Title: HONEST Enterprise Act
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.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8880 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8880

     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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 4, 2020

    Mr. Phillips (for himself, Mr. Evans, Mr. Case, and Ms. Craig) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     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 inscriptions the ``Compassionate Capitalist 
        Award'' and ``Doing Business Better''; and
            (2) incorporate such design and materials, and bears 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.
            (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 
        contracts with appropriate entities to develop an online 
        evaluation tool that--
                    (A) is based on standards specific to the category 
                of business an organization qualifies as under 
                subsection (c)(1) that are developed in consultation 
                with such entities;
                    (B) provides for each organization considered for 
                an award a numerical score with respect to each of the 
                areas specified in subsection (b), using the standards 
                described in subparagraph (A);
                    (C) provides for each organization considered for 
                an award a total numerical score; and
                    (D) assists 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) 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) 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.
    (f) Modification of Areas.--The Secretary may, on the basis of 
recommendations made by the board, 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.
    (g) 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.
    (h) Funding.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may solicit and accept gifts 
        from public and private entities, and may use such gifts 
        without further appropriation, to carry out this section.
            (2) Donor award ineligibility.--An entity that makes a gift 
        under this subsection shall not be eligible to receive the 
        award after such gift has been made.
    (i) 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.
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