II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1877 

To jump-start economic recovery through the formation and growth of new 

businesses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 

Mr. MORAN (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. BLUNT, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To jump-start economic recovery through the formation and 

growth of new businesses, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Startup Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Conditional permanent resident status for immigrants with an advanced 

degree in a STEM field. 

Sec. 4. Immigrant entrepreneurs. 


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Sec. 5. Elimination of the per country numerical limitation for employmentbased visas. 

Sec. 6. Accelerated commercialization of taxpayer-funded research. 

Sec. 7. Regional innovation program. 

Sec. 8. Economic impact of significant Federal agency rules. 

Sec. 9. Biennial State startup business report. 

Sec. 10. New business formation report. 

Sec. 11. Rescission of unspent Federal funds. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Achieving economic recovery will require the 

4 formation and growth of new companies. 

5 (2) Between 1980 and 2005, companies less 

6 than 5 years old accounted for nearly all net job cre7 ation in the United States. 

8 (3) New firms in the United States create an 

9 average of 3,000,000 jobs per year. 

10 (4) To get Americans back to work, entre11 preneurs must be free to innovate, create new com12 panies, and hire employees. 

13 SEC. 3. CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR 

14 IMMIGRANTS WITH AN ADVANCED DEGREE 

15 IN A STEM FIELD. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title II of the Immi17 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is 

18 amended by inserting after section 216A the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 216B. CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS 

2 FOR ALIENS WITH AN ADVANCED DEGREE IN 

3 A STEM FIELD. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro5 vision of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

6 may adjust the status of not more than 50,000 aliens who 

7 have earned a master’s degree or a doctorate degree at 

8 an institution of higher education in a STEM field to that 

9 of an alien conditionally admitted for permanent residence 

10 and authorize each alien granted such adjustment of sta11 tus to remain in the United States— 

12 ‘‘(1) for up to 1 year after the expiration of the 

13 alien’s student visa under section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) if 

14 the alien is diligently searching for an opportunity to 

15 become actively engaged in a STEM field; and 

16 ‘‘(2) indefinitely if the alien remains actively en17 gaged in a STEM field. 

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR CONDITIONAL PERMANENT

19 RESIDENT STATUS.—Every alien applying for a condi20 tional permanent resident status under this section shall 

21 submit an application to the Secretary of Homeland Secu22 rity before the expiration of the alien’s student visa in 

23 such form and manner as the Secretary shall prescribe 

24 by regulation. 

25 ‘‘(c) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS26 SISTANCE.—An alien granted conditional permanent resiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Oct 03, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1877.IS S1877

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1 dent status under this section shall not be eligible, while 

2 in such status, for— 

3 ‘‘(1) any unemployment compensation (as de4 fined in section 85(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 

5 of 1986); or 

6 ‘‘(2) any Federal means-tested public benefit 

7 (as that term is used in section 403 of the Personal 

8 Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 

9 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1613)). 

10 ‘‘(d) EFFECT ON NATURALIZATION RESIDENCY RE11 QUIREMENT.—An alien granted conditional permanent 

12 resident status under this section shall be deemed to have 

13 been lawfully admitted for permanent residence for pur14 poses of meeting the 5-year residency requirement under 

15 section 316(a)(1). 

16 ‘‘(e) REMOVAL OF CONDITION.—The Secretary of 

17 Homeland Security shall remove the conditional basis of 

18 an alien’s conditional permanent resident status under 

19 this section on the date that is 5 years after the date such 

20 status was granted if the alien maintained his or her eligi21 bility for such status during the entire 5-year period. 

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN A STEM FIELD.— 

24 The term ‘actively engaged in a STEM field’— 

25 ‘‘(A) means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) gainfully employed in a for-profit 

2 business or nonprofit organization in the 

3 United States in a STEM field; 

4 ‘‘(ii) teaching 1 or more STEM field 

5 courses at an institution of higher edu6 cation; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) employed by a Federal, State, or 

8 local government entity; and 

9 ‘‘(B) includes any period of up to 6 

10 months during which the alien does not meet 

11 the requirement under subparagraph (A) if 

12 such period was immediately preceded by a 1- 

13 year period during which the alien met the re14 quirement under subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

16 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

17 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

19 ‘‘(3) STEM FIELD.—The term ‘STEM field’ 

20 means any field of study or occupation included on 

21 the most recent STEM-Designated Degree Program 

22 List published in the Federal Register by the De23 partment of Homeland Security (as described in sec24 tion 214.2(f)(11)(i)(C)(2) of title 8, Code of Federal 

25 Regulations).’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 

3 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

4 to section 216A the following: 

‘‘Sec. 216B. Conditional permanent resident status for aliens with an advanced 

degree in a STEM field.’’. 

5 (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

6 STUDY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp9 troller General of the United States shall submit to 

10 Congress a report on the alien college graduates 

11 granted immigrant status under section 216B of the 

12 Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by sub13 section (a). 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

15 paragraph (1) shall include— 

16 (A) the number of aliens described in para17 graph (1) who have earned a master’s degree, 

18 broken down by the number of such degrees in 

19 science, technology, engineering, and mathe20 matics; 

21 (B) the number of aliens described in 

22 paragraph (1) who have earned a doctorate de23 gree, broken down by the number of such deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Oct 03, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1877.IS S1877

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1 grees in science, technology, engineering, and 

2 mathematics; 

3 (C) the number of aliens described in para4 graph (1) who have founded a business in the 

5 United States in a STEM field; 

6 (D) the number of aliens described in 

7 paragraph (1) who are employed in the United 

8 States in a STEM field, broken down by em9 ployment sector (for-profit, nonprofit, or gov10 ernment); and 

11 (E) the number of aliens described in para12 graph (1) who are employed by an institution of 

13 higher education. 

14 (3) DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘institution of 

15 higher education’’ and ‘‘STEM field’’ have the 

16 meaning given such terms in section 216B(f) of the 

17 Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by sub18 section (a). 

19 SEC. 4. IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS. 

20 (a) QUALIFIED ALIEN ENTREPRENEURS.— 

21 (1) ADMISSION AS IMMIGRANTS.—Chapter 1 of 

22 title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

23 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 210A. QUALIFIED ALIEN ENTREPRENEURS. 

2 ‘‘(a) ADMISSION AS IMMIGRANTS.—The Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security, in accordance with the provisions of 

4 this section and of section 216A, may issue a conditional 

5 immigrant visa to not more than 75,000 qualified alien 

6 entrepreneurs. 

7 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR CONDITIONAL PERMANENT

8 RESIDENT STATUS.—Every alien applying for a condi9 tional immigrant visa under this section shall submit an 

10 application to the Secretary of Homeland Security in such 

11 form and manner as the Secretary shall prescribe by regu12 lation. 

13 ‘‘(c) REVOCATION.—If, during the 4-year period be14 ginning on the date on which an alien is granted a visa 

15 under this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security de16 termines that such alien is no longer a qualified alien en17 trepreneur, the Secretary shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) revoke such visa; and 

19 ‘‘(2) notify the alien that the alien— 

20 ‘‘(A) may voluntarily depart from the 

21 United States in accordance to section 240B; or 

22 ‘‘(B) will be subject to removal proceedings 

23 under section 240 if the alien does not depart 

24 from the United States not later than 6 months 

25 after receiving notification under this para26 graph. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REMOVAL OF CONDITIONAL BASIS.—The Sec2 retary of Homeland Security shall remove the conditional 

3 basis of the status of an alien issued an immigrant visa 

4 under this section on that date that is 4 years after the 

5 date on which such visa was issued if such visa was not 

6 revoked pursuant to subsection (c). 

7 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘full9 time employee’ means a United States citizen or 

10 legal permanent resident who is paid by the new 

11 business entity registered by a qualified alien entre12 preneur at a rate that is comparable to the median 

13 income of employees in the region. 

14 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED ALIEN ENTREPRENEUR.—The 

15 term ‘qualified alien entrepreneur’ means an alien 

16 who— 

17 ‘‘(A) at the time the alien applies for an 

18 immigrant visa under this section— 

19 ‘‘(i) is lawfully present in the United 

20 States; and 

21 ‘‘(ii)(I) holds a nonimmigrant visa 

22 pursuant to section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b); or 

23 ‘‘(II) holds a nonimmigrant visa pur24 suant to section 101(a)(15)(F)(i); 


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1 ‘‘(B) during the 1-year period beginning on 

2 the date the alien is granted a visa under this 

3 section— 

4 ‘‘(i) registers at least 1 new business 

5 entity in a State; 

6 ‘‘(ii) employs, at such business entity 

7 in the United States, at least 2 full-time 

8 employees who are not relatives of the 

9 alien; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) invests, or raises capital invest11 ment of, not less than $100,000 in such 

12 business entity; and 

13 ‘‘(C) during the 3-year period beginning on 

14 the last day of the 1-year period described in 

15 paragraph (2), employs, at such business entity 

16 in the United States, an average of at least 5 

17 full-time employees who are not relatives of the 

18 alien.’’. 

19 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents in the first section of the Immigration and Na21 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended by 

22 adding after the item relating to section 210 the fol23 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 210A. Qualified alien entrepreneurs.’’. 


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1 (b) CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STA2 TUS.—Section 216A of the Immigration and Nationality 

3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186b) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place 

5 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(C), by striking 

8 ‘‘203(b)(5),’’ and inserting ‘‘203(b)(5) or 210A, as 

9 appropriate,’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘alien en11 trepreneur must’’ each place such term appears and 

12 inserting ‘‘alien entrepreneur shall’’; 

13 (4) in subsection (d)(1)(B), by striking the pe14 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘or 210A, as appro15 priate.’’; and 

16 (5) in subsection (f)(1), by striking the period 

17 at the end and inserting ‘‘or 210A.’’. 

18 (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

19 STUDY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp22 troller General of the United States shall submit to 

23 Congress a report on the qualified alien entre24 preneurs granted immigrant status under section 


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1 210A of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

2 added by subsection (a). 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para4 graph (1) shall include information regarding— 

5 (A) the number of qualified alien entre6 preneurs who have received immigrant status 

7 under section 210A of the Immigration and Na8 tionality Act, as added by subsection (a), listed 

9 by country of origin; 

10 (B) the localities in which such qualified 

11 alien entrepreneurs have initially settled; 

12 (C) whether such qualified alien entre13 preneurs generally remain in the localities in 

14 which they initially settle; 

15 (D) the types of commercial enterprises 

16 that such qualified alien entrepreneurs have es17 tablished; and 

18 (E) the types and number of jobs created 

19 by such qualified alien entrepreneurs. 

20 SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF THE PER COUNTRY NUMERICAL 

21 LIMITATION FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED 

22 VISAS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(a)(2) of the Immi24 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2)) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AND

2 EMPLOYMENT-BASED’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘(3), (4), and (5),’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘(3) and (4),’’; 

5 (3) by striking ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) of sec6 tion 203’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(a)’’; 

7 (4) by striking ‘‘7’’ and inserting ‘‘15’’; and 

8 (5) by striking ‘‘such subsections’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘such section’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 202 of the 

11 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘both 

15 subsections (a) and (b) of section 203’’ and in16 serting ‘‘section 203(a)’’; and 

17 (B) by striking paragraph (5); and 

18 (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR COUNTRIES AT CEILING.— 

21 If the total number of immigrant visas made available 

22 under section 203(a) to natives of any single foreign state 

23 or dependent area will exceed the numerical limitation 

24 specified in subsection (a)(2) in any fiscal year, in deter25 mining the allotment of immigrant visa numbers to natives 


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1 under section 203(a), visa numbers with respect to natives 

2 of that state or area shall be allocated (to the extent prac3 ticable and otherwise consistent with this section and sec4 tion 203) in a manner so that, except as provided in sub5 section (a)(4), the proportion of the visa numbers made 

6 available under each of paragraphs (1) through (4) of sec7 tion 203(a) is equal to the ratio of the total number of 

8 visas made available under the respective paragraph to the 

9 total number of visas made available under section 

10 203(a).’’. 

11 (c) COUNTRY-SPECIFIC OFFSET.—Section 2 of the 

12 Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 (8 U.S.C. 1255 

13 note) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subsection 

15 (e))’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d))’’; and 

16 (2) by striking subsection (d) and redesignating 

17 subsection (e) as subsection (d). 

18 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall take effect on September 30, 2017, and 

20 shall apply to fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 2018. 

21 (e) TRANSITION RULES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED

22 IMMIGRANTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to of this subsection 

24 and notwithstanding title II of the Immigration and 


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1 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.), the fol2 lowing rules shall apply: 

3 (A) For fiscal year 2018, 15 percent of the 

4 immigrant visas made available under each of 

5 paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 203(b) of 

6 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) shall be allotted to 

7 immigrants who are natives of a foreign state 

8 or dependent area that was not one of the two 

9 states with the largest aggregate numbers of 

10 natives obtaining immigrant visas during fiscal 

11 year 2016 under such paragraphs. 

12 (B) For fiscal year 2019, 10 percent of the 

13 immigrant visas made available under each of 

14 such paragraphs shall be allotted to immigrants 

15 who are natives of a foreign state or dependent 

16 area that was not one of the two states with the 

17 largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining 

18 immigrant visas during fiscal year 2017 under 

19 such paragraphs. 

20 (C) For fiscal year 2020, 10 percent of the 

21 immigrant visas made available under each of 

22 such paragraphs shall be allotted to immigrants 

23 who are natives of a foreign state or dependent 

24 area that was not one of the two states with the 

25 largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining 


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1 immigrant visas during fiscal year 2018 under 

2 such paragraphs. 

3 (2) PER-COUNTRY LEVELS.— 

4 (A) RESERVED VISAS.—With respect to 

5 the visas reserved under each of subparagraphs 

6 (A) through (C) of paragraph (1), the number 

7 of such visas made available to natives of any 

8 single foreign state or dependent area in the ap9 propriate fiscal year may not exceed 25 percent 

10 (in the case of a single foreign state) or 2 per11 cent (in the case of a dependent area) of the 

12 total number of such visas. 

13 (B) UNRESERVED VISAS.—With respect to 

14 the immigrant visas made available under each 

15 of paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 203(b) of 

16 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

17 1153(b)) and not reserved under paragraph (1), 

18 for each of fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020, 

19 not more than 85 percent shall be allotted to 

20 immigrants who are natives of any single for21 eign state. 

22 (3) SPECIAL RULE TO PREVENT UNUSED

23 VISAS.—If, with respect to fiscal year 2018, 2019, or 

24 2020, the operation of paragraphs (1) and (2) would 

25 prevent the total number of immigrant visas made 


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1 available under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 

2 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1153(b)) from being issued, such visas may 

4 be issued during the remainder of such fiscal year 

5 without regard to such paragraphs (1) and (2). 

6 (4) RULES FOR CHARGEABILITY.—Section 

7 202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

8 U.S.C. 1152(b)) shall apply in determining the for9 eign state to which an alien is chargeable for pur10 poses of this subsection. 

11 SEC. 6. ACCELERATED COMMERCIALIZATION OF TAX12 PAYER-FUNDED RESEARCH. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

15 Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneur16 ship of the Department of Commerce established 

17 pursuant to section 25(c) of the Stevenson-Wydler 

18 Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 

19 3720(c)). 

20 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means— 

22 (A) an institution of higher education; or 

23 (B) a venture development organization. 

24 (3) EXTRAMURAL BUDGET.—The term ‘‘extra25 mural budget’’ means the sum of the total obligaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Oct 03, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1877.IS S1877

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1 tions minus amounts obligated for such activities by 

2 employees of the agency in or through Government3 owned, Government-operated facilities, except that 

4 for the Department of Energy it shall not include 

5 amounts obligated for atomic energy defense pro6 grams solely for weapons activities or for naval reac7 tor programs, and except that for the Agency for 

8 International Development it shall not include 

9 amounts obligated solely for general institutional 

10 support of international research centers or for 

11 grants to foreign countries. 

12 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

13 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

15 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

16 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

17 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an entity or organi18 zation— 

19 (A)(i) described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

20 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

21 (ii) exempt from taxation under 501(a) of 

22 such Act; or 

23 (B) described in paragraph (1) or (2) of 

24 section 170(c) of such Act. 


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1 (6) RESEARCH OR RESEARCH AND DEVELOP2 MENT.—The terms ‘‘research’’ and ‘‘research and 

3 development’’ mean any activity that is— 

4 (A) a systematic, intensive study directed 

5 toward greater knowledge or understanding of 

6 the subject studied; 

7 (B) a systematic study directed specifically 

8 toward applying new knowledge to meet a rec9 ognized need; or 

10 (C) a systematic application of knowledge 

11 toward the production of useful materials, de12 vices, and systems or methods, including design, 

13 development, and improvement of prototypes 

14 and new processes to meet specific require15 ments. 

16 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Commerce. 

18 (8) STATE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘State 

19 organization’’ means an entity that has been created 

20 by a State, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia. 

21 (9) VENTURE DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION.— 

22 The term ‘‘venture development organization’’ 

23 means a nonprofit organization or a State organiza24 tion that contributes to regional or sector-based eco25 nomic prosperity by providing a portfolio of services 


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1 intended to accomplish at least 3 of the following 

2 purposes: 

3 (A) Accelerating the commercialization of 

4 research or research and development. 

5 (B) Assisting in the creation of high6 growth private enterprises that are commer7 cializing technology. 

8 (C) Strengthening the competitive position 

9 of existing small and medium-sized enterprises 

10 through the development, commercial adoption, 

11 or deployment of technology. 

12 (D) Providing expert assistance to— 

13 (i) private companies; 

14 (ii) faculty, staff, and students of in15 stitutions of higher education who are com16 mercializing new products or services; or 

17 (iii) entrepreneurs who are commer18 cializing new products or services. 

19 (E) Providing financial grants, loans, or 

20 direct financial investment in companies that 

21 are commercializing technology. 

22 (b) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency that 

24 has an extramural budget for research or research 

25 and development that is in excess of $100,000,000 


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1 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022, shall 

2 transfer 0.15 percent of such extramural budget for 

3 each of such fiscal years to the Secretary to enable 

4 the Secretary to carry out a grant program in ac5 cordance with this subsection. 

6 (2) GRANTS.— 

7 (A) AWARDING OF GRANTS.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—From funds trans9 ferred under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

10 shall use the criteria developed by the 

11 Council to award grants to eligible entities 

12 for initiatives to improve commercialization 

13 and transfer of technology. 

14 (ii) REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.—Not 

15 later than 30 days after the Council sub16 mits the recommendations for criteria to 

17 the Secretary under subsection (c)(4)(B), 

18 and annually thereafter for each fiscal year 

19 for which the grant program is authorized, 

20 the Secretary shall release a request for 

21 proposals. 

22 (iii) APPLICATIONS.—Eligible entities 

23 that desire to receive a grant under this 

24 subsection shall submit an application to 

25 the Secretary not later than 90 days after 


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1 the Secretary releases the request for pro2 posals under clause (ii). 

3 (iv) COUNCIL REVIEW.— 

4 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

5 shall submit each application received 

6 under clause (iii) to the Council for 

7 Council review. 

8 (II) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

9 Council shall review each application 

10 received under subclause (I) and sub11 mit recommendations for grant 

12 awards to the Secretary, including 

13 funding recommendations for each 

14 proposal. 

15 (III) PUBLIC RELEASE.—The 

16 Council shall publicly release any rec17 ommendations made under subclause 

18 (II). 

19 (IV) CONSIDERATION OF REC20 OMMENDATIONS.—In awarding grants 

21 under this subsection, the Secretary 

22 shall take into consideration the rec23 ommendations of the Council under 

24 subclause (II). 


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1 (B) COMMERCIALIZATION CAPACITY

2 BUILDING GRANTS.— 

3 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

4 award grants to eligible entities to support 

5 specific innovative initiatives to improve 

6 the regional capacity for private compa7 nies, faculty, staff, and students of institu8 tions of higher education, or entrepreneurs 

9 to commercialize technology originating 

10 from federally funded research. 

11 (ii) CONTENT OF PROPOSALS.— 

12 Grants shall be awarded under this sub13 paragraph for proposals demonstrating the 

14 capacity for accelerated commercialization, 

15 proof-of-concept proficiency, and trans16 lating scientific discoveries and cutting17 edge inventions into technological innova18 tions and new companies. In particular, 

19 grant funds shall seek to support innova20 tive approaches to achieving these goals 

21 that can be replicated by other institutions 

22 of higher education or venture development 

23 organizations if the innovative approaches 

24 are successful. 


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1 (3) ASSESSMENT OF SUCCESS.—Grants award2 ed under this subsection shall use criteria for assess3 ing the success of programs through the establish4 ment of benchmarks. 

5 (4) TERMINATION.—The Secretary is author6 ized to terminate grant funding to an eligible entity 

7 in accordance with the process and performance 

8 metrics recommended by the Council. 

9 (5) LIMITATIONS.— 

10 (A) PROJECT MANAGEMENT COSTS.—A 

11 grant recipient may use not more than 10 per12 cent of grant funds awarded under this sub13 section for the purpose of funding project man14 agement costs of the grant program. 

15 (B) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—An 

16 eligible entity that receives a grant under this 

17 subsection shall use the grant funds to supple18 ment, and not to supplant, non-Federal funds 

19 that would, in the absence of such grant funds, 

20 be made available for activities described in this 

21 section. 

22 (6) UNSPENT FUNDS.—Any funds transferred 

23 to the Secretary under paragraph (1) for a fiscal 

24 year that are not expended by the end of such fiscal 

25 year may be expended in any subsequent fiscal year 


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1 through fiscal year 2022. Any funds transferred 

2 under paragraph (1) that are remaining at the end 

3 of the grant program’s authorization under this sub4 section shall be transferred to the Treasury for def5 icit reduction. 

6 (c) COUNCIL.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

9 Council shall convene and develop recommendations 

10 for criteria in awarding grants to eligible entities 

11 under subsection (b). 

12 (2) SUBMISSION TO DEPARTMENT OF COM13 MERCE AND PUBLIC RELEASE.—The Council shall— 

14 (A) submit the recommendations described 

15 in paragraph (1) to the Secretary; and 

16 (B) release the recommendations to the 

17 public. 

18 (3) MAJORITY VOTE.—The recommendations 

19 submitted by the Council under paragraph (2) shall 

20 be determined by a majority vote of Council mem21 bers. 

22 (4) PERFORMANCE METRICS.—The Council 

23 shall develop and provide to the Secretary rec24 ommendations on performance metrics to be used to 

25 evaluate grants awarded under subsection (b). 


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1 (5) EVALUATION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

3 days before the expiration of the grant program 

4 authorized under subsection (b), the Council 

5 shall evaluate the effect of the grant program 

6 on accelerating the commercialization of tech7 nology originating from federally funded re8 search or research and development. 

9 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The evaluation under 

10 subparagraph (A) shall include— 

11 (i) the recommendation of the Council 

12 as to whether the grant program should be 

13 continued or terminated; 

14 (ii) quantitative data related to the ef15 fect, if any, that the grant program has 

16 had on accelerating the commercialization 

17 of technology originating from federally 

18 funded research and research and develop19 ment; and 

20 (iii) a description of the lessons 

21 learned in administering the grant pro22 gram, and how such lessons could be ap23 plied to future efforts to accelerate the 

24 commercialization of technology originating 


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1 from federally funded research or research 

2 and development. 

3 (C) AVAILABILITY.—The results of the 

4 evaluation under subparagraph (A) shall be 

5 made available on a public website and sub6 mitted to Congress. The Secretary shall notify 

7 all institutions of higher education when the 

8 evaluation is published and how it can be 

9 accessed. 

10 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec11 tion may be construed to alter, modify, or amend any pro12 vision of chapter 18 of title 35, United States Code (com13 monly known as the ‘‘Bayh-Dole Act’’). 

14 SEC. 7. REGIONAL INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

15 Section 27 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno16 vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3722) is amended to read 

17 as follows: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 27. REGIONAL INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT DEFINED.—The 

21 term ‘eligible recipient’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) a State; 

23 ‘‘(B) an Indian tribe; 

24 ‘‘(C) a city or other political subdivision of 

25 a State; 


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1 ‘‘(D) an entity that— 

2 ‘‘(i) is a nonprofit organization, an in3 stitution of higher education, a public-pri4 vate partnership, a science or research 

5 park, a Federal laboratory, a venture de6 velopment organization (as defined in sec7 tion 6 of the Startup Act), or an economic 

8 development organization or similar entity 

9 that is focused primarily on improving 

10 science, technology, innovation, and entre11 preneurship; or 

12 ‘‘(E) a consortium of any of the entities 

13 described in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 

14 ‘‘(2) REGIONAL INNOVATION INITIATIVE.—The 

15 term ‘regional innovation initiative’ means a public 

16 or nonprofit activity or program implemented in a 

17 specific geographic area to address issues of greatest 

18 need in the local innovation systems— 

19 ‘‘(A) to increase the success of innovation20 driven startups; 

21 ‘‘(B) to strengthen the competitiveness of 

22 existing businesses through new product innova23 tion; 


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1 ‘‘(C) to improve the pace of market readi2 ness and overall commercialization of innova3 tion; and 

4 ‘‘(D) to enhance the overall innovation ca5 pacity and long-term resilience of the region. 

6 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means one of 

7 the several States of the United States, the District 

8 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

9 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

10 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

11 Islands, or any other territory or possession of the 

12 United States. 

13 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab14 lish a regional innovation program to encourage and sup15 port the development of State and local initiatives de16 signed to increase innovation-driven economic opportunity 

17 within their respective regions. 

18 ‘‘(c) REGIONAL INNOVATION GRANTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.—As part of 

20 the program established under subsection (b), the 

21 Secretary may award grants, on a competitive basis, 

22 to eligible recipients for activities designed to 

23 strengthen the competitiveness of new and existing 

24 innovation-driven businesses within the geographic 


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1 regions identified by eligible recipients before receiv2 ing a grant under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(2) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Grants award4 ed under this subsection may be used for activities 

5 determined appropriate by the Secretary that strive 

6 to achieve 3 or more of the following outcomes: 

7 ‘‘(A) Increasing the availability and invest8 ment of private and philanthropic financing 

9 that supports innovation-based business ven10 tures within geographic regions and populations 

11 that have historically received less venture cap12 ital than the average per capita amount of ven13 ture capital received by businesses throughout 

14 the United States during the previous 3 years, 

15 as determined by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(B) Completing the research, development 

17 and introduction of new products, processes, 

18 and services into the commercial market by 

19 United States companies, as measured by in20 creased revenues, increased sales, greater mar21 ket share, reduce costs, increased market value, 

22 or overall profitability increase, as reported by 

23 the participating companies to the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(C) Increasing the number of full-time 

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1 novation-based business ventures in the geo2 graphic region that pay wages that are higher 

3 than the median for the geographic region. 

4 ‘‘(D) Using innovation, technology, and in5 novation-based business ventures to help the 

6 public and nonprofit sectors— 

7 ‘‘(i) to reduce costs associated with 

8 carrying out their missions and services; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) to achieve other quantifiable effi10 ciencies, savings, or reductions in carrying 

11 out their operations and service delivery. 

12 ‘‘(E) Achieving quantifiable, positive bene13 fits to, or measurable enhancements for, the 

14 economic performance of the geographic region 

15 or the population within the region identified by 

16 the regional innovation program grant recipient 

17 through increased collaboration, productive 

18 partnerships, and strengthened network rela19 tionships (internal and external to the region) 

20 that support the regional innovation system. 

21 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTED ACTIVITIES.—Grants award22 ed under this subsection may not be used to pay 

23 for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) costs related to the construction, ex2 pansion, demolition, renovation, or installation 

3 of physical assets; 

4 ‘‘(B) costs related to the recruitment, in5 ducement, or associated financial or tangible in6 centives that might be offered to relocate an ex7 isting business from a geographic area to an8 other geographic area; or 

9 ‘‘(C) costs associated with offsetting reve10 nues forgone by one or more taxing authorities 

11 through tax incentives, tax increment financing, 

12 special improvement districts, tax abatements 

13 for private development within designated zones 

14 or geographic areas, or other reduction in reve15 nues resulting from tax credits affecting the ge16 ographic region of the eligible recipients. 

17 ‘‘(4) APPLICATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible recipient 

19 shall submit an application to the Secretary at 

20 such time, in such manner, and containing such 

21 information and assurances as the Secretary 

22 may require. 

23 ‘‘(B) COMPONENTS.—Each application 

24 submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include 

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1 tive supported by the proposed activity, includ2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(i) whether the regional innovation 

4 initiative is supported by the private sec5 tor, State and local governments, and 

6 other relevant stakeholders; 

7 ‘‘(ii) which 3 or more of the outcomes 

8 described in paragraph (2) will the regional 

9 innovation initiative address by imple10 menting the activities described in the ap11 plication; 

12 ‘‘(iii) what activities the regional inno13 vation initiative will undertake and how 

14 those activities will achieve the outcomes 

15 described in paragraph (2); 

16 ‘‘(iv) how the eligible recipient will 

17 measure progress toward, and attainment 

18 of, the outcomes addressed by the regional 

19 innovation initiative; 

20 ‘‘(v) whether the participants in the 

21 regional innovation initiative have access 

22 to, or contribute to, a well-trained work23 force and other innovation assets that are 

24 critical to the successful outcomes specified 

25 in the application; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) whether the participants in the 

2 regional innovation initiative are capable of 

3 attracting additional funds from non-Fed4 eral sources; and 

5 ‘‘(vii) if appropriate for the activities 

6 proposed in the application, the likelihood 

7 that the participants in the regional inno8 vation initiative will be able to sustain ac9 tivities after grant funds received under 

10 this subsection have been expended. 

11 ‘‘(C) FEEDBACK.—The Secretary shall 

12 provide feedback to program applicants that are 

13 not awarded grants to help them improve future 

14 applications. 

15 ‘‘(D) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—The 

16 Secretary shall give special consideration to— 

17 ‘‘(i) applications proposing to include 

18 workforce or training related activities in 

19 their regional innovation initiative from eli20 gible recipients who agree to collaborate 

21 with local workforce investment area 

22 boards; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) applications from regions that 

24 contain communities negatively impacted 

25 by trade. 


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1 ‘‘(5) COST SHARE.—The Secretary may not 

2 provide more than 50 percent of the total cost of 

3 any activity funded under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(6) OUTREACH TO RURAL COMMUNITIES.— 

5 The Secretary shall conduct outreach to public and 

6 private sector entities in rural communities to en7 courage those entities to participate in regional inno8 vation initiatives under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(7) FUNDING.—The Secretary may accept 

10 funds from other Federal agencies to support grants 

11 and activities under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(d) REGIONAL INNOVATION RESEARCH AND INFOR13 MATION PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program es15 tablished under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

16 establish a regional innovation research and infor17 mation program— 

18 ‘‘(A) to gather, analyze, and disseminate 

19 information on best practices for regional inno20 vation initiatives, including information relating 

21 to how innovation, productivity, and economic 

22 development can be maximized through such 

23 strategies; 

24 ‘‘(B) to provide technical assistance, in25 cluding through the development of technical 


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1 assistance guides, for the development and im2 plementation of regional innovation initiatives; 

3 ‘‘(C) to support the development of rel4 evant metrics and measurement standards to 

5 evaluate regional innovation initiatives, includ6 ing the extent to which such strategies stimu7 late innovation, productivity, and economic de8 velopment; and 

9 ‘‘(D) to collect and make available data on 

10 regional innovation initiatives in the United 

11 States, including data on— 

12 ‘‘(i) the size, specialization, and com13 petitiveness of regional innovation initia14 tives; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the regional domestic product 

16 contribution, total jobs and earnings by 

17 key occupations, establishment size, nature 

18 of specialization, patents, Federal research 

19 and development spending, and other rel20 evant information for regional innovation 

21 initiatives; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) supply chain product and service 

23 flows within and between regional innova24 tion initiatives. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH GRANTS.—The Secretary may 

2 award research grants on a competitive basis to sup3 port and further the goals of the program estab4 lished under this section. 

5 ‘‘(3) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—Data 

6 and analysis compiled by the Secretary under the 

7 program established in this subsection shall be made 

8 available to other Federal agencies, State and local 

9 governments, and nonprofit and for-profit entities. 

10 ‘‘(4) REGIONAL INNOVATION GRANT PRO11 GRAM.—The Secretary shall incorporate data and 

12 analysis relating to any grant awarded under sub13 section (c) into the program established under this 

14 subsection. 

15 ‘‘(e) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 

17 practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that the ac18 tivities carried out under this section are coordinated 

19 with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, other pro20 grams at the Department of Commerce or at other 

21 Federal agencies. 

22 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

24 explore and pursue collaboration with other 

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1 agency funding opportunities, on regional inno2 vation strategies. 

3 ‘‘(B) SMALL BUSINESSES.—The Secretary 

4 shall ensure that such collaboration with Fed5 eral agencies prioritizes the needs and chal6 lenges of small businesses. 

7 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 

9 after Congress appropriates funds to carry out this 

10 section, the Secretary shall competitively award a 

11 contract with an independent entity to conduct an 

12 evaluation of programs established under this sec13 tion. 

14 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The evaluation con15 ducted under paragraph (1) shall include— 

16 ‘‘(A) an assessment of whether the pro17 gram is achieving its goals; 

18 ‘‘(B) the program’s efficacy in providing 

19 awards to geographically diverse entities; 

20 ‘‘(C) any recommendations for how the 

21 program may be improved; and 

22 ‘‘(D) a recommendation as to whether the 

23 program should be continued or terminated. 

24 ‘‘(g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 

25 year after the first grant is awarded under subsection (c) 


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1 and annually thereafter until 5 years after the last grant 

2 recipient completes the regional innovation initiative for 

3 which such grant was awarded, the Secretary shall submit 

4 a report to Congress that describes the outcome of each 

5 regional innovation initiative that was completed during 

6 the previous 5 years. 

7 ‘‘(h) FUNDING.—From amounts appropriated by 

8 Congress for economic development assistance programs, 

9 the Secretary may use up to $100,000,000 in each of the 

10 fiscal years 2018 through 2024 to carry out this section.’’. 

11 SEC. 8. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL 

12 AGENCY RULES. 

13 Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is amend14 ed by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(f) REQUIRED REVIEW BEFORE ISSUANCE OF SIG16 NIFICANT RULES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINED TERM.—In this subsection the 

18 term ‘significant rule’ means a rule that is likely— 

19 ‘‘(A) to have an annual effect on the econ20 omy of $100,000,000 or more; 

21 ‘‘(B) to adversely affect, in a material way, 

22 the economy, a sector of the economy, produc23 tivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public 

24 health or safety, or State, local, or tribal gov25 ernments or communities; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) to create a serious inconsistency or 

2 otherwise interfere with an action taken or 

3 planned by another agency. 

4 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—Before issuing a notice of pro5 posed rulemaking in the Federal Register regarding 

6 the issuance of a significant rule, the head of the 

7 Federal agency or independent regulatory agency 

8 seeking to issue the rule shall complete a review, to 

9 the extent permitted by law, that— 

10 ‘‘(A) analyzes the problem that the pro11 posed rule intends to address, including— 

12 ‘‘(i) the specific market failure, such 

13 as externalities, market power, or lack of 

14 information, that justifies such rule; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) any other specific problem, such 

16 as the failures of public institutions, that 

17 justifies such rule; 

18 ‘‘(B) analyzes the expected impact of the 

19 proposed rule on the ability of new businesses 

20 to form and expand; 

21 ‘‘(C) identifies the expected impact of the 

22 proposed rule on State, local, and tribal govern23 ments, including the availability of resources— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to carry out the mandates im2 posed by the rule on such government enti3 ties; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) to minimize the burdens that 

5 uniquely or significantly affect such gov6 ernmental entities, consistent with achiev7 ing regulatory objectives; 

8 ‘‘(D) identifies any conflicting or duplica9 tive regulations; 

10 ‘‘(E) determines— 

11 ‘‘(i) if existing laws or regulations cre12 ated, or contributed to, the problem that 

13 the new rule is intended to correct; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) if the laws or regulations re15 ferred to in clause (i) should be modified 

16 to more effectively achieve the intended 

17 goal of the rule; and 

18 ‘‘(F) includes the cost-benefit analysis de19 scribed in paragraph (3). 

20 ‘‘(3) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—A cost-benefit 

21 analysis described in this paragraph shall include— 

22 ‘‘(A)(i) an assessment, including the un23 derlying analysis, of benefits anticipated from 

24 the proposed rule, such as— 


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1 ‘‘(I) promoting the efficient func2 tioning of the economy and private mar3 kets; 

4 ‘‘(II) enhancing health and safety; 

5 ‘‘(III) protecting the natural environ6 ment; and 

7 ‘‘(IV) eliminating or reducing dis8 crimination or bias; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the quantification of the benefits de10 scribed in clause (i), to the extent feasible; 

11 ‘‘(B)(i) an assessment, including the un12 derlying analysis, of costs anticipated from the 

13 proposed rule, such as— 

14 ‘‘(I) the direct costs to the Federal 

15 Government to administer the rule; 

16 ‘‘(II) the direct costs to businesses 

17 and others to comply with the rule; and 

18 ‘‘(III) any adverse effects on the effi19 cient functioning of the economy, private 

20 markets (including productivity, employ21 ment, and competitiveness), health, safety, 

22 and the natural environment; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the quantification of the costs de24 scribed in clause (i), to the extent feasible; 


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1 ‘‘(C)(i) an assessment, including the un2 derlying analysis, of costs and benefits of poten3 tially effective and reasonably feasible alter4 natives to the proposed rule, which have been 

5 identified by the agency or by the public, in6 cluding taking reasonably viable nonregulatory 

7 actions; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) an explanation of why the proposed 

9 rule is preferable to the alternatives identified 

10 under clause (i). 

11 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Before issuing a notice of pro12 posed rulemaking in the Federal Register regarding 

13 the issuance of a significant rule, the head of the 

14 Federal agency or independent regulatory agency 

15 seeking to issue the rule shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) submit the results of the review con17 ducted under paragraph (2) to the appropriate 

18 congressional committees; and 

19 ‘‘(B) post the results of the review con20 ducted under paragraph (2) on a publicly avail21 able website. 

22 ‘‘(5) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any determinations 

23 made, or other actions taken, by an agency or inde24 pendent regulatory agency under this subsection 

25 shall not be subject to judicial review.’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. BIENNIAL STATE STARTUP BUSINESS REPORT. 

2 (a) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary of Com3 merce shall regularly compile information from each of the 

4 50 States and the District of Columbia on State laws that 

5 affect the formation and growth of new businesses within 

6 the State or District. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there9 after, the Secretary of Commerce, using data compiled 

10 under subsection (a), shall prepare a report that— 

11 (1) analyzes the economic effect of State and 

12 District laws that either encourage or inhibit busi13 ness formation and growth; and 

14 (2) ranks the States and the District based on 

15 the effectiveness with which their laws foster new 

16 business creation and economic growth. 

17 (c) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary of Commerce 

18 shall— 

19 (1) submit each report prepared under sub20 section (b) to Congress; and 

21 (2) make each report available to the public on 

22 the website of the Department of Commerce. 

23 (d) INCLUSION OF LARGE METROPOLITAN AREAS.— 

24 Not later than 90 days after the submission of the first 

25 report under this section, the Secretary of Commerce shall 

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1 ability of including, in future reports, information about 

2 the effect of local laws and ordinances on the formation 

3 and growth of new businesses in large metropolitan areas 

4 within the United States. 

5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

7 necessary to carry out this section. 

8 SEC. 10. NEW BUSINESS FORMATION REPORT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 

10 regularly compile quantitative and qualitative information 

11 on businesses in the United States that are not more than 

12 1 year old. 

13 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary of Com14 merce shall— 

15 (1) regularly compile information from the Bu16 reau of the Census’ business register on new busi17 ness formation in the United States; and 

18 (2) conduct quarterly surveys of business own19 ers who start a business during the 1-year period 

20 ending on the date on which such survey is con21 ducted to gather qualitative information about the 

22 factors that influenced their decision to start the 

23 business. 

24 (c) RANDOM SAMPLING.—In conducting surveys 

25 under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary may use random 


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1 sampling to identify a group of business owners who are 

2 representative of all the business owners described in sub3 section (b)(2). 

4 (d) BENEFITS.—The Secretary of Commerce shall in5 form business owners selected to participate in a survey 

6 conducted under this section of the benefits they would 

7 receive from participating in the survey. 

8 (e) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—Business owners 

9 selected to participate in a survey conducted under this 

10 section may decline to participate without penalty. 

11 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 3 months 

13 thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall use the data 

14 compiled under subsection (b) to prepare a report that— 

15 (1) lists the aggregate number of new busi16 nesses formed in the United States; 

17 (2) lists the aggregate number of persons em18 ployed by new businesses formed in the United 

19 States; 

20 (3) analyzes the payroll of new businesses 

21 formed in the United States; 

22 (4) summarizes the data collected under sub23 section (b); and 


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1 (5) identifies the most effective means by which 

2 government officials can encourage the formation 

3 and growth of new businesses in the United States. 

4 (g) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary of Commerce 

5 shall— 

6 (1) submit each report prepared under sub7 section (f) to Congress; and 

8 (2) make each report available to the public on 

9 the website of the Department of Commerce. 

10 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

12 necessary to carry out this section. 

13 SEC. 11. RESCISSION OF UNSPENT FEDERAL FUNDS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi15 sion of law, of all available unobligated funds for fiscal 

16 year 2017, the amount necessary to carry out this Act and 

17 the amendments made by this Act in appropriated discre18 tionary funds are hereby rescinded. 

19 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Director of the Office of 

20 Management and Budget shall determine and identify 

21 from which appropriation accounts the rescission under 

22 subsection (a) shall apply and the amount of such rescis23 sion that shall apply to each such account. 

24 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 


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1 of Management and Budget shall submit a report to the 

2 Secretary of the Treasury and Congress of the accounts 

3 and amounts determined and identified for rescission 

4 under subsection (b). 

Æ 


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