To establish a commission on employee ownership.

April 11, 2003

Mr. BALLENGER (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

To establish a commission on employee ownership.

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 `Employee Ownership for the Twenty-First Century Act'.

SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT- Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall establish a commission to be known as the `Presidential Commission on Employee Ownership' (hereafter in this section referred to as the `Commission').

(b) DUTIES AND REPORT- The Commission shall--

(1) conduct a study concerning all issues that affect ownership of businesses in the United States with a primary focus on the issues that affect employee ownership of such businesses, and

(2) not later than two years after the date of its establishment, submit a final report to the President and the Congress which includes the findings and recommendations of the Commission.

(c) MEMBERSHIP- The Commission shall be composed of 15 members appointed by the President as follows:

(1) Three individuals, each of whom is an employee of a corporation that has at least 50 percent of its voting stock in a trust for the benefit of employees and who is not an officer or senior manager of that corporation.

(2) Three individuals, each of whom is an employee of a corporation that has at least 50 percent of its voting stock in a trust for the benefit of employees and who is an officer of senior manager of that corporation.

(3) Three individuals, each of whom is a professor employed by an institution of higher learning.

(4) Three individuals, each of whom is employed by a not-for-profit entity that has as its primary mission issues arising from employee ownership of businesses.

(5) The Secretary of Labor, or his designee, the Secretary of the Treasury, or his designee, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, or his designee.

(d) STAFF- The Commission shall have such number of staff as the President shall determine, except that such staff shall include not less than five full-time employees.

(e) GIFT AND BEQUESTS- The Commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or bequests or services or personal property for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Commission. Gifts or bequests shall be deposited in the Treasury and shall be available for disbursement upon order of the Commission.

SEC. 3. STUDY OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES AFFECTING EMPLOYEE-OWNED AND EMPLOYEE-CONTROLLED CORPORATIONS.

The Comptroller-General of the United States--

(1) conduct a study of all Federal Government regulations and policies that might impact the creation and operation of an employee-owned corporation,

(2) identify those regulations and policies that are barriers to employee ownership, and

(3) not later than one year after the date of the enactment of the Act, submit a report on the findings of such study, together with such recommendations as the Comptroller General determines appropriate, to the Congress.

END