I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4471 

To amend title XX of the Social Security Act to provide grants to support 

job creation initiatives, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 

Mr. LEWIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend title XX of the Social Security Act to provide 

grants to support job creation initiatives, 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 ‘‘Back to Basics Job 

5 Creation Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BACK TO BASICS JOB CREATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 Subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2010. BACK TO BASICS JOB CREATION GRANT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta5 tion with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary 

6 of Commerce, shall make grants to eligible entities 

7 to assist low-income individuals and individuals who 

8 have been unemployed for at least 3 months in de9 veloping self-employment opportunities. 

10 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF GRANT AWARDS.—Not later 

11 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

12 section, the Secretary shall obligate not less than 

13 half of any funds appropriated for grants under this 

14 section. 

15 ‘‘(3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 

16 this section, the Secretary shall give preference to el17 igible entities— 

18 ‘‘(A) that serve communities that have ex19 perienced high levels of poverty and unemploy20 ment and low levels of reemployment, as deter21 mined by the Secretary using data reported by 

22 the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor 

23 Statistics; 

24 ‘‘(B) that demonstrate an ability to admin25 ister activities using the grant funds without 

26 acquiring new administrative structures or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4471.IH H4471

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1 sources, such as staffing, technology, evaluation 

2 activities, training, research, and programming; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(C) that have established partnerships 

5 with other government agencies, community 

6 based organizations, financial institutions, edu7 cational institutions, or business organizations. 

8 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity awarded 

10 a grant under this section shall use the grant— 

11 ‘‘(A) to provide education and training for 

12 business and financial literacy, certification, 

13 small business plan development, entrepreneur14 ship, and patent and copyright processes; and 

15 ‘‘(B) to provide funding for new small 

16 businesses that pay employees at a living wage. 

17 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—An eligible entity awarded 

18 a grant under this section may not use the grant— 

19 ‘‘(A) to subsidize private or public employ20 ment; or 

21 ‘‘(B) for any activity in violation of Fed22 eral, State, or local law. 

23 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An eligible 

24 entity awarded a grant under this section may use 

25 not more than 10 percent of the grant funds for adVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4471.IH H4471

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1 ministrative expenses, except that none of the funds 

2 may be used for salaries. 

3 ‘‘(4) DEADLINE ON USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 

4 An eligible entity awarded a grant under this section 

5 shall expend the grant funds before December 31, 

6 2021, except that the Secretary may provide an ex7 tension. 

8 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS.— 

9 For purposes of determining eligibility and benefit 

10 amounts under any means-tested assistance program, any 

11 assistance funded by a grant under this section shall be 

12 disregarded. 

13 ‘‘(d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

14 shall submit a report on the implementation of this section 

15 to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 

16 Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 

17 Senate whenever either committee shall so request. 

18 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

20 section $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020. The amounts 

21 appropriated under this section are authorized to remain 

22 available through December 31, 2020. 

23 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

24 ‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State, an 

25 Indian tribe, or a local government; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 

2 given such term by section 4 of the Indian Self-De3 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 

4 U.S.C. 450b); and 

5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘means-tested assistance pro6 gram’ means a benefit program for which eligibility 

7 is based on income.’’. 

Æ 


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