I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3677 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 
a national program to create jobs and increase economic development 
in underserved areas by promoting cooperative development. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 15, 2011 
Mr. FATTAH (for himself, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. LEE of California, 
and Mr. TIERNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment to establish a national program to create jobs and 
increase economic development in underserved areas by 
promoting cooperative development. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Cooperative 
Development Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that Federal pol-
icy can promote cooperative development in underserved 
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areas, which demonstrably has the following benefits for 
communities located in such areas: 
(1) Advancement of local economic stability. 
(2) An increase of local circulation of capital, 
thereby increasing economic multipliers and the im-
pact of community investment to spur locally ori-
ented economic growth. 
(3) Developing, attracting, and anchoring new 
productive capital in low-income communities. 
(4) Expansion of investment opportunities and 
asset creation for low- and moderate-income Ameri-
cans. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab-
lish a Federal program that will create jobs and increase 
economic development in underserved areas by promoting 
cooperative development in such areas. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 
or his or her designee. 
(2) NATIONAL
COOPERATIVE
DEVELOPMENT 
PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘National Cooperative Devel-
opment Program’’ means the program established 
under section 4(a). 
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(3) NATIONAL
COOPERATIVE
DEVELOPMENT 
CENTER.—The term ‘‘national cooperative develop-
ment center’’ means a nonprofit organization, col-
lege, or university, or a group of such organizations 
colleges, or universities, selected by the Secretary 
pursuant to section 4(b)(1) to award national center 
funds to local cooperative development centers and 
cooperative organizations, and carry out other duties 
and responsibilities in accordance with this Act. 
(4) LOCAL COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT CEN-
TER.—The term ‘‘local cooperative development cen-
ter’’ means a nonprofit organization, college, or uni-
versity, or a group of such organizations, colleges, or 
universities, with expertise in establishing and devel-
oping cooperative organizations. 
(5) COOPERATIVE
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘‘cooperative organization’’ means an autonomous 
association of persons united voluntarily to meet 
their common economic, social, and cultural needs 
and aspirations through a jointly owned and demo-
cratically controlled enterprise. 
(6) COOPERATIVE
DEVELOPMENT.—The term 
‘‘cooperative development’’ means technical assist-
ance provided for the purpose of— 
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(A) providing financial forecasting, feasi-
bility analysis, business planning, and other 
preparatory activity to ensure that a coopera-
tive organization, or organizations that are in 
the process of establishing such an organiza-
tion, are grounded in sound business practices; 
(B) assisting with establishing incorpora-
tion documents, bylaws, and policies that ensure 
that cooperative organizations— 
(i) adhere to legal obligations of a 
local or State government or the Federal 
Government; and 
(ii) are governed by transparent and 
agreed-upon rules; 
(C) educating, with respect to how cooper-
ative organizations function— 
(i) board members, management, and 
employees of cooperative organizations; 
(ii) local communities affected by such 
organizations and the general public; and 
(iii) professionals involved in coopera-
tive development; 
(D) providing organizational planning for 
cooperative organizations, including board meet-
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ings and board development, and strategic plan-
ning; 
(E) hosting networking activities and con-
ferences involving cooperative organizations, en-
tities that work with such organizations, and 
professional organizations that engage in coop-
erative development; 
(F) providing professional development of 
professionals involved in cooperative develop-
ment by offering training focused on coopera-
tive development; and 
(G) providing administrative and oper-
ational set-up of cooperative organizations. 
(7) ELIGIBLE
PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 
project’’ means a project that— 
(A) meets the eligibility criteria established 
by the national cooperative development center 
pursuant to section 5(a)(1)(E); and 
(B) serves an underserved area. 
(8) NATIONAL CENTER FUNDS.—The term ‘‘na-
tional center funds’’ means grant funds awarded to 
the national cooperative development center by the 
Secretary under the National Cooperative Develop-
ment Program. 
(9) UNDERSERVED AREA.— 
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘underserved 
area’’ means an area located within— 
(i) a census tract that is defined as 
low- or moderate-income by the Bureau of 
the Census of the Department of Com-
merce; 
(ii) a population census tract that is 
treated as a low-income community under 
section 45D(e) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986; or 
(iii) subject to subparagraph (B), an 
area that— 
(I) is adjacent to an area that 
meets the requirements of either 
clause (i) or (ii); and 
(II) is given special approval by 
the national cooperative development 
center to be classified as an under-
served area. 
(B) LIMITATION.—The national coopera-
tive development center shall limit the number 
of projects funded under the National Coopera-
tive Development Program that are located in 
an area described in subparagraph (A)(iii). 
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(10) WOMEN- AND
MINORITY-OWNED
BUSI-
NESS.—The term ‘‘women- and minority-owned busi-
ness’’ shall have the meaning given such term in 
regulations prescribed by the Secretary. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL COOPERATIVE DE-
VELOPMENT PROGRAM AND SELECTION OF 
THE NATIONAL CENTER. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 
shall establish a program to be known as the ‘‘National 
Cooperative Development Program’’ to carry out the pur-
pose described in section 2(b). 
(b) SELECTION OF NATIONAL COOPERATIVE DEVEL-
OPMENT CENTER.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall select, through a competitive process, and enter 
into a grant agreement with a national cooperative 
development center that shall carry out its duties 
and responsibilities in accordance with this Act. 
(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting the na-
tional cooperative development center under para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall take into consider-
ation the following: 
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(A) The extent that the national coopera-
tive development center has demonstrated ex-
pertise in cooperative development. 
(B) The experience that such national cen-
ter has in providing— 
(i) technical and financial assistance 
to cooperative organizations in underserved 
areas; and 
(ii) educational resources to such or-
ganizations. 
(c) SUBMITTAL OF STRATEGIC PLAN TO SECRETARY 
BY THE NATIONAL CENTER.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the Secretary has selected the national cooperative 
development center under subsection (b)(1), such 
national center shall submit to the Secretary a stra-
tegic plan that outlines how the national center in-
tends on utilizing national center funds, and such 
plan shall specifically include— 
(A) a proposed budget, including the pro-
posed administrative costs; 
(B) a detailed description of how the na-
tional center will use national center funds to 
promote, or engage in, cooperative development; 
and 
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