To require the Secretary of Labor to establish the Office of Employee Ownership to carry out the Employee Ownership Initiative and establish and carry out the Employee Ownership Loan Program, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
This bill promotes employee ownership of companies through several mechanisms: (1) creating an Office of Employee Ownership within the Department of Labor to administer employee ownership programs; (2) establishing a $500 million loan program (with $5 million for startup costs) to finance employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and worker cooperatives purchasing at least 51% equity, excluding private equity-owned entities; (3) requiring employers closing a plant to offer employees the right to purchase the facility through an ESOP or cooperative at independently appraised fair market value; and (4) creating a 7-member Advisory Council with majority employee representation to advise the Secretary of Labor on employee ownership policy.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for primary purpose and policy domains.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establishes the Office of Employee Ownership within the Department of Labor, creates a $500 million Employee Ownership Loan Program for employee stock ownership plans and worker cooperatives, mandates employee right of first refusal before plant closings, and establishes an Advisory Council on Employee Ownership.
Key Policy Areas
Labor, Finance
Primary Purpose
Establishes the Office of Employee Ownership within the Department of Labor, creates a $500 million Employee Ownership Loan Program for employee stock ownership plans and worker cooperatives, mandates employee right of first refusal before plant closings, and establishes an Advisory Council on Employee Ownership.
Policy Domains
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Sanders (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mrs. …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Employee Ownership Loan Program, Employee ownership sector, Employee stock ownership plans
ESOP advisory and legal service providers, ESOP service providers, Private equity firms
Positive-direction: ESOP advisory and legal service providers, ESOP service providers
Negative-direction: Private equity firms
Employee ownership advocates, Employees at plants facing closure
Small and medium businesses transitioning to employee ownership
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of the Office of Employee Ownership
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Labor
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
As defined in section 4975(e)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology