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.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill defines statutory definitions for the Employee Ownership Financing Act including Director, eligible worker-owned cooperative, employee stock ownership plan, Office, and Secretary, establishes Office of Employee Ownership within Department of Labor (outside EBSA), with Director appointed by Secretary, responsible for carrying out Employee Ownership Initiative and Loan Program, and creates employee Ownership Loan Program providing government loans or loan guarantees to ESOPs, worker cooperatives, and qualified trusts to purchase at least 51% equity in companies, explicitly excluding private. It relies on compliance mandates, definition changes, loan guarantees, and appropriations. The main policy areas are Labor, Finance, and Trade.
Who Benefits and How
Worker cooperatives could see lower costs, Employee stock ownership plans could see lower costs, and Employee Ownership Loan Program could gain revenue opportunities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Private equity firms could face higher barriers, Federal budget could face higher costs, and Employers closing plants would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Defines statutory definitions for the Employee Ownership Financing Act including Director, eligible worker-owned cooperative, employee stock ownership plan, Office, and Secretary.
- Establishes Office of Employee Ownership within Department of Labor (outside EBSA), with Director appointed by Secretary, responsible for carrying out Employee Ownership Initiative and Loan Program.
- Creates employee Ownership Loan Program providing government loans or loan guarantees to ESOPs, worker cooperatives, and qualified trusts to purchase at least 51% equity in companies, explicitly excluding private...
- Requires amendment to WARN Act requiring employers ordering permanent plant closings to offer affected employees right of first refusal to purchase the plant, facility, or company through an ESOP or cooperative...
- Establishes 7-member Advisory Council on Employee Ownership with 4 employee representatives, 1 company representative, 1 ESOP provider, and 1 membership organization representative, to advise Secretary on employee...
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill defines statutory definitions for the Employee Ownership Financing Act including Director, eligible worker-owned cooperative, employee stock ownership plan, Office, and Secretary, establishes Office of Employee Ownership within Department of Labor (outside EBSA), with Director appointed by Secretary, responsible for carrying out Employee Ownership Initiative and Loan Program, and creates employee Ownership Loan Program providing government loans or loan guarantees to ESOPs, worker cooperatives, and qualified trusts to purchase at least 51% equity in companies, explicitly excluding private.
Key Policy Areas
Labor, Finance, Trade
Primary Purpose
The bill defines statutory definitions for the Employee Ownership Financing Act including Director, eligible worker-owned cooperative, employee stock ownership plan, Office, and Secretary, establishes Office of Employee Ownership within Department of Labor (outside EBSA), with Director appointed by Secretary, responsible for carrying out Employee Ownership Initiative and Loan Program, and creates employee Ownership Loan Program providing government loans or loan guarantees to ESOPs, worker cooperatives, and qualified trusts to purchase at least 51% equity in companies, explicitly excluding private.
Policy Domains
Employee Ownership Programs
Identified Gains
- Worker cooperatives
- Employee stock ownership plans
- Employee Ownership Loan Program
- Employees at plants facing closure
- Small and medium businesses transitioning to employee ownership
Identified Costs
- Private equity firms
- Federal budget
- Employers closing plants
- Department of Labor
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