HONEST Enterprise Act
Bill: H.R.4156 | Sponsor: Rep. Phillips, Dean (D-MN)
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Honoring Organizations Nationally for Ethics, Sustainability, and Trust Act or the HONEST Enterprise Act
This bill establishes the Compassionate Capitalist Award to be presented to organizations that substantially benefit the well-being of their employees, stakeholders, and communities with respect to the areas of environmental stewardship, governance, social responsibility, and worker empowerment.
The bill also establishes the Compassionate Capitalist Award Fund in the Department of the Treasury—composed of application fees charged to submit an application for the award and any gifts that the Department of Commerce may solicit for this purpose—to carry out the bill's provisions.

To establish the Compassionate Capitalist Award to recognize 
   organizations that substantially benefit the well-being of their 
   employees, stakeholders, and communities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Honoring Organizations Nationally 
for Ethics, Sustainability, and Trust Act'' or the ``HONEST Enterprise 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPASSIONATE CAPITALIST AWARD.

    (a) In General.--There is established the Compassionate Capitalist 
Award (in this section referred to as the ``award''), which shall be 
evidenced by a certificate and a medal that--
            (1) bear the inscription the ``Compassionate Capitalist 
        Award''; and
            (2) incorporate such design and materials, and bear such 
        additional inscriptions, as the Secretary of Commerce (in this 
        section referred to as the ``Secretary'') determines 
        appropriate.
    (b) Presentation of Award.--The President or the Secretary shall 
annually present, with such ceremonies as the President or Secretary 
determines appropriate, the award to organizations nominated under 
subsection (d) that the Secretary determines are deserving of 
recognition for substantially benefitting the well-being of their 
employees, stakeholders, and communities with respect to the following 
areas:
            (1) Environmental stewardship.--The degree to which an 
        organization has in place practices to manage the environmental 
        impact of its operations, supply chain, and distribution 
        channels, including with respect to air, water, land, 
        biodiversity, and climate effects.
            (2) Governance.--The mission, ethics, and transparency of 
        an organization, including, if applicable, the organization's 
        corporate leadership structure and executive compensation.
            (3) Social responsibility.--The degree to which an 
        organization contributes to the communities in which it 
        operates and obtains resources from, including the 
        organization's practices with respect to diversity, equity, 
        inclusion, civic engagement, charitable giving, and refraining 
        from doing business with exploitative countries.
            (4) Worker empowerment.--The degree to which an 
        organization contributes to the financial security, workplace 
        safety, healthcare coverage, wellness, engagement, 
        satisfaction, and career development of employees, and the 
        degree to which an organization provides a fair and living 
        wage.
    (c) Eligible Organizations.--
            (1) In general.--The President or the Secretary shall 
        present the award to at least one organization each year in 
        each of the following categories:
                    (A) Small businesses (at least 10 and fewer than 50 
                employees).
                    (B) Midsized businesses (at least 50 and fewer than 
                250 employees).
                    (C) Large businesses (at least 250 employees and 
                fewer than 1,000 employees).
                    (D) Very large businesses (at least 1,000 
                employees).
            (2) Total number of awards.--Not more than 18 awards may be 
        awarded each year.
            (3) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), no award 
        shall be awarded in a given category if the Secretary 
        determines that no organization qualifies for the award with 
        respect to such category.
    (d) Establishment of Board of Directors.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a board of 
        directors to nominate organizations for the award and assist 
        with administration of the award.
            (2) Composition.--The board shall be composed of the 
        following:
                    (A) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
                Economic Development, who shall serve as chairperson of 
                the board.
                    (B) The Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division 
                of the Department of Labor, who shall serve as vice 
                chairperson of the board.
                    (C) At least 6 individuals appointed by the 
                Secretary of Commerce, who shall include--
                            (i) 2 individuals representing independent 
                        nonprofit entities that have demonstrated 
                        leadership and excellence in the field of 
                        standard setting and measurement with respect 
                        to stakeholder impact;
                            (ii) 2 individuals representing corporate 
                        business entities that have demonstrated a 
                        history of service to society; and
                            (iii) 2 individuals representing organized 
                        labor entities or worker advocacy 
                        organizations.
            (3) Diversity.--In making appointments to the board, the 
        Secretary shall take actions to ensure the diversity of the 
        membership with respect to race, ethnicity, and gender.
            (4) Evaluation tool.--The board shall seek to enter into 
        agreements with appropriate entities to obtain an online 
        evaluation tool that meets the requirements of subsection (e) 
        to assist the board in making nominations under paragraph (1).
            (5) Additional verification.--The board shall take actions 
        to verify the accuracy of the facts presented by organizations 
        seeking nomination for the award, including by soliciting 
        employee feedback.
            (6) Annual report.--The board shall annually submit to the 
        Secretary a report that includes--
                    (A) nominations for the award; and
                    (B) an assessment of the process for presenting 
                awards under this section, including recommendations 
                for improving such process.
    (e) Evaluation Tool Requirements and Analysis.--
            (1) In general.--The evaluation tool described in 
        subsection (d)(4) shall--
                    (A) with respect to producing the numerical scores 
                described in subparagraph (B), use standards specific 
                to the category of business an organization qualifies 
                as under subsection (c)(1) that are developed in 
                consultation with such organizations;
                    (B) provide for each organization considered for an 
                award a numerical score with respect to each of the 
                areas specified in subsection (b); and
                    (C) provide for each organization considered for an 
                award a total numerical score.
            (2) Analysis of results.--The board shall seek to enter 
        into an agreement with an office of the Department of Commerce, 
        or a contractor with the appropriate expertise, for such office 
        or contractor to conduct analyses of the numerical scores 
        described in paragraph (1) and report the results of such 
        analyses in a standardized format to assist the board in making 
        nominations under subsection (d)(1).
    (f) Award Eligibility Requirements.--
            (1) Application.--An organization may be considered for an 
        award upon submitting to the Secretary an application in such 
        form, at such time, and containing such information as the 
        Secretary determines appropriate, including information 
        necessary for purposes of the evaluation tool described in 
        subsection (d)(4).
            (2) Application fees.--The Secretary may charge a fee to 
        submit an application under paragraph (1) and shall deposit any 
        such fees into the account of the revolving fund established 
        under subsection (j).
            (3) Prior recipient qualification.--An organization that 
        has previously received the award is eligible to receive an 
        additional award if at least 5 years have elapsed from the date 
        such organization previously received the award.
            (4) Donor ineligibility.--An organization that makes a gift 
        described in subsection (i) is ineligible to receive an award 
        after the date of such gift.
    (g) Modification of Areas.--The Secretary may, on the basis of 
recommendations made by the board and developed in consultation with 
the Climate and ESG Task Force in the Division of Enforcement of the 
Securities and Exchange Commission, make modifications to the areas 
specified in subsection (b), which shall be effective 30 days after the 
date on which the Secretary submits a detailed description of such 
modifications to Congress.
    (h) Information Transfer.--The Secretary shall issue to each 
organization that applies for the award--
            (1) the results of the evaluation with respect to such 
        organization; and
            (2) information with respect to the organizations to whom 
        the award was presented and the practices that the Secretary 
        used as a basis to present such award to such organizations.
    (i) Solicitation of Gifts.--The Secretary may solicit and accept 
gifts from public and private entities to carry out this section and 
shall deposit any such gifts into the account of the revolving fund 
established under subsection (j).
    (j) Revolving Fund.--
            (1) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury a 
        revolving fund to be known as the ``Compassionate Capitalist 
        Award Fund'' (in this subsection referred to as the ``Fund'') 
        to carry out this section.
            (2) Contents of fund.--The Fund under this subsection shall 
        consist of the following amounts:
                    (A) Amounts deposited by the Secretary under 
                subsection (f)(2).
                    (B) Amounts deposited by the Secretary under 
                subsection (i).
                    (C) Such other amounts as may be appropriated under 
                law.
            (3) Use of amounts.--Amounts in the account of the Fund 
        under this subsection shall be available to the Secretary, 
        without further appropriation, to carry out this section.
    (k) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the President and Congress a 
report on the progress made with respect to the award and any 
recommendations relating to the process of presenting such award.
    (l) Public Availability of Award Information.--Not later than 1 
year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
establish and maintain a publicly available Government website that 
includes, with respect to the awarding of awards each year, information 
concerning--
            (1) the organizations nominated for an award under 
        subsection (d)(1);
            (2) the process by which organizations nominated for an 
        award are evaluated; and
            (3) the performance metrics which can be used to determine 
        best practices for each category of business described in 
        subsection (c)(1) in each area specified in subsection (b).
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