I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7310 
To protect America’s retirement security, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 31, 2022 
Mrs. MCBATH (for herself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 
Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. UNDERWOOD, and Ms. MANNING) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To protect America’s retirement security, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Protecting America’s Retirement Security Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Defined contribution plan fee disclosure improvements. 
Sec. 3. Personal finance education portal. 
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Sec. 4. Increasing spousal protection under defined contribution plans. 
Sec. 5. Automatic reenrollment. 
Sec. 6. Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative. 
Sec. 7. Refund to Rainy Day Savings Program. 
SEC. 2. DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN FEE DISCLOSURE 
IMPROVEMENTS. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall review section 
2550.404a–5 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, and 
explore how the content and design of the covered disclo-
sures may be improved to enhance participants’ under-
standing of fees and expenses as well as the cumulative 
effect of fees and expenses on retirement savings over 
time. As part of such review, the Secretary shall conduct 
outreach to stakeholders, including those representing 
plan sponsors and retirement plan participants. 
SEC. 3. PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATION PORTAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education, 
in consultation with the Director of the Bureau of Con-
sumer Financial Protection, the Secretary of the Treasury 
as chair of the Financial Literacy and Education Commis-
sion, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, shall cre-
ate a personal finance education portal on a centralized 
and publicly available website of the Department of Edu-
cation pertaining to Federal financial aid for voluntary use 
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by recipients of aid awarded under title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965. 
(b) CONTENT OF PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATION 
PORTAL.—The personal finance education portal created 
under subsection (a) shall include information on personal 
finance concepts, including the following: 
(1) Core personal finance concepts, such as 
earning, saving, investing, spending, and borrowing, 
including— 
(A) the concept of compound growth as it 
applies to savings and retirement savings, with 
information about the different types of retire-
ment savings accounts; and 
(B) budgeting and credit usage. 
(2) Managing student loan repayment, includ-
ing— 
(A) the interaction between savings and re-
tirement decisions and Federal student loan re-
payment plans; 
(B) Federal student loan discharge or for-
giveness options; 
(C) the types of voluntary benefits employ-
ers may use to help workers while they are pay-
ing down student loan debt; 
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(D) tax credits or deductions that are rel-
evant to student loan borrowers in repayment; 
and 
(E) any other Federal policies that signifi-
cantly impact student loan borrowers in repay-
ment, as determined by the Secretary. 
(3) Any other personal finance concepts deter-
mined relevant by the Secretary of Education, in 
consultation with the Director of the Bureau of Con-
sumer Financial Protection, the Secretary of the 
Treasury as chair of the Financial Literacy and 
Education Commission, and the Commissioner of In-
ternal Revenue. 
(c) PROVISION OF CONTENT.—The personal finance 
content included under subsection (b) may be provided in 
an interactive format through text or video. 
(d) ANALYTICS.—The Secretary of Education, in con-
sultation with the Director of the Bureau of Consumer 
Financial Protection, the Secretary of the Treasury as 
chair of the Financial Literacy and Education Commis-
sion, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, shall re-
view not less than once every three years the utilization 
of the portal, make recommendations to improve the por-
tal, and make such findings and recommendations publicly 
available. 
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(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this section. 
SEC. 4. INCREASING SPOUSAL PROTECTION UNDER DE-
FINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS. 
(a) AMENDMENTS TO EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT IN-
COME SECURITY ACT OF 1974.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Part 2 of subtitle B of title 
I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) is amended by in-
serting after section 205 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 205A. ADDITIONAL SPOUSAL CONSENT REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each individual account plan to 
which section 205 does not apply (but to which this title 
otherwise applies) shall provide that, except as provided 
in subsections (c) and (d), no distribution may be made 
under the plan unless the spousal consent requirements 
of subsection (e) are met. 
‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH SECTION 205.—Nothing 
in this section shall be construed to exempt an individual 
account plan from the requirements of paragraph (1)(B), 
(1)(C), or (2) of section 205(b) with respect to any partici-
pant. 
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‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN DISTRIBUTIONS.— 
Subsection (a) shall not apply to— 
‘‘(1) any distribution that is— 
‘‘(A) a minimum required distribution de-
scribed in section 4974(b) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986; or 
‘‘(B) permitted under section 203(e)(1) to 
be made without the consent of the participant; 
‘‘(2) any distribution in the form of a qualified 
joint and survivor annuity (as defined in section 
205(d)(1)), a qualified optional survivor annuity (as 
defined in section 205(d)(2)), a qualified preretire-
ment survivor annuity (as defined in section 205(e)), 
or a series of substantially equal periodic payments 
(not less frequently than annually) made for the 
joint lives (or life expectancies) of the participant 
and the participant’s spouse; or 
‘‘(3) in the case of a participant who does not 
elect a form of benefit described in paragraph (2) 
under the plan or who is participating in a plan that 
does not provide such a form of benefit, any dis-
tribution of the participant’s entire nonforfeitable 
accrued benefit if 50 percent of such accrued benefit 
is transferred to an individual retirement plan (as 
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defined in section 7701(a)(37) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986) of the spouse of the participant. 
A transfer described in paragraph (3) to an individual re-
tirement plan shall be treated in the same manner as a 
transfer under section 408(d)(6) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986. 
‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN ROLLOVER CON-
TRIBUTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not 
apply to any distribution that is an eligible rollover 
distribution (as defined in section 402(f)(2)(A) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) made in the 
form of a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer within 
the meaning of section 401(a)(31) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986— 
‘‘(A) to a plan to which this section or sec-
tion 205 applies; or 
‘‘(B) to an individual retirement plan (as 
defined in section 7701(a)(37) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986) if— 
‘‘(i) the sole beneficiary of such plan 
is the spouse of the participant, or the 
spousal consent requirements of subsection 
(e) are met with respect to any designation 
of 1 or more other beneficiaries; and 
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‘‘(ii) under the terms of the individual 
retirement plan, the beneficiary of such 
plan (whether the spouse or other bene-
ficiary designated under subparagraph 
(A)) may not be changed unless— 
‘‘(I) the spousal consent require-
ments of subsection (e) are met with 
respect to any such change; or 
‘‘(II) the spousal consent under 
clause (i) to the designation of a bene-
ficiary other than the spouse expressly 
permits 
such 
designation 
to 
be 
changed without the further consent 
of the spouse. 
‘‘(2) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 
of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor may 
jointly issue regulations to implement subparagraphs 
(A) and (B) of paragraph (1). 
‘‘(e) SPOUSAL CONSENT REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, except as provided in paragraph (2), the spous-
al consent requirements of this subsection are met 
with respect to any distribution or any designation 
or change of beneficiary if— 
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‘‘(A) the plan provides to each participant, 
within a reasonable period of time before such 
distribution or designation or change of bene-
ficiary is made and consistent with such regula-
tions as the Secretary of the Treasury may pre-
scribe, a written explanation of the rights of the 
participant and the participant’s spouse under 
this section; 
‘‘(B) the spouse of the participant consents 
in writing to the distribution or designation or 
change of beneficiary; 
‘‘(C) in the case of a distribution, the writ-
ten consent under subparagraph (B) is made 
during the consent period; and 
‘‘(D) the written consent under subpara-
graph (B)— 
‘‘(i) acknowledges the effect of such 
distribution or designation or change of 
beneficiary; and 
‘‘(ii) is witnessed by a plan represent-
ative or a notary public. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirements of para-
graph (1) (other than subparagraph (A) thereof) 
shall not apply with respect to any distribution or 
designation or change of beneficiary if a participant 
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establishes to the satisfaction of the administrator 
that— 
‘‘(A) there is no spouse; 
‘‘(B) the participant and the participant’s 
spouse have not been married for at least 1 
year as of the date of the distribution or des-
ignation or change of beneficiary; or 
‘‘(C) such consent cannot be obtained be-
cause— 
‘‘(i) the spouse cannot be located after 
taking documented search efforts in ac-
cordance with guidance from the Secretary 
of Labor; 
‘‘(ii) due to exceptional circumstances, 
requiring the participant to seek the 
spouse’s consent would be inappropriate; 
or 
‘‘(iii) of such other circumstances as 
the Secretary of the Treasury, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of Labor, may by 
regulations prescribe. 
The Secretary of Labor may issue regulations to im-
plement this paragraph. 
‘‘(3) CONSENT
LIMITED
TO
SPOUSE
AND 
EVENT.—Any written consent by a spouse under 
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paragraph (1), or the establishment by a participant 
that an exception under paragraph (2) applies with 
respect to a spouse, shall be effective only with re-
spect to that spouse and to the distribution or des-
ignation or change of beneficiary to which it relates. 
‘‘(4) CONSENT PERIOD.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘consent period’ means, with re-
spect to any distribution— 
‘‘(A) the 90-day period immediately pre-
ceding the date of such distribution; or 
‘‘(B) such other period as the Secretary of 
the Treasury may provide. 
‘‘(f) DISCHARGE OF PLAN FROM LIABILITY.—Rules 
similar to the rules of section 205(c)(6) shall apply for 
purposes of this section.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions of part 2 of subtitle B of title I of the Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 205 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 205A. Additional spousal consent requirements.’’. 
(3) PARALLEL AMENDMENT TO SECTION 205.— 
Section 205(c)(2)(B) of the Employee Retirement 
Income 
Security 
Act 
of 
1974 
(29 
U.S.C. 
1055(c)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, because 
due to exceptional circumstances, requiring the par-
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ticipant to seek the spouse’s consent would be inap-
propriate’’ after ‘‘located’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO INTERNAL REV-
ENUE CODE OF 1986.—Section 401(a) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after para-
graph (17) the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(18) ADDITIONAL
SPOUSAL
CONSENT
RE-
QUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the extent para-
graph (11) does not apply to a defined con-
tribution plan to which title I of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ap-
plies, except as provided in subparagraphs (C) 
and (D), a trust forming part of such plan shall 
not constitute a qualified trust under this sec-
tion unless no distribution may be made under 
the plan unless the spousal consent require-
ments of subparagraph (E) are met. 
‘‘(B) COORDINATION
WITH
PARAGRAPH 
(11).—Nothing in this paragraph shall be con-
strued to exempt a defined contribution plan 
from the requirements of subparagraph (B)(ii), 
(B)(iii), or (C) of paragraph (11) with respect 
to any participant. 
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‘‘(C) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN DISTRIBU-
TIONS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to— 
‘‘(i) any distribution that is— 
‘‘(I) a minimum required dis-
tribution described in section 4974(b), 
or 
‘‘(II) permitted under section 
411(a)(11) to be made without the 
consent of the participant, 
‘‘(ii) any distribution in the form of a 
qualified joint and survivor annuity (as de-
fined in section 417(b)), a qualified op-
tional survivor annuity (as defined in sec-
tion 417(g)), a qualified preretirement sur-
vivor annuity (as defined in section 
417(c)), or a series of substantially equal 
periodic payments (not less frequently than 
annually) made for the joint lives (or life 
expectancies) of the participant and the 
participant’s spouse, or 
‘‘(iii) in the case of a participant who 
does not elect a form of benefit described 
in clause (ii) under the plan or who is par-
ticipating in a plan that does not provide 
such a form of benefit, any distribution of 
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the participant’s entire nonforfeitable ac-
crued benefit if 50 percent of such accrued 
benefit is directly transferred to an indi-
vidual retirement plan of the spouse of the 
participant. 
A transfer described in clause (iii) to an indi-
vidual retirement plan shall be treated in the 
same manner as a transfer under section 
408(d)(6) and shall be deemed not to violate 
paragraph (2) or (13). 
‘‘(D) EXCEPTIONS
FOR
CERTAIN
ROLL-
OVER CONTRIBUTIONS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) 
shall not apply to any distribution, involv-
ing a participant who has a spouse, that is 
an eligible rollover distribution (as defined 
in section 402(f)(2)(A)) made in the form 
of a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer with-
in the meaning of paragraph (31)— 
‘‘(I) to a plan to which this para-
graph or paragraph (11) applies; or 
‘‘(II) to an individual retirement 
plan if— 
‘‘(aa) the sole beneficiary of 
such plan is the spouse of the 
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participant, or the spousal con-
sent requirements of subpara-
graph (E) are met with respect 
to any designation of 1 or more 
other beneficiaries; and 
‘‘(bb) under the terms of the 
individual retirement plan, the 
beneficiary of such plan (whether 
the spouse or other beneficiary 
designated under clause (i)) may 
not be changed unless— 
‘‘(AA) the spousal con-
sent requirements of sub-
paragraph (E) are met with 
respect to any such change, 
or 
‘‘(BB) the spousal con-
sent under subclause (I) to 
the designation of a bene-
ficiary other than the spouse 
expressly permits such des-
ignation to be changed with-
out the further consent of 
the spouse. 
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‘‘(ii) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The 
Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Labor, may issue 
regulations to implement subparagraphs 
subclauses (I) and (II) or clause (i). 
‘‘(E) 
SPOUSAL
CONSENT
REQUIRE-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, except as provided in 
clause (ii), the spousal consent require-
ments of this subparagraph are met with 
respect to any distribution or any designa-
tion or change of beneficiary if— 
‘‘(I) the plan provides to each 
participant, within a reasonable period 
of time before such distribution or 
designation or change of beneficiary is 
made and consistent with such regula-
tions as the Secretary may prescribe, 
a written explanation of the rights of 
the participant and the participant’s 
spouse under this paragraph, 
‘‘(II) the spouse of the partici-
pant consents in writing to the dis-
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tribution or designation or change of 
beneficiary, 
‘‘(III) in the case of a distribu-
tion, the written consent under sub-
clause (II) is made during the consent 
period, and 
‘‘(IV) the written consent under 
subclause (ii)— 
‘‘(aa) acknowledges the ef-
fect of such distribution or des-
ignation or change of beneficiary, 
and 
‘‘(bb) is witnessed by a plan 
representative or a notary public. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS
UNDER
SECTION 
417(A)(2)(B) TO APPLY.—The requirements 
of clause (i) (other than subclause (I) 
thereof) shall not apply with respect to any 
distribution or designation or change of 
beneficiary if a participant establishes to 
the satisfaction of the administrator that— 
‘‘(I) there is no spouse, 
‘‘(II) the participant and the par-
ticipant’s spouse have not been mar-
ried for at least 1 year as of the date 
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of the distribution or designation or 
change of beneficiary, or 
‘‘(III) such consent cannot be ob-
tained because— 
‘‘(aa) the spouse cannot be 
located after taking documented 
search efforts in accordance with 
guidance from the Secretary of 
Labor; 
‘‘(bb) due to exceptional cir-
cumstances, requiring the partici-
pant to seek the spouse’s consent 
would be inappropriate; or 
‘‘(cc) of such other cir-
cumstances as the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Secretary 
of Labor, may by regulations pre-
scribe. 
The Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Labor, may issue regulations 
to implement this clause. 
‘‘(iii) CONSENT LIMITED TO SPOUSE 
AND
EVENT.—Any written consent by a 
spouse under clause (i), or the establish-
ment by a participant that an exception 
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under clause (ii) applies with respect to a 
spouse, shall be effective only with respect 
to that spouse and to the distribution or 
designation or change of beneficiary to 
which it relates. 
‘‘(iv) CONSENT
PERIOD.—For pur-
poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘con-
sent period’ means, with respect to any 
distribution— 
‘‘(I) the 90-day period imme-
diately preceding the date of such dis-
tribution, or 
‘‘(II) such other period as the 
Secretary may provide.’’. 
SEC. 5. AUTOMATIC REENROLLMENT. 
(a) ELIGIBLE AUTOMATIC CONTRIBUTION ARRANGE-
MENTS.— 
(1) AMENDMENT TO THE EMPLOYEE RETIRE-
MENT
INCOME
SECURITY
ACT
OF
1974.—Section 
514(e)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1144(e)(2)) is amend-
ed— 
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
through (C) as clauses (i) through (iii), respec-
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tively, and moving the margins of such clauses 
2 ems to the right, 
(B) by striking ‘‘(2) For purposes of’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(2)(A) For purposes of’’, and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) In the case of an automatic contribu-
tion arrangement taking effect after December 
31, 2024, the requirements of subparagraph 
(A)(ii) shall be treated as met only if, under the 
arrangement, at least every 3 years each em-
ployee— 
‘‘(i) who is eligible to participate in 
the arrangement, and 
‘‘(ii) who, at the time of the deter-
mination, has in effect an affirmative elec-
tion pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) not 
to have contributions described in such 
subparagraph made, 
is treated as having made the election at the 
uniform percentage of compensation described 
in subparagraph (A)(ii) unless the employee 
makes a new election under such subparagraph. 
Such determination may be made at one time 
for all employees described in the preceding 
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sentence for a plan year, regardless of indi-
vidual employee dates of enrollment.’’. 
(2) AMENDMENT TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE 
CODE OF 1986.—Section 414(w)(3) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
through (C) as clauses (i) through (iii), respec-
tively, and moving the margins of such clauses 
2 ems to the right; 
(B) by striking ‘‘ For purposes of’’ and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of’’ 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) PERIODIC AUTOMATIC DEFERRAL RE-
QUIRED.—In the case of an eligible automatic 
contribution arrangement taking effect after 
December 31, 2024, the requirements of this 
subsection shall be treated as met only if, under 
the arrangement, at least every 3 plan years 
each employee— 
‘‘(i) who is eligible to participate in 
the arrangement, and 
‘‘(ii) who, at the time of the deter-
mination, has in effect an affirmative elec-
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tion under subparagraph (A)(ii) not to 
have such contributions described in such 
subparagraph made, 
is treated as having made the election at the 
uniform percentage level described in subpara-
graph (A)(ii) unless the employee makes a new 
election under such subparagraph. Such deter-
mination may be made at one time for all em-
ployees described in the preceding sentence for 
a plan year, regardless of individual employee 
dates of enrollment.’’ 
(b) QUALIFIED
AUTOMATIC
CONTRIBUTION
AR-
RANGEMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 401(k)(13)(C) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new clause: 
‘‘(v) PERIODIC AUTOMATIC DEFERRAL 
REQUIRED
FOR
POST-2024
ARRANGE-
MENTS.—In the case of a qualified auto-
matic contribution arrangement which 
takes effect after December 31, 2024, the 
requirements of this subparagraph shall be 
treated as met only if, under the arrange-
ment, at least every 3 plan years each em-
ployee— 
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‘‘(I) who is eligible to participate 
in the arrangement, and 
‘‘(II) who, at the time of the de-
termination, has in effect an affirma-
tive election pursuant to clause (ii) 
not to have contributions described in 
clause (i) made, 
is treated as having made the election de-
scribed in clause (i) unless the employee 
makes a new affirmative election under 
clause (ii). Such determination may be 
made at one time for all employees de-
scribed in the preceding sentence for a 
plan year, regardless of individual em-
ployee dates of enrollment.’’ 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Clause (iv) 
of section 401(k)(13)(C) of such Code is amended— 
(A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘for pre- 
2025 arrangements’’ after ‘‘required’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘Clause (i)’’ and inserting 
‘‘In the case of a qualified automatic contribu-
tion arrangement in effect before January 1, 
2025, clause (i)’’. 
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(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to arrangements taking effect after 
December 31, 2024. 
SEC. 6. EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AND PARTICIPATION INI-
TIATIVE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) EXISTING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘existing 
program’’ means a program, designed to promote 
employee ownership and employee participation in 
business decisionmaking, that exists on the date on 
which the Secretary is carrying out a responsibility 
authorized under this section. 
(2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 
the Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative 
established under subsection (b). 
(3) NEW PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘new program’’ 
means a program, designed to promote employee 
ownership and employee participation in business de-
cisionmaking, that does not exist on the date on 
which the Secretary is carrying out a responsibility 
authorized under this section. 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Labor. 
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(i) making Federal grants authorized 
under subsection (d); and 
(ii) acting as a clearinghouse on tech-
niques employed by new programs and ex-
isting programs within the States, and dis-
seminating information relating to those 
techniques to the programs; and 
(B) facilitate the formation of new pro-
grams, in ways that include holding or funding 
an annual conference of representatives from 
States with existing programs, representatives 
from States developing new programs, and rep-
resentatives from States without existing pro-
grams. 
(c) PROGRAMS REGARDING EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP 
AND PARTICIPATION.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall establish a program to en-
courage new programs and existing programs within 
the States to foster employee ownership and em-
ployee participation in business decisionmaking 
throughout the United States. 
(2) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The purpose of 
the program established under paragraph (1) is to 
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encourage new and existing programs within the 
States that focus on— 
(A) providing education and outreach to 
inform employees and employers about the pos-
sibilities and benefits of employee ownership, 
business ownership succession planning, and 
employee participation in business decision-
making, including providing information about 
financial education, employee teams, open-book 
management, and other tools that enable em-
ployees to share ideas and information about 
how their businesses can succeed; 
(B) providing technical assistance to assist 
employee efforts to become business owners, to 
enable employers and employees to explore and 
assess the feasibility of transferring full or par-
tial ownership to employees, and to encourage 
employees and employers to start new em-
ployee-owned businesses; and 
(C) training employees and employers with 
respect to methods of employee participation in 
open-book management, work teams, commit-
tees, and other approaches for seeking greater 
employee input. 
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(3) PROGRAM DETAILS.—The Secretary may in-
clude, in the program established under paragraph 
(1), provisions that— 
(A) in the case of activities described in 
paragraph (2)(A)— 
(i) target key groups, such as retiring 
business owners, senior managers, unions, 
trade associations, community organiza-
tions, and economic development organiza-
tions; 
(ii) encourage cooperation in the orga-
nization of workshops and conferences; and 
(iii) prepare and distribute materials 
concerning employee ownership and par-
ticipation, and business ownership succes-
sion planning; 
(B) in the case of activities described in 
paragraph (2)(B)— 
(i) provide preliminary technical as-
sistance to employee groups, managers, 
and retiring owners exploring the possi-
bility of employee ownership; 
(ii) provide for the performance of 
preliminary feasibility assessments; 
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(iii) assist in the funding of objective 
third-party feasibility studies and prelimi-
nary business valuations, and in selecting 
and monitoring professionals qualified to 
conduct such studies; and 
(iv) provide a data bank to help em-
ployees find legal, financial, and technical 
advice in connection with business owner-
ship; 
(C) in the case of activities described in 
paragraph (2)(C)— 
(i) provide for courses on employee 
participation; and 
(ii) provide for the development and 
fostering of networks of employee-owned 
companies to spread the use of successful 
participation techniques; and 
(D) in the case of training described in 
paragraph (2)(D)— 
(i) provide for visits to existing pro-
grams by staff from new programs receiv-
ing funding under this section; and 
(ii) provide materials to be used for 
such training. 
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(4) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue for-
mal guidance, for recipients of grants awarded under 
subsection (d) and one-stop partners (as defined in 
section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor-
tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102)) affiliated with the 
workforce development systems (as so defined) of 
the States, proposing that programs and other ac-
tivities funded under this section be— 
(A) proactive in encouraging actions and 
activities that promote employee ownership of, 
and participation in, businesses; and 
(B) comprehensive in emphasizing both 
employee ownership of, and participation in, 
businesses so as to increase productivity and 
broaden capital ownership. 
(d) GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 
established under subsection (c), the Secretary may 
make grants to States (except as provided in para-
graph (5)) for use in connection with new programs 
and existing programs within a State for— 
(A) education and outreach as provided in 
subsection (c)(2)(A); 
(B) technical assistance as provided in 
subsection (c)(2)(B); 
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(C) training activities for employees and 
employers as provided in subsection (c)(2)(C); 
(D) 
activities 
facilitating 
cooperation 
among employee-owned firms; and 
(E) training as provided in subsection 
(c)(2)(D) for new programs provided by partici-
pants in existing programs dedicated to the ob-
jectives of this section, except that, for each fis-
cal year, the amount of the grants made for 
such training shall not exceed 10 percent of the 
total amount of the grants made under this sec-
tion. 
(2) AMOUNTS
AND
CONDITIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall determine the amount and any condi-
tions for a grant made under this subsection. The 
amount of the grant shall be subject to paragraph 
(6), and shall reflect the capacity of the applicant 
for the grant. 
(3) APPLICATIONS.—Each entity desiring a 
grant under this subsection shall submit an applica-
tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 
and accompanied by such information as the Sec-
retary may reasonably require. 
(4) STATE
APPLICATIONS.—Each State may 
sponsor and submit an application under paragraph 
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