The new bill is aimed at supporting justice-impacted individuals and their opportunities for work after repaying their debt to society.
This month, Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) reintroduced his NEW START Act – legislation aimed at creating reentry programs with the SBA, awarding grants for business counseling and entrepreneurial development training to justice-impacted individuals.
The bill would establish a five-year pilot program providing award grants of $100,000 to $500,000 to organizations annually over the five-year period. Participating organizations would execute entrepreneurial development training for formerly incarcerated individuals, and organizations seeking grants would partner with lenders in the SBA Microloan program and Community Advantage program; this would provide qualifying program participants the ability to obtain loans and build their business.
While the bill is still only introduced, read Senator Cardin’s release on the NEW START act here, and follow NSBA as we continue to track legislation and related small-business initiatives from Capitol Hill.