I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6326 

To establish a pilot program awarding competitive grants to organizations 

administering entrepreneurial development programming to formerly incarcerated individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 20, 2021 

Mr. CARTER of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program awarding competitive grants 

to organizations administering entrepreneurial development programming to formerly 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 ‘‘Necessary Entrepre5 neurship Workshops via the SBA to Transform and Assist 

6 Re-entry Training Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘NEW START 

7 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) according to the Department of Justice, 

4 every year, over 600,000 individuals are released 

5 from prison and return home to their communities, 

6 and almost 77 percent of those individuals will re7 offend within 5 years; 

8 (2) according to the Center for American 

9 Progress, an estimated 60 percent of formerly incar10 cerated individuals will remain unemployed for a pe11 riod of 1 year post-incarceration, increasing the risk 

12 for recidivism; 

13 (3) according to the Center for Economic and 

14 Policy Research, the economy of the United States 

15 loses an estimated $78,000,000,000 to 

16 $87,000,000,000 annually due to lost output from 

17 individuals with criminal records unable to find sta18 ble employment; 

19 (4) entrepreneurial development programs for 

20 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals 

21 report dramatically lower rates of recidivism; and 

22 (5) self-employment can provide economic sta23 bility for those who are otherwise locked out of the 

24 labor market. 

25 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM. 

26 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad2 ministrator of the Small Business Administration; 

3 (2) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con4 gress’’ means— 

5 (A) the Committee on Small Business and 

6 Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Small Business of 

8 the House of Representatives; 

9 (3) the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an in10 dividual who— 

11 (A) completed a term of imprisonment in 

12 Federal, State, or local jail or prison; and 

13 (B) meets the offense eligibility require14 ments set forth in any applicable policy notice 

15 or other guidance issued by the Small Business 

16 Administration for the program established 

17 under section 7(m) of the Small Business Act 

18 (15 U.S.C. 636(m)); 

19 (4) the terms ‘‘intermediary’’ and ‘‘microloan’’ 

20 have the meanings given those terms in section 

21 7(m)(11) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

22 636(m)(11)); 

23 (5) the term ‘‘microloan intermediary’’ means 

24 an intermediary that is eligible to participate in the 


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1 program established under section 7(m) of the Small 

2 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)); and 

3 (6) the term ‘‘pilot program’’ means the pilot 

4 program established under subsection (b). 

5 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

7 establish a pilot program to award grants to organizations 

8 over a 5-year period to create or support existing entrepre9 neurship development programs to provide assistance to 

10 covered individuals. 

11 (c) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator 

12 shall— 

13 (1) award a grant under the pilot program to 

14 not fewer than 6 organizations, or partnerships of 

15 organizations, which shall each receive grants annu16 ally over the 5-year period in which the pilot pro17 gram is in existence; and 

18 (2) allocate grants under the pilot program to 

19 ensure that the recipients are geographically varied 

20 throughout the United States. 

21 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—An applicant for a grant under 

22 the pilot program may form partnerships with other orga23 nizations for the purposes of the application and for con24 ducting entrepreneurial development programming. 

25 (e) APPLICATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An organization or partner2 ship of organizations desiring a grant under the 

3 pilot program shall submit an application to the Ad4 ministrator in such form, in such manner, and con5 taining such information as the Administrator may 

6 reasonably require. 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 

8 under paragraph (1) shall— 

9 (A) demonstrate that the applicant has a 

10 partnership with, or is, a microloan inter11 mediary that shall provide microloans to quali12 fied covered individuals, or, to the extent that 

13 the applicant is a national organization in mul14 tiple different markets, that a separate micro15 loan intermediary may be used in each such 

16 market; 

17 (B) demonstrate strong community ties, 

18 including those with the covered individual com19 munity, local businesses, and political leaders; 

20 (C) demonstrate an ability to provide a full 

21 range of entrepreneurial development program22 ming on an ongoing basis; 

23 (D) include a plan for reaching covered in24 dividuals, including by identifying particular 

25 target populations within the community; 


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1 (E) clearly define entrepreneurial develop2 ment capabilities, including coordination with 

3 existing local resource partners of the Adminis4 tration for additional training as necessary; 

5 (F) present an entrepreneurship develop6 ment curriculum, which may be a nationally 

7 recognized model or based upon such a model; 

8 (G) include a list of each partner organiza9 tion; and 

10 (H) include a comprehensive plan for the 

11 use of grant funds, including estimates for ad12 ministrative and outreach costs of running and 

13 evaluating the entrepreneurship development 

14 program. 

15 (f) PRIORITY.—In determining whether to award a 

16 grant under the pilot program, the Administrator may 

17 give priority to applicants based on— 

18 (1) whether the application includes a commit19 ment from an existing or new non-Federal funding 

20 source to meet the matching requirement under sub21 section (g); 

22 (2) whether the application takes into account 

23 local economies and markets as a part of the edu24 cational component of the entrepreneurship develop25 ment program; and 


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1 (3) the ability or plan of the applicant to pro2 vide entrepreneurial development services concurrent 

3 with employment or job training services. 

4 (g) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of a grant 

6 provided under the pilot program, the Administrator 

7 shall require the recipient of the grant to contribute 

8 an amount equal to 25 percent of the amount of the 

9 grant, obtained solely from existing or new non-Fed10 eral sources. 

11 (2) FORM.—In addition to cash or other direct 

12 funding, the contribution required under paragraph 

13 (1) may include indirect costs or in-kind contribu14 tions paid for under non-Federal programs. 

15 (h) REPORTS.— 

16 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

17 (A) INDIVIDUAL REPORTS TO ADMINIS18 TRATOR.—A recipient of a grant under the pilot 

19 program shall submit to the Administrator an 

20 annual report on the use of grant funds under 

21 the pilot program, which shall contain, with re22 spect to the entrepreneurship development pro23 grams created or supported under the pilot pro24 gram— 

25 (i) a list of partner organizations; 


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1 (ii) the characteristics of covered indi2 viduals assisted under the entrepreneurship 

3 development programs, including race and 

4 ethnicity, gender, age, marital status, pa5 rental status, employment status, income, 

6 banking and credit history, and prior busi7 ness experience; 

8 (iii) the participation and attendance 

9 rates for all components of the entrepre10 neurship development programs; 

11 (iv) the program retention rate; 

12 (v) the percentage of participants who 

13 remain non-justice involved during the cal14 endar year of the program; 

15 (vi) the level of the covered individ16 uals’ understanding of business concepts 

17 and principles; 

18 (vii) the level of the covered individ19 uals’ greater confidence in leadership 

20 strengths, including the results of an in21 dustry-recognized behavioral assessment; 

22 (viii) the covered individuals’ progress 

23 made toward establishing a business; 

24 (ix) the experiences and perceptions of 

25 the covered individuals; 


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1 (x) the number and dollar amount of 

2 loans made to qualified covered individuals; 

3 and 

4 (xi) such additional information as the 

5 Administrator may require. 

6 (B) CONSOLIDATED REPORT TO CON7 GRESS.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

8 on which the last report with respect to a year 

9 has been submitted to the Administrator under 

10 subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall sub11 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

12 a report that summarizes all of the reports sub13 mitted to the Administrator under that sub14 paragraph for that year. 

15 (2) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date on which the pilot program terminates, the 

17 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub18 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a re19 port that evaluates— 

20 (A) the services that grant recipients pro21 vided to covered individuals assisted under en22 trepreneurship development programs; 

23 (B) oversight of the pilot program by the 

24 Administrator, including policies and proce25 dures for monitoring the compliance by grant 


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1 recipients with pilot program requirements and 

2 an assessment of the effectiveness of the pilot 

3 program; and 

4 (C) the overall performance of the pilot 

5 program and the impacts of the pilot program 

6 on grant recipients. 

7 (i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

8 may be construed to affect the program established under 

9 section 7(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 636(m)), including— 

11 (1) the requirements of that program; 

12 (2) the manner in which that program is car13 ried out; or 

14 (3) the use or availability of any amounts that 

15 have been made available to carry out that program. 

16 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

18 such sums as are necessary to carry out the pilot program. 

19 (k) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall termi20 nate on the date that is 5 years after the date of enact21 ment of this Act. 

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