I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1778

To establish a commission on employee ownership. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Mr. BALLENGER (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To establish a commission on employee ownership.

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 ‘‘Employee Ownership 

5 for the Twenty-First Century Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON EMPLOYEE OWN7 ERSHIP. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one year after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 

10 establish a commission to be known as the ‘‘Presidential 
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1 Commission on Employee Ownership’’ (hereafter in this 

2 section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

3 (b) DUTIES AND REPORT.—The Commission shall—

4 (1) conduct a study concerning all issues that 

5 affect ownership of businesses in the United States 

6 with a primary focus on the issues that affect em7 ployee ownership of such businesses, and 

8 (2) not later than two years after the date of 

9 its establishment, submit a final report to the Presi10 dent and the Congress which includes the findings 

11 and recommendations of the Commission. 

12 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com13 posed of 15 members appointed by the President as fol14 lows: 

15 (1) Three individuals, each of whom is an em16 ployee of a corporation that has at least 50 percent 

17 of its voting stock in a trust for the benefit of em18 ployees and who is not an officer or senior manager 

19 of that corporation. 

20 (2) Three individuals, each of whom is an em21 ployee of a corporation that has at least 50 percent 

22 of its voting stock in a trust for the benefit of em23 ployees and who is an officer of senior manager of 

24 that corporation. 
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1 (3) Three individuals, each of whom is a pro2 fessor employed by an institution of higher learning. 

3 (4) Three individuals, each of whom is em4 ployed by a not-for-profit entity that has as its pri5 mary mission issues arising from employee owner6 ship of businesses. 

7 (5) The Secretary of Labor, or his designee, the 

8 Secretary of the Treasury, or his designee, and the 

9 Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 

10 or his designee. 

11 (d) STAFF.—The Commission shall have such num12 ber of staff as the President shall determine, except that 

13 such staff shall include not less than five full-time employ14 ees. 

15 (e) GIFT AND BEQUESTS.—The Commission may ac16 cept, use, and dispose of gifts or bequests or services or 

17 personal property for the purpose of aiding or facilitating 

18 the work of the Commission. Gifts or bequests shall be 

19 deposited in the Treasury and shall be available for dis20 bursement upon order of the Commission. 

21 SEC. 3. STUDY OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES AFFECTING EM22 PLOYEE-OWNED AND EMPLOYEE-CON23 TROLLED CORPORATIONS. 

24 The Comptroller-General of the United States—
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1 (1) conduct a study of all Federal Government 

2 regulations and policies that might impact the cre3 ation and operation of an employee-owned corpora4 tion, 

5 (2) identify those regulations and policies that 

6 are barriers to employee ownership, and 

7 (3) not later than one year after the date of the 

8 enactment of the Act, submit a report on the find9 ings of such study, together with such recommenda10 tions as the Comptroller General determines appro11 priate, to the Congress.

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