IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5065 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 9, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prison to Proprietor3 ship for Formerly Incarcerated Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND 

5 TRAINING FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED 

6 INDIVIDUALS. 

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

8 amended— 

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

10 and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 

12 new section: 

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

14 AND TRAINING FOR FORMERLY INCARCER15 ATED INDIVIDUALS. 

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

17 coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 

18 shall require the Service Corps of Retired Executives to 

19 provide entrepreneurship counseling and training services 

20 to individuals formerly incarcerated in a Federal prison 

21 (hereinafter referred to as ‘covered individuals’) on a na22 tionwide basis. 

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

24 this section is to provide covered individuals with the fol25 lowing: 


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

2 videos designed specifically for covered individuals 

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

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

5 identify a business opportunity, including how to— 

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

7 and transition plan; 

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

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

10 business concerns. 

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

12 provided under this section shall include— 

13 ‘‘(1) regular individualized mentoring sessions, 

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

15 development of the business plans of covered individ16 uals and the growth of covered individuals as entre17 preneurs; 

18 ‘‘(2) assistance with identifying of local re19 sources for small business concerns for covered indi20 viduals; 

21 ‘‘(3) assistance with identifying sources of cap22 ital, and when appropriate, assistance with pre23 paring applications for loans and other funding op24 portunities; and 


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

2 meet the needs of covered individuals. 

3 ‘‘(d) SURVEY.—The Service Corps of Retired Execu4 tives shall survey covered individuals who received services 

5 under this section to assess the satisfaction of such cov6 ered individuals with such services. 

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

8 of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 

9 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small 

10 Business of the House of Representatives and the Com11 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

12 Senate a report on the performance and effectiveness of 

13 the services provided under this section, which may be in14 cluded as part of another report submitted to such com15 mittees by the Administrator, and which shall include— 

16 ‘‘(1) the number of covered individuals 

17 mentored under this section; 

18 ‘‘(2) the number of hours of mentorship pro19 vided by the Service Corps of Retired Executives 

20 under this section; 

21 ‘‘(3) the demographics of covered individuals 

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

23 and ethnicity; 

24 ‘‘(4) a summary and analysis of surveys con25 ducted under subsection (d); and 


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1 ‘‘(5) any additional information the Adminis2 trator may require.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 8, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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