Sponsors
The bill increases federal support, outreach, and a dedicated lending pilot to expand worker-owned cooperatives—potentially boosting ownership and local economic stability—while creating budget costs, implementation risks, and administrative burdens that could limit or unevenly distribute benefits.
Small-business owners, worker-members, and low-income entrepreneurs gain materially increased access to financing through a $60 million SBA intermediary lending pilot and expanded capital-focused support, making coop startups and conversions more feasible.
Prospective cooperative founders and workers receive clearer, translated, and targeted outreach, training, and technical assistance—making it easier for non‑English speakers, rural communities, and small employers to form or convert to worker-owned cooperatives.
Federal coordination—via an interagency council, defined agency responsibilities, and annual reports—creates a consistent strategy and transparency to identify best practices and scale successful cooperative models across agencies and regions.
Small-business owners and potential beneficiaries may see little real benefit if key provisions lack dedicated funding, timelines, or enforcement—creating a risk that programs are unevenly implemented or never fully deployed.
Taxpayers bear direct and indirect costs (including the $60 million pilot and added administrative expenses) that could increase budget pressures or crowd out other priorities.
Implementing new coordination, reporting, and outreach duties could divert agency staff time and resources from existing small‑business, rural, or CDFI programs, reducing capacity for other services.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Introduced November 7, 2025 by Ro Khanna · Last progress November 7, 2025
Requires six federal agencies to promote and support worker-owned cooperative businesses through programs, research, outreach, and regulatory review; creates an interagency Council to coordinate a federal strategy and report progress; updates SBA law to revive and fund a pilot intermediary lending program for worker cooperatives; and asks Community Development Financial Institutions to provide education and facilitation services for worker cooperatives. The measure sets deadlines for creating the Council and for its reports, adjusts program years and a funding figure for the SBA pilot, and defines covered agencies and worker-owned cooperative businesses.