[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2474 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2474
To require the Secretary of Labor to appoint an Advocate for Employee
Ownership within the Employee Ownership Initiative, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 28, 2025
Ms. Hassan (for herself and Mr. Daines) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Labor to appoint an Advocate for Employee
Ownership within the Employee Ownership Initiative, 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 ``Advocate for Employee Ownership
Act''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ADVOCATE FOR EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP.
(a) In General.--Subtitle A of title III of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 3005. ADVOCATE FOR EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary of Labor shall appoint an Advocate
for Employee Ownership within the Employee Ownership Initiative
established under section 346(b)(1) of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022
(division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law
117-328)). The appointment shall be made without regard to the
provisions of title 5, United States Code, relating to appointments in
the competitive service or Senior Executive Service.
``(b) Duties.--The Advocate for Employee Ownership shall--
``(1) consult with the head of the Employee Ownership
Initiative established under section 346(b)(1) of the SECURE
2.0 Act of 2022 (division T of the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328));
``(2) act as a liaison between the Department of Labor,
employee ownership advocates, employers considering employee
ownership, workers interested in employee ownership, and other
stakeholders, including employee stock ownership plan sponsors
and participants;
``(3) provide public education and assistance related to
the expansion of employee ownership through the establishment
and maintenance of practices that promote employee ownership,
including the use of employee stock ownership plans;
``(4) provide assistance for purposes of resolving a
dispute between the Department of Labor and any employee stock
ownership plan sponsor, fiduciary, or participant and help
facilitate communication between such entities and the
Department of Labor for such purposes;
``(5) identify and recommend potential legislative and
administrative changes, including related to access to capital
issues, to increase practices that promote employee ownership
plans, including the use of employee stock ownership plans; and
``(6) coordinate with other Federal agencies, including the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce, and
State and local governments on outreach and education to inform
employees and employers about the possibilities and benefits of
employee ownership as a business ownership succession planning
option.
``(c) Consultation and Input.--The Secretary of Labor shall solicit
advice and input from the Advocate for Employee Ownership in developing
regulations or interpretations of this Act that relate to employee
stock ownership plans.
``(d) Compensation.--The Advocate for Employee Ownership shall be
entitled to compensation at the same rate as the rate of basic pay in
effect for a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under
section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
``(e) Annual Report.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than December 31 of each
calendar year beginning after the date of enactment of this
section, the Advocate for Employee Ownership shall submit a
report to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and
Workforce of the House of Representatives on the activities of
the Office of the Advocate for Employee Ownership during the
fiscal year ending during such calendar year, including the
contents described in paragraph (2).
``(2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall--
``(A) summarize the assistance requests received by
the Advocate for Employee Ownership during the fiscal
year ending during the calendar year of such report;
``(B) describe the activities, including the
activities described under paragraphs (3) and (4) of
subsection (b), and evaluate the effectiveness of the
Advocate for Employee Ownership during such fiscal
year;
``(C) describe any significant problems the
Advocate for Employee Ownership has identified during
such fiscal year and ways to mitigate such problems;
``(D) contain recommendations for any
administrative or legislative action that may be
appropriate to resolve barriers to, and to incentivize,
practices that promote employee ownership, including
the use of employee stock ownership plans; and
``(E) describe progress related to employee
ownership in businesses in the United States.
``(3) Concurrent submission.--The Advocate for Employee
Ownership shall submit a copy of each report submitted under
paragraph (1) to the Secretary of Labor, and any other
appropriate official, at the same time such report is submitted
under paragraph (1).
``(4) Public availability.--The Advocate for Employee
Ownership shall make a copy of each report submitted under
paragraph (1) available to the public.
``(5) Definition of employee stock ownership plan.--For
purposes of this section, the term `employee stock ownership
plan' has the meaning given the term in section 4975(e)(7) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out subsection
(d).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1 of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 note)
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 3004 the
following new item:
``Sec. 3005. Advocate for employee ownership.''.
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