[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1499 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1499
To establish a program awarding competitive grants to organizations
administering entrepreneurial development programming to currently
incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, and other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 28, 2025
Mr. Markey (for himself and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business
and Entrepreneurship
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a program awarding competitive grants to organizations
administering entrepreneurial development programming to currently
incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, and 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 ``New Start Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) according to the Department of Justice, every year,
around 600,000 individuals are released from prison and return
home to their communities, and almost 77 percent of those
individuals will reoffend within 5 years;
(2) according to the Brookings Institution, an estimated
48.5 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals will remain
unemployed or earn a negligible income for a period of 1 year
post-incarceration, increasing the risk for recidivism;
(3) according to the Florida State University Institute for
Justice Research and Development, formerly incarcerated
individuals see a reduction in earnings of 25 percent since
criminal records make it difficult to find stable employment;
(4) self-employment can provide economic stability for
those who are otherwise locked out of the labor market; and
(5) according to a paper entitled ``Entrepreneurship as a
Response to Labor Market Discrimination for Formerly
Incarcerated People''--
(A) the average individual without a criminal
record has a 7.09 percent likelihood of becoming an
entrepreneur, but justice-impacted individuals were
found to be more than 50 percent likely to choose
entrepreneurship with a 12.49 percent likelihood of
becoming an entrepreneur;
(B) entrepreneurship reduces the likelihood of
recidivism by 5.3 percent, which was a 32.5 percent
decrease from average recidivism rates for regular
employees who have been previously incarcerated; and
(C) formerly incarcerated individuals who choose
entrepreneurship make $2,700 more annually than
formerly incarcerated employees and that the income gap
between formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs and
entrepreneurs with no criminal record was 38 percent
lower than the income gap between formerly incarcerated
employees and employees with no criminal record.
SEC. 3. ENTREPRENEURSHIP COUNSELING AND TRAINING FOR JUSTICE-IMPACTED
INDIVIDUALS.
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 note) as
section 50; and
(2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 657u) the
following:
``SEC. 49. NEW START PROGRAM.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
`appropriate committees of Congress' means--
``(A) the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and
``(B) the Committee on Small Business of the House
of Representatives.
``(2) Community advantage small business lending company.--
The term `Community Advantage Small Business Lending Company'
has the meaning given the term in section 120.10 of title 13,
Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.
``(3) Currently incarcerated individual.--The term
`currently incarcerated individual' means an individual who--
``(A) is incarcerated in a Federal prison
designated as a minimum, low, or medium security prison
by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons or is under
the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Prisons and is housed
in a Residential Reentry Center operated under a
contract with the Bureau of Prisons; and
``(B) meets the offense eligibility requirements
set forth in any applicable policy notice or other
guidance issued by the Administration for the program
established under section 7(m).
``(4) Entrepreneurial development program.--The term
`entrepreneurial development program' includes programming that
provides--
``(A) assistance and in-depth training on how to
start or expand a small business concern, including--
``(i) a self-study course manual focused on
the basic skills of entrepreneurship, financial
literacy, the language of business, and the
considerations and life skills relevant to
self-employment and ownership of a small
business concern;
``(ii) in-depth classroom instruction
introducing the foundations of self-employment
and ownership of small business concerns; or
``(iii) one-on-one training, including
individual support in the development of a
business plan, entrepreneurial skills, and
strategies for starting a small business
concern;
``(B) the tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to
identify a business opportunity, including how to--
``(i) draft a resume, business plan, or
succession plan;
``(ii) identify sources of capital and
contracting opportunities; or
``(iii) connect with local resources for
small business concerns;
``(C) a mentorship program for over a predetermined
or open-ended period; or
``(D) seed investment in exchange for a small
amount of equity, as well as startup capital, or the
opportunity to raise capital from outside investors.
``(5) Formerly incarcerated individual.--The term `formerly
incarcerated individual' means an individual who--
``(A) completed a term of imprisonment in Federal,
State, or local jail or prison; and
``(B) meets the offense eligibility requirements
set forth in any applicable policy notice or other
guidance issued by the Administration for the program
established under section 7(m).
``(6) Microloan intermediary.--The term `microloan
intermediary' means an intermediary (as defined in section
7(m)(11)) that is eligible to participate in the program
established under section 7(m).
``(7) Program.--The term `Program' means the New Start
Program established under subsection (b).
``(8) SCORE.--The term `SCORE' means the Service Corps of
Retired Executives described in section 8(b)(1)(B).
``(9) Women's business center.--The term `women's business
center' means a women's business center described in section
29.
``(b) Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of the New Start Act of 2025, the Administrator
shall establish the New Start Program to award grants to
organizations over a 5-year period to create or support
existing entrepreneurial development programs for formerly
incarcerated individuals or currently incarcerated individuals.
``(2) Requirements.--In carrying out the Program, the
Administrator shall--
``(A) coordinate with the Director of the Bureau of
Prisons to allow organizations, including small
business development centers, women's business centers,
and SCORE chapters, that receive a grant under this
section to provide entrepreneurial development
assistance to currently incarcerated individuals;
``(B) develop a plan, which shall be updated
annually and made in consultation with associations
that represent small business development centers,
women's business centers, and SCORE chapters, to match
organizations with formerly incarcerated individuals
and currently incarcerated individuals; and
``(C) to the extent possible, ensure an equitable
share of grants between organizations that provide
entrepreneurial development programs targeted to
formerly incarcerated individuals and organizations
that provide entrepreneurial development programs to
currently incarcerated individuals.
``(c) Grant Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall--
``(A) award grants under the Program to
organizations, or partnerships of organizations,
including small business development centers, women's
business centers, and SCORE chapters, which shall each
receive a grant in an amount greater than $100,000 and
less than $500,000 annually over the 5-year period in
which the Program is in existence; and
``(B) allocate grants under the Program to ensure
that the recipients are geographically varied
throughout the United States.
``(2) Cap on women's business center grants.--The amount of
an award granted to a women's business center under the Program
shall not count toward the maximum grant award amount allowable
under section 29.
``(d) Partnerships.--An applicant for a grant under the Program may
form partnerships with other organizations for the purposes of the
application submitted under subsection (e) and for conducting
entrepreneurial development programs.
``(e) Application.--
``(1) In general.--An organization or partnership of
organizations desiring a grant under the Program shall submit
an application to the Administrator in such form, in such
manner, and containing such information as the Administrator
may reasonably require.
``(2) Contents.--An application submitted under paragraph
(1) shall--
``(A) for the purposes of entrepreneurial
development programming targeted at formerly
incarcerated individuals, demonstrate that the
applicant is a microloan intermediary or a Community
Advantage Small Business Lending Company, or has a
partnership with such a microloan intermediary,
Community Advantage Small Business Lending Company, or
other lender that may provide capital to qualified
formerly incarcerated individuals;
``(B) demonstrate strong community ties, including
those with the justice-impacted community, local
businesses, and political leaders;
``(C) demonstrate an ability to provide a full
range of entrepreneurial development programming on an
ongoing basis;
``(D) include a plan for reaching formerly
incarcerated individuals or currently incarcerated
individuals, including by identifying particular target
populations within the community;
``(E) clearly define entrepreneurial development
capabilities, including coordination with existing
local resource partners of the Administration for
additional training as necessary;
``(F) present an entrepreneurial development
curriculum, which may be a nationally recognized model
or based upon such a model;
``(G) include a list of each partner organization;
and
``(H) include a comprehensive plan for the use of
grant funds, including estimates for administrative and
outreach costs of running and evaluating the
entrepreneurial development program.
``(f) Priority.--In determining whether to award a grant under the
Program, the Administrator may give priority to applicants based on--
``(1) whether the application includes a commitment from an
existing or new non-Federal funding source;
``(2) whether the application takes into account local
economies and markets as a part of the educational component of
the entrepreneurial development program;
``(3) the ability or plan of the applicant to provide
entrepreneurial development services concurrent with employment
or job training services;
``(4) whether the applicant has a history of effectively
providing entrepreneurial development training or access to
capital to formerly incarcerated individuals or currently
incarcerated individuals; and
``(5) whether the applicant will be providing
entrepreneurial development training to currently incarcerated
individuals who will be released from Federal custody not later
than 18 months after the date on which those currently
incarcerated individuals begin to receive those services.
``(g) Responsibilities.--A recipient of a grant under the Program
shall, to the maximum extent possible, connect formerly incarcerated
individuals to a range of Federal resources, including--
``(1) the program established under section 7(m);
``(2) Community Advantage Small Business Lending Companies;
``(3) small business development centers;
``(4) women's business centers;
``(5) SCORE chapters;
``(6) Veteran Business Outreach Centers described in
section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657b); and
``(7) business centers established by the Minority Business
Development Agency of the Department of Commerce.
``(h) Reports.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date on
which the Administrator establishes the Program, and every year
thereafter until the Program terminates, the Administrator
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
on the activities of the Program, including--
``(A) a list of each grantee organization and each
partner organization;
``(B) the characteristics of formerly incarcerated
individuals and currently incarcerated individuals
assisted under the entrepreneurial development
programs, including race and ethnicity, gender, age,
marital status, parental status, employment status,
income, and prior business experience;
``(C) the participation and attendance rates for
all components of the entrepreneurial development
programs;
``(D) the entrepreneurial development program
retention rate;
``(E) to the greatest extent practicable, the most
common reasons why participants do not complete an
entrepreneurial development program;
``(F) the percentage of formerly incarcerated
individuals who remain non-justice involved during the
calendar year of an entrepreneurial development
program;
``(G) the experiences and perceptions of
entrepreneurial development program participants;
``(H) the number and dollar amount of loans made to
formerly incarcerated individuals;
``(I) the number and dollar amount of loans made or
guaranteed by the Administration to formerly
incarcerated individuals; and
``(J) such additional information as the
Administrator may require.
``(2) GAO report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on
which the Program terminates, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall submit to the appropriate committees of
Congress a report that evaluates--
``(A) the services that grant recipients provided
to formerly incarcerated individuals and currently
incarcerated individuals assisted under entrepreneurial
development programs;
``(B) oversight of the Program by the
Administrator, including policies and procedures for
monitoring the compliance by grant recipients with
Program requirements and an assessment of the
effectiveness of the Program; and
``(C) the overall performance of the Program and
the impacts of the Program on grant recipients.
``(i) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed to affect the program established under section 7(m),
including--
``(1) the requirements of that program;
``(2) the manner in which that program is carried out; or
``(3) the use or availability of any amounts that have been
made available to carry out that program.
``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Administrator such sums as are necessary to carry
out the Program.''.
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