Title: New Partnerships Initiative Authorization Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
New Partnerships Initiative Authorization Act
This bill provides statutory authority for the New Partnerships Initiative within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The initiative aims to diversify the USAID's partner base by creating avenues for new, underutilized, and local partners to work with, and access funding from, the USAID. The bill defines
The USAID must annually report to Congress on funding awarded to new, underutilized, and local partners.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2509 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2509

 To authorize the New Partnerships Initiative to expand and diversify 
    the partner base of the United States Agency for International 
Development and to provide more entry points for organizations to work 
                              with USAID.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 28, 2021

 Mr. Kaine (for himself and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the New Partnerships Initiative to expand and diversify 
    the partner base of the United States Agency for International 
Development and to provide more entry points for organizations to work 
                              with USAID.

    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 ``New Partnerships Initiative 
Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Local partner.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``local partner'' refers 
                to a local entity or a locally established partner of a 
                United States-based nonprofit organization.
                    (B) Local entity.--The term ``local entity'' means 
                a corporation, nonprofit organization, or other body of 
                persons that--
                            (i) is legally organized under the laws of 
                        a country receiving assistance from USAID;
                            (ii) has its principal place of business or 
                        operations in such country;
                            (iii) is majority-controlled by individuals 
                        who are citizens or lawful permanent residents 
                        of such country; and
                            (iv) is managed by a governing body, the 
                        majority of whom are citizens or lawful 
                        permanent residents of such country.
                    (C) Locally established partner.-- The term 
                ``locally established partner'' means a United States 
                or international nonprofit organization that--
                            (i) works through locally led operations 
                        and programmatic models that have maintained 
                        continuous operations in a country receiving 
                        assistance from USAID for at least 5 years; and
                            (ii) has materially demonstrated a locally 
                        led long-term presence in such country by--
                                    (I) registering with the 
                                appropriate local authorities;
                                    (II) maintaining a dedicated local 
                                office;
                                    (III) maintaining personnel in such 
                                office that consists of at least 50 
                                percent local staff;
                                    (IV) maintaining a local bank 
                                account; and
                                    (V) maintaining a portfolio of 
                                locally implemented programs.
                    (D) Majority-controlled.--The terms ``majority-
                controlled'', ``managed by'', and ``locally led'' 
                include beneficiary interests and the power (either 
                directly or indirectly and whether exercised or 
                exercisable) to control, by any means, the election, 
                appointment, or tenure of the organization's managers 
                or a majority of the organization's governing body.
            (2) New partner.--The term ``new partner'' means a 
        nonprofit organization that has not received funding from USAID 
        as a prime partner during the most recently completed 5-year 
        period.
            (3) Nonprofit.--The term ``nonprofit'' means any 
        organization that is exempt from the payment of Federal income 
        taxes, including research institutes, faith-based charities, 
        and private nongovernmental groups.
            (4) Underutilized partner.--The term ``underutilized 
        partner'' means an organization that--
                    (A) is a nonprofit entity, such as a research 
                institute, a faith-based charity, a nongovernmental 
                group, or a government entity; and
                    (B) has received less than $25,000,000 in direct or 
                indirect awards from USAID during the most recently 
                completed 5-year period.
            (5) USAID.--The term ``USAID'' means the United States 
        Agency for International Development.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to authorize and encourage USAID to use 
the New Partnerships Initiative to diversify its partner base by 
reducing barriers to entry for new partners and underutilized partners.

SEC. 4. NEW PARTNERSHIPS INITIATIVE.

    The USAID Administrator shall implement the New Partnerships 
Initiative by--
            (1) simplifying access to USAID resources to make it easier 
        for new, underutilized, and local partners to share their ideas 
        and innovations by diversifying solicitation and award 
        approaches, including--
                    (A) increasing the number of awards to new partners 
                and underutilized partners in all program sectors;
                    (B) using solicitations that lower barriers to 
                entry, including two-step approaches such as first-
                round expressions of interest under assistance and 
                phased acquisition;
                    (C) using co-creation and other collaborative 
                techniques to design prime and subawards;
                    (D) encouraging the strategic use of subawards, 
                mentoring awards, and facilitative partnerships, grants 
                under contract, and other instruments that develop 
                local capacity, and promote tools and approaches to 
                enable implementation led by local entities and local 
                partners;
                    (E) diversifying award types to be fit for purpose, 
                such as fixed amount awards and fixed amount subawards, 
                and eliminating threshold limitations on fixed amount 
                subawards;
                    (F) measuring progress in achieving the principles 
                and approaches described in this section;
                    (G) simplifying reporting;
                    (H) identifying new sources of funding to sustain 
                partnerships and scale impact;
                    (I) mobilizing partner resources equal to not less 
                than 50 percent of the proposed value of the award, 
                which may include resources from nongovernmental 
                organizations, other donor governments, or individuals; 
                and
                    (J) prioritizing solicitations and awards that 
                contribute matching or leveraged funds;
            (2) promoting local leadership; and
            (3) strengthening local capacity so that partner countries 
        gain new knowledge and skills to lead and sustain their own 
        development.

SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT.

    The USAID Administrator shall submit an annual report to Congress 
that identifies the funding for grants to new, underutilized, and local 
partners in accordance with the principles set forth in section 4.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for USAID, 
for each of the fiscal years 2022 through 2026, $250,000,000, which 
shall be expended through the New Partnerships Initiative for grants to 
new, underutilized, and local partners in accordance with the 
principles set forth in section 4.
    (b) Implementation Costs.--In addition to amounts otherwise 
available for such purposes, not more than 15 percent of the amounts 
appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) in any fiscal year may be used 
for USAID administrative expenses related to the program management, 
implementation, and oversight of the New Partnerships Initiative.
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