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 Con-
necticut, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To establish a commission on employee ownership.
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 ‘‘Employee Ownership 
for the Twenty-First Century Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON EMPLOYEE OWN-
ERSHIP. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 
establish a commission to be known as the ‘‘Presidential
Commission on Employee Ownership’’ (hereafter in this 
section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
(b) DUTIES AND REPORT.—The Commission shall—
(1) conduct a study concerning all issues that 
affect ownership of businesses in the United States 
with a primary focus on the issues that affect em-
ployee ownership of such businesses, and 
(2) not later than two years after the date of 
its establishment, submit a final report to the Presi-
dent and the Congress which includes the findings 
and recommendations of the Commission. 
(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com-
posed of 15 members appointed by the President as fol-
lows: 
(1) Three individuals, each of whom is an em-
ployee of a corporation that has at least 50 percent 
of its voting stock in a trust for the benefit of em-
ployees and who is not an officer or senior manager 
of that corporation. 
(2) Three individuals, each of whom is an em-
ployee of a corporation that has at least 50 percent 
of its voting stock in a trust for the benefit of em-
ployees and who is an officer of senior manager of 
that corporation.
(3) Three individuals, each of whom is a pro-
fessor employed by an institution of higher learning. 
(4) Three individuals, each of whom is em-
ployed by a not-for-profit entity that has as its pri-
mary mission issues arising from employee owner-
ship of businesses. 
(5) The Secretary of Labor, or his designee, the 
Secretary of the Treasury, or his designee, and the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
or his designee. 
(d) STAFF.—The Commission shall have such num-
ber of staff as the President shall determine, except that 
such staff shall include not less than five full-time employ-
ees. 
(e) GIFT AND BEQUESTS.—The Commission may ac-
cept, use, and dispose of gifts or bequests or services or 
personal property for the purpose of aiding or facilitating 
the work of the Commission. Gifts or bequests shall be 
deposited in the Treasury and shall be available for dis-
bursement upon order of the Commission. 
SEC. 3. STUDY OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES AFFECTING EM-
PLOYEE-OWNED 
AND 
EMPLOYEE-CON-
TROLLED CORPORATIONS. 
The Comptroller-General of the United States—
(1) conduct a study of all Federal Government 
regulations and policies that might impact the cre-
ation and operation of an employee-owned corpora-
tion, 
(2) identify those regulations and policies that 
are barriers to employee ownership, and 
(3) not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of the Act, submit a report on the find-
ings of such study, together with such recommenda-
tions as the Comptroller General determines appro-
priate, to the Congress.
Æ