital status, parental status, employment status, 
                income, banking and credit history, and prior business 
                experience;
                    (C) the participation and attendance rates for all 
                components of the entrepreneurship development 
                programs;
                    (D) the program retention rate;
                    (E) to the greatest extent practicable, the most 
                common reasons why participants do not complete the 
                program;
                    (F) the percentage of participants who remain non-
                justice involved during the calendar year of the 
                program;
                    (G) the level of the covered individuals' 
                understanding of business concepts and principles;
                    (H) the level of the covered individuals' greater 
                confidence in leadership strengths, including the 
                results of an industry-recognized behavioral 
                assessment;
                    (I) the covered individuals' progress made toward 
                establishing a business;
                    (J) the experiences and perceptions of the covered 
                individuals;
                    (K) the number and dollar amount of loans made to 
                covered individuals;
                    (L) the number and dollar amount of loans made or 
                guaranteed by the Administration to covered 
                individuals; and
                    (M) such additional information as the 
                Administrator may require.
            (2) GAO report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
        which the pilot program terminates, the Comptroller General of 
        the United States shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
        Congress a report that evaluates--
                    (A) the services that grant recipients provided to 
                covered individuals assisted under entrepreneurship 
                development programs;
                    (B) oversight of the pilot program by the 
                Administrator, including policies and procedures for 
                monitoring the compliance by grant recipients with 
                pilot program requirements and an assessment of the 
                effectiveness of the pilot program; and
                    (C) the overall performance of the pilot program 
                and the impacts of the pilot program on grant 
                recipients.
    (j) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to 
affect the program established under section 7(m) of the Small Business 
Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)), including--
            (1) the requirements of that program;
            (2) the manner in which that program is carried out; or
            (3) the use or availability of any amounts that have been 
        made available to carry out that program.
    (k) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator such sums as are necessary to carry 
out the pilot program.
    (l) Termination.--The pilot program shall terminate on the date 
that is 5 years after the date on which the Administrator establishes 
the pilot program.
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