Latest action: Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.
Referred to one or more standing committees for review, hearings, and possible markup.
Specific committees not parsed from action data.
The committee may hold hearings, amend the bill, or let it die without action.
Next: Reported
Full chamber floor — Speaker / Majority Leader controls scheduling
Bill aims to help formerly incarcerated people start businesses.
The problem
Formerly incarcerated individuals face barriers to employment and entrepreneurship due to criminal records, limited access to capital, and lack of business training programs.
The proposal
The bill likely provides funding, training, mentorship, and potentially loan guarantees or tax incentives for formerly incarcerated individuals starting small businesses.
The impact
Formerly incarcerated people, small business owners, and communities with high incarceration rates would be directly affected through expanded opportunities and resources.
Helping formerly incarcerated people start businesses gives them legitimate income and purpose, which research suggests reduces the likelihood they return to crime. This benefits public safety and communities.
New small businesses create jobs, generate tax revenue, and stimulate local economies. This could strengthen communities and provide employment opportunities for others.
The bill recognizes that people who have served their sentences deserve a path back into society. Supporting their success aligns with rehabilitation goals of the justice system.
Criminal records create systemic barriers to employment. This bill directly addresses unfair obstacles that prevent equal economic opportunity for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Without seeing the bill text, the funding amount and cost to taxpayers is unknown. Some may question whether government should subsidize businesses for any specific group.
Deciding which applicants receive help could be difficult and expensive. There is risk of fraud, favoritism, or funding people unlikely to succeed as business owners.
Entrepreneurship works for some but not everyone. People may benefit more from traditional job training and employment assistance rather than business startup support.
Most small businesses fail within five years. Resources spent on startups might produce better outcomes if directed toward job placement or education instead.
Generated by AI from the bill text. Not a prediction and not legal or policy advice. The percentage is the model's own rating of each item — self-reported, and not a measure of how accurate it is.
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Individual contributions, grouped by employer · FEC
Where their individual donors work · 2026 cycle
Money from people who work there, not from the company. Not tied to this bill.
Itemized individual contributions via FEC, grouped by the employer each contributor self-reported. Companies and unions cannot contribute to federal candidates from their treasuries, so these totals are money from people who work at an employer — never from the organization itself. They are campaign contributions covering a full election cycle and are not connected to this bill.
Senate LDA lobbying disclosures
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