IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5078 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 13, 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 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 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND 

5 TRAINING FOR INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS. 

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

7 amended— 

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

9 and 

10 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 

11 new section: 

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

13 AND TRAINING FOR INCARCERATED INDIVID14 UALS. 

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

16 coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 

17 shall require women’s business centers and small business 

18 development centers identified under the plan described in 

19 subsection (b) to provide entrepreneurship counseling and 

20 training services to covered individuals. 

21 ‘‘(b) PLAN.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con23 sultation with an association formed to pursue mat24 ters of common concern to women’s business centers 

25 and an association of small business development 

26 centers formed pursuant to section 21(a)(3)(A), 


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1 shall develop a plan, which shall be updated annu2 ally, to match women’s business centers and small 

3 business development centers with covered individ4 uals in Federal prisons who are eligible to receive 

5 services under this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) MATCHING.—In determining matches 

7 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 

8 prioritize matching the women’s business center or 

9 small business development center in closest prox10 imity to the applicable Federal prison to provide 

11 such services. 

12 ‘‘(3) ASSOCIATION RESPONSIBILITIES.—If the 

13 women’s business center or small business develop14 ment center identified under the plan in paragraph 

15 (1) is unable to provide such services to covered in16 dividuals in such Federal prison, another women’s 

17 business center or small business development cen18 ter, an association of women’s business centers, or 

19 an association of small business development centers 

20 shall provide such services in accordance with the re21 quirements of this section. 

22 ‘‘(c) GOALS.—The goal of the services provided under 

23 this section is to provide covered individuals with the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Assistance and in-depth training on how to 

2 start or expand a small business concern. 

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

4 identify a business opportunity, including how to— 

5 ‘‘(A) draft a resume, business plan, and 

6 transition plan; 

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

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

9 business concerns. 

10 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The services 

11 provided under this section shall include— 

12 ‘‘(1) a presentation providing exposure to the 

13 opportunities involved in self-employment and own14 ership of a small business concern; 

15 ‘‘(2) a self-study course manual focused on the 

16 basic skills of entrepreneurship, financial literacy, 

17 the language of business, and the considerations and 

18 life skills relevant to self-employment and ownership 

19 of a small business concern; 

20 ‘‘(3) five two-day sessions of in-depth classroom 

21 instruction introducing the foundations of self-em22 ployment and ownership of small business concerns, 

23 including guided discussions to explore personal en24 trepreneurial development interests; 


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1 ‘‘(4) in-depth training delivered through one-on2 one mentorship, including individual support in the 

3 development of a business plan, entrepreneurial 

4 skills, and strategies for starting up a small business 

5 concern; and 

6 ‘‘(5) upon completion of the counseling and 

7 training, a presentation of a certificate. 

8 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—The Administrator shall, to the ex9 tent practicable, ensure that women’s business centers and 

10 small business development centers prioritize providing en11 trepreneurship counseling and training services to covered 

12 individuals who will be released from Federal custody not 

13 later than 18 months after the date on which such a cov14 ered individual begins to receive such services. 

15 ‘‘(f) CONTINUATION OF SERVICES.—A covered indi16 vidual receiving services under this section may continue 

17 to receive such services after release from Federal custody. 

18 ‘‘(g) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out this sec19 tion, the Administrator may, subject to appropriation, 

20 award a grant to an association formed to pursue matters 

21 of common concern to women’s business centers or small 

22 business development centers to coordinate the services 

23 described under this section, including to develop cur24 riculum, train mentors and instructors, and establish pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.RFS H5078

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1 lic-private partnerships to support covered individuals and 

2 identify opportunities to access capital. 

3 ‘‘(h) CURRICULUM.—The Administration shall print 

4 and make available to women’s business centers, small 

5 business development centers, an association of women’s 

6 business centers, or an association of small business devel7 opment centers any curriculum or course materials devel8 oped pursuant to this section. 

9 ‘‘(i) SURVEY.—Each women’s business center or 

10 small business development center that provided services 

11 under this section shall survey covered individuals who re12 ceived such services to assess the satisfaction of such cov13 ered individuals with such services. 

14 ‘‘(j) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

15 of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 

16 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small 

17 Business of the House of Representatives and the Com18 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

19 Senate a report on the performance and effectiveness of 

20 the services provided under this section, which may be in21 cluded as part of another report submitted to such com22 mittees by the Administrator, and which shall include— 

23 ‘‘(1) the number of covered individuals coun24 seled or trained under this section; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the number of hours of counseling pro2 vided by each women’s business center and each 

3 small business development center under this sec4 tion; 

5 ‘‘(3) the number of certificates presented under 

6 subsection (d)(5); 

7 ‘‘(4) the demographics of covered individuals 

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

9 and ethnicity; 

10 ‘‘(5) the level of understanding of business con11 cepts of covered individuals upon completion of the 

12 counseling and training described under this section; 

13 ‘‘(6) a summary and analysis of surveys con14 ducted under subsection (i); and 

15 ‘‘(7) any additional information the Adminis16 trator may require. 

17 ‘‘(k) COVERED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this sec18 tion, the term ‘covered individual’ means an individual in19 carcerated in a Federal prison that the Director of the 

20 Bureau of Prisons has designated as a minimum, low, or 

21 medium security prison. 

22 ‘‘(l) FUNDING.—Subject to the availability of appro23 priations, the Administrator shall reimburse women’s 

24 business centers, small business development centers, an 

25 association of women’s business centers, or an association 


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1 of small business development centers for the costs relat2 ing to the services provided under the section.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 9, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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