[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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