I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5078 

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

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2019 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself and Mr. CHABOT) 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 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 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RE-ENTRY ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND 

7 TRAINING FOR INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS. 

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

9 amended— 


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

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following 

4 new section: 

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

6 AND TRAINING FOR INCARCERATED INDIVID7 UALS. 

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

9 coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 

10 shall require women’s business centers and small business 

11 development centers identified under the plan described in 

12 subsection (b) to provide entrepreneurship counseling and 

13 training services to covered individuals. 

14 ‘‘(b) PLAN.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con16 sultation with an association formed to pursue mat17 ters of common concern to women’s business centers 

18 and an association of small business development 

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

20 shall develop a plan, which shall be updated annu21 ally, to match women’s business centers and small 

22 business development centers with covered individ23 uals in Federal prisons who are eligible to receive 

24 services under this section. 


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

2 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 

3 prioritize matching the women’s business center or 

4 small business development center in closest prox5 imity to the applicable Federal prison to provide 

6 such services. 

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

8 women’s business center or small business develop9 ment center identified under the plan in paragraph 

10 (1) is unable to provide such services to covered in11 dividuals in such Federal prison, another women’s 

12 business center or small business development cen13 ter, an association of women’s business centers, or 

14 an association of small business development centers 

15 shall provide such services in accordance with the re16 quirements of this section. 

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

18 this section is to provide covered individuals with the fol19 lowing: 

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

21 start or expand a small business concern. 

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

23 identify a business opportunity, including how to— 

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

25 transition plan; 


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

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

3 business concerns. 

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

5 provided under this section shall include— 

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

7 opportunities involved in self-employment and own8 ership of a small business concern; 

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

10 basic skills of entrepreneurship, financial literacy, 

11 the language of business, and the considerations and 

12 life skills relevant to self-employment and ownership 

13 of a small business concern; 

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

15 instruction introducing the foundations of self-em16 ployment and ownership of small business concerns, 

17 including guided discussions to explore personal en18 trepreneurial development interests; 

19 ‘‘(4) in-depth training delivered through one-on20 one mentorship, including individual support in the 

21 development of a business plan, entrepreneurial 

22 skills, and strategies for starting up a small business 

23 concern; and 

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

25 training, a presentation of a certificate. 


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1 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—The Administrator shall, to the ex2 tent practicable, ensure that women’s business centers and 

3 small business development centers prioritize providing en4 trepreneurship counseling and training services to covered 

5 individuals who will be released from Federal custody not 

6 later than 18 months after the date on which such a cov7 ered individual begins to receive such services. 

8 ‘‘(f) CONTINUATION OF SERVICES.—A covered indi9 vidual receiving services under this section may continue 

10 to receive such services after release from Federal custody. 

11 ‘‘(g) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out this sec12 tion, the Administrator may award a grant to an associa13 tion formed to pursue matters of common concern to wom14 en’s business centers or small business development cen15 ters to coordinate the services described under this section, 

16 including to develop curriculum, train mentors and in17 structors, and establish public-private partnerships to sup18 port covered individuals and identify opportunities to ac19 cess capital. 

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

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

22 business development centers, an association of women’s 

23 business centers, or an association of small business devel24 opment centers any curriculum or course materials devel25 oped pursuant to this section. 


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

2 small business development center that provided services 

3 under this section shall survey covered individuals who re4 ceived such services to assess the satisfaction of such cov5 ered individuals with such services. 

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

7 of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 

8 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small 

9 Business of the House of Representatives and the Com10 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

11 Senate a report on the performance and effectiveness of 

12 the services provided under this section, which may be in13 cluded as part of another report submitted to such com14 mittees by the Administrator, and which shall include— 

15 ‘‘(1) the number of covered individuals coun16 seled or trained under this section; 

17 ‘‘(2) the number of hours of counseling pro18 vided by each women’s business center and each 

19 small business development center under this sec20 tion; 

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

22 subsection (d)(5); 

23 ‘‘(4) the demographics of covered individuals 

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

25 and ethnicity; 


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1 ‘‘(5) the level of understanding of business con2 cepts of covered individuals upon completion of the 

3 counseling and training described under this section; 

4 ‘‘(6) a summary and analysis of surveys con5 ducted under subsection (i); and 

6 ‘‘(7) any additional information the Adminis7 trator may require. 

8 ‘‘(k) COVERED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this sec9 tion, the term ‘covered individual’ means an individual in10 carcerated in a Federal prison that the Director of the 

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

12 medium security prison. 

13 ‘‘(l) FUNDING.—Subject to the availability of appro14 priations, the Administrator shall reimburse women’s 

15 business centers, small business development centers, an 

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

17 of small business development centers for the costs relat18 ing to the services provided under the section.’’. 

Æ 


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