Sponsors (2)
The bill provides targeted mentoring, training, financing help, and local support to help people exiting federal prison start businesses, improving reentry outcomes but risking limited effectiveness due to systemic barriers, possible resource trade-offs, added taxpayer costs, and privacy concerns.
People formerly incarcerated in federal prisons gain year-long, individualized mentoring and hands-on help to develop business plans and transition into entrepreneurship, improving their prospects for self-employment and income.
People formerly incarcerated receive help identifying capital and preparing loan/funding applications, increasing their access to startup financing and the likelihood of launching viable small businesses.
People formerly incarcerated get tailored workshops, tools, and instructional materials to build business skills, create transition plans, and improve readiness to start or expand businesses.
Program counseling may have limited impact because formerly incarcerated people will still face systemic barriers (poor credit history, occupational licensing restrictions, collateral gaps) that mentorship alone may not overcome.
SCORE and SBA may need to reallocate staff or volunteer resources to meet mandated services for covered individuals, potentially reducing support available to other small-business clients.
Taxpayers could face additional costs if the SBA expands SCORE services nationwide without dedicated, offsetting funding in the bill.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires SCORE to provide nationwide entrepreneurship mentoring, training, and resource assistance to individuals formerly incarcerated, with annual reporting to Congress.
Introduced April 21, 2026 by Morgan McGarvey · Last progress April 21, 2026
Requires the SBA's SCORE program to provide nationwide entrepreneurship counseling, mentoring, and training to people who were formerly incarcerated in Federal prisons. The program must include one-on-one mentoring over at least a year, workshops, instructional materials, help finding local resources and capital, and tools to draft skills profiles, business plans, and transition plans. Requires the SBA Administrator, in coordination with the Bureau of Prisons, to oversee the effort, collect participant satisfaction surveys, and report program metrics (number mentored, mentorship hours, demographics, survey findings, and other data) to the House and Senate small business committees within one year of enactment and annually thereafter. Also makes a minor statutory renumbering change in the Small Business Act.