I 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prison to Proprietor5 ship for Formerly Incarcerated Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND 

2 TRAINING FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED 

3 INDIVIDUALS. 

4 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating section 49 as section 50; 

7 and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 

9 new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 49. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING 

11 AND TRAINING FOR FORMERLY INCARCER12 ATED INDIVIDUALS. 

13 ‘‘(a) SERVICES REQUIRED.—The Administrator, in 

14 coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 

15 shall require the Service Corps of Retired Executives to 

16 provide entrepreneurship counseling and training services 

17 to individuals formerly incarcerated in a Federal prison 

18 (hereinafter referred to as ‘covered individuals’) on a na19 tionwide basis. 

20 ‘‘(b) GOALS.—The goal of the services provided under 

21 this section is to provide covered individuals with the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(1) Mentoring, workshops, and instructional 

24 videos designed specifically for covered individuals 

25 on how to start or expand a small business concern. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to 

2 identify a business opportunity, including how to— 

3 ‘‘(A) draft a skills profile, business plan, 

4 and transition plan; 

5 ‘‘(B) identify sources of capital; and 

6 ‘‘(C) connect with local resources for small 

7 business concerns. 

8 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The services 

9 provided under this section shall include— 

10 ‘‘(1) regular individualized mentoring sessions, 

11 to take place over the course of a year, to support 

12 development of the business plans of covered individ13 uals and the growth of covered individuals as entre14 preneurs; 

15 ‘‘(2) assistance with identifying of local re16 sources for small business concerns for covered indi17 viduals; 

18 ‘‘(3) assistance with identifying sources of cap19 ital, and when appropriate, assistance with pre20 paring applications for loans and other funding op21 portunities; and 

22 ‘‘(4) workshops on topics specifically tailored to 

23 meet the needs of covered individuals. 

24 ‘‘(d) SURVEY.—The Service Corps of Retired Execu25 tives shall survey covered individuals who received services 


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1 under this section to assess the satisfaction of such cov2 ered individuals with such services. 

3 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 

5 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small 

6 Business of the House of Representatives and the Com7 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

8 Senate a report on the performance and effectiveness of 

9 the services provided under this section, which may be in10 cluded as part of another report submitted to such com11 mittees by the Administrator, and which shall include— 

12 ‘‘(1) the number of covered individuals 

13 mentored under this section; 

14 ‘‘(2) the number of hours of mentorship pro15 vided by the Service Corps of Retired Executives 

16 under this section; 

17 ‘‘(3) the demographics of covered individuals 

18 who received services, including age, gender, race, 

19 and ethnicity; 

20 ‘‘(4) a summary and analysis of surveys con21 ducted under subsection (d); and 

22 ‘‘(5) any additional information the Adminis23 trator may require.’’. 

Æ 


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