I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 272 
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 
JANUARY 4, 2017 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia 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. 
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 ‘‘Back to Basics Job 
Creation Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. BACK TO BASICS JOB CREATION GRANT PROGRAM. 
Subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1397 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 2010. BACK TO BASICS JOB CREATION GRANT PRO-
GRAM. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary 
of Commerce, shall make grants to eligible entities 
to assist low-income individuals and individuals who 
have been unemployed for at least 3 months in de-
veloping self-employment opportunities. 
‘‘(2) TIMING
OF
GRANT
AWARDS.—Not later 
than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
section, the Secretary shall obligate not less than 
half of any funds appropriated for grants under this 
section. 
‘‘(3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 
this section, the Secretary shall give preference to el-
igible entities— 
‘‘(A) that serve communities that have ex-
perienced high levels of poverty and unemploy-
ment and low levels of reemployment, as deter-
mined by the Secretary using data reported by 
the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics; 
‘‘(B) that demonstrate an ability to admin-
ister activities using the grant funds without 
acquiring new administrative structures or re-
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sources, such as staffing, technology, evaluation 
activities, training, research, and programming; 
and 
‘‘(C) that have established partnerships 
with other government agencies, community 
based organizations, financial institutions, edu-
cational institutions, or business organizations. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity awarded 
a grant under this section shall use the grant— 
‘‘(A) to provide education and training for 
business and financial literacy, certification, 
small business plan development, entrepreneur-
ship, and patent and copyright processes; and 
‘‘(B) to provide funding for new small 
businesses that pay employees at a living wage. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—An eligible entity awarded 
a grant under this section may not use the grant— 
‘‘(A) to subsidize private or public employ-
ment; or 
‘‘(B) for any activity in violation of Fed-
eral, State, or local law. 
‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An eligible 
entity awarded a grant under this section may use 
not more than 10 percent of the grant funds for ad-
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ministrative expenses, except that none of the funds 
may be used for salaries. 
‘‘(4) DEADLINE ON USE OF GRANT FUNDS.— 
An eligible entity awarded a grant under this section 
shall expend the grant funds before December 31, 
2019, except that the Secretary may provide an ex-
tension. 
‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS.— 
For purposes of determining eligibility and benefit 
amounts under any means-tested assistance program, any 
assistance funded by a grant under this section shall be 
disregarded. 
‘‘(d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 
shall submit a report on the implementation of this section 
to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 
Senate whenever either committee shall so request. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 
section $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2018. The amounts 
appropriated under this section are authorized to remain 
available through December 31, 2018. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State, an 
Indian tribe, or a local government; 
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‘‘(2) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 
given such term by section 4 of the Indian Self-De-
termination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 450b); and 
‘‘(3) the term ‘means-tested assistance pro-
gram’ means a benefit program for which eligibility 
is based on income.’’. 
Æ 
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