[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2264 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2264
To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by
designating and supporting manufacturing communities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 1, 2017
Mr. Cicilline (for himself, Mr. Reed, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Pocan, Ms.
Matsui, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr.
Schrader, Mrs. Bustos, and Ms. Tenney) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by
designating and supporting manufacturing communities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Make It In America Manufacturing
Communities Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Manufacturing community support program.--The term
``Manufacturing Community Support Program'' means the program
established under section 3(a).
(2) Participating agency.--The term ``participating
agency'' means a Federal agency that elects to participate in
the Manufacturing Community Support Program.
(3) Participating program.--The term ``participating
program'' means a program identified by a participating agency
under section 3(c)(1)(C).
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Commerce.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM TO DESIGNATE AND SUPPORT MANUFACTURING COMMUNITIES.
(a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary shall establish a program to
improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing--
(1) by designating consortiums as manufacturing communities
under subsection (b); and
(2) by supporting manufacturing communities, as so
designated, under subsection (c).
(b) Designation of Manufacturing Communities.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (7), for
purposes of the Manufacturing Community Support Program, the
Secretary shall designate eligible consortiums as manufacturing
communities through a competitive process.
(2) Eligible consortiums.--
(A) In general.--An eligible consortium is a
consortium that--
(i) represents a region defined by the
consortium in accordance with subparagraph (B);
(ii) includes at least one--
(I) institution of higher
education;
(II) a private sector entity; and
(III) a government entity;
(iii) may include one or more--
(I) private sector partners;
(II) institutions of higher
education;
(III) government entities;
(IV) economic development and other
community and labor groups;
(V) financial institutions; or
(VI) utilities;
(iv) has, as a lead applicant--
(I) a district organization (as
defined in section 300.3 of title 13,
Code of Federal Regulations, or
successor regulation);
(II) an Indian tribe (as defined in
section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) or a consortium
of Indian tribes;
(III) a State or a political
subdivision of a State, including a
special purpose unit of a State or
local government engaged in economic or
infrastructure development activities,
or a consortium of political
subdivisions;
(IV) an institution of higher
education or a consortium of
institutions of higher education; or
(V) a public or private nonprofit
organization or association that has an
application that is supported by a
State, a political subdivision of a
State, or a native community.
(B) Regions.--Subject to approval by the Secretary,
a consortium may define the region that it represents
if the region--
(i) is large enough to contain critical
elements of the key technologies or supply
chain prioritized by the consortium; and
(ii) is small enough to enable close
collaboration among members of the consortium.
(3) Duration.--Each designation under paragraph (1) shall
be for a period of two years.
(4) Renewal.--
(A) In general.--Upon receipt of an application
submitted under subparagraph (B), the Secretary may
renew a designation made under paragraph (1) for up to
two additional two-year periods. Any designation as a
manufacturing community or renewal of such designation
that is in effect before the date of the enactment of
this Act shall count toward the limit set forth in this
subparagraph.
(B) Application for renewal.--An eligible
consortium seeking a renewal under subparagraph (A)
shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information
as the Secretary may require.
(C) Modifications authorized.--The Secretary may
renew a designation under subparagraph (A) for an
eligible consortium that--
(i) has changed its composition, either by
adding or removing members; or
(ii) as part of its application under
subparagraph (B), submits a revision to the
plan submitted under paragraph (5)(B)(iv) or
the strategy submitted under paragraph
(5)(B)(v).
(D) Evaluation for renewal.--In determining whether
to renew a designation of an eligible consortium under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall assess the eligible
consortium based upon--
(i) the performance of the consortium
against the terms of the consortium's most
recent designation under paragraph (1) and any
post-designation awards the consortium may have
received;
(ii) the progress the consortium has made
with respect to project-specific metrics the
consortium proposed in the consortium's
application for the most recent designation
under paragraph (1), particularly with respect
to those metrics that were designed to help
communities track their own progress;
(iii) whether any changes to the
composition of the eligible consortium or
revisions to the plan or strategy described in
subparagraph (C)(ii) would improve the
competitiveness of United States manufacturing;
and
(iv) such other criteria as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
(5) Application for designation.--
(A) In general.--An eligible consortium seeking a
designation under paragraph (1) shall submit an
application to the Secretary at such time and in such
manner as the Secretary may require.
(B) Contents.--Each application submitted to the
Secretary under subparagraph (A) include--
(i) a description of the regional
boundaries of the consortium;
(ii) a description of the manufacturing
concentration of the consortium, including an
assessment of how the manufacturing
concentration of the consortium competitively
ranks nationally according to measures relating
to employment, sales, location quotients for an
industry's level of concentration, or such
other measures as the Secretary considers
appropriate;
(iii) an integrated assessment of the local
industrial ecosystem of the region of the
consortium, which may include assessment of
workforce and training, such as that involving
women and underrepresented minorities, supplier
network, research and innovation,
infrastructure or site development, trade and
international investment, operational
improvements, and capital access components
needed for manufacturing activities in such
region;
(iv) an evidence-based plan for developing
components of such ecosystem (selected by the
consortium)--
(I) by making specific investments
to address gaps in such ecosystem; and
(II) by making the manufacturing of
the region of the consortium uniquely
competitive;
(v) a description of the investments the
consortium proposes and the implementation
strategy the consortium intends to use to
address gaps in such ecosystem;
(vi) a description of the outcome-based
metrics, benchmarks, and milestones that the
consortium will track and the evaluation
methods the consortium will use while
designated as a manufacturing community to
gauge performance of the strategy of the
consortium to improve the manufacturing in the
region of the consortium; and
(vii) such other matters as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
(6) Evaluation of applications.--The Secretary shall
evaluate each application received under paragraph (5) to
determine--
(A) whether the applicant demonstrates a
significant level of regional cooperation in their
proposal; and
(B) how the manufacturing concentration of the
applicant competitively ranks nationally according to
measures described in paragraph (5)(B)(ii).
(7) Certain communities previously recognized.--Each
consortium that was designated as a manufacturing community by
the Secretary in carrying out the Investing in Manufacturing
Communities Partnership initiative of the Department of
Commerce before the date of the enactment of this Act shall be
deemed a manufacturing community designated under this
subsection if such consortium is still designated as a
manufacturing community by the Secretary as part of such
initiative.
(c) Support for Designated Manufacturing Communities.--
(1) Preferential consideration.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(D), if a member of a consortium designated as a
manufacturing community under subsection (b) seeks
financial or technical assistance under a participating
program of a participating agency, the head of such
agency may give preferential consideration to such
member with respect to the awarding of such financial
or technical assistance if--
(i) such head considers the award of the
financial or technical assistance consistent
with the economic development strategy of the
consortium; and
(ii) the member otherwise meets all
applicable requirements for the financial or
technical assistance.
(B) Participating agencies.--The Secretary shall
invite other Federal agencies to become participating
agencies of the Manufacturing Community Support
Program.
(C) Participating programs.--The head of each
participating agency shall identify all programs
administered by such participating agency that are
applicable to the Manufacturing Community Support
Program.
(D) Multiple members of the same consortium seeking
the same financial or technical assistance.--
(i) In general.--If a participating agency
receives applications for the same financial or
technical assistance from more than one member
of the same consortium designated as a
manufacturing community under subsection (b),
the head of such agency may determine how
preference will be given under subparagraph
(A), including by requiring the consortium to
select which of the members should be given
preference.
(ii) Coordination.--If the head of a
participating agency determines that more than
one member of a consortium should be given
preference for financial or technical
assistance under subparagraph (A), he or she
may require such members to demonstrate
coordination with each other in developing
their applications for the financial or
technical assistance.
(E) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the head of each
participating agency shall submit a report to the
Secretary that specifies how the head will give
preferential consideration under subparagraph (A).
(2) Technical assistance.--The Secretary may make a Federal
point of contact available to each consortium designated as a
manufacturing community under subsection (b) to help the
members of the consortium access Federal funds and technical
assistance.
(3) Financial and technical assistance.--
(A) In general.--Under the Manufacturing Community
Support Program, the head of a participating agency may
award financial or technical assistance to a member of
a consortium designated as a manufacturing community
under subsection (b) as he or she considers appropriate
for purposes of such program and consistent with the
economic development strategy of the consortium.
(B) Use of funds.--
(i) In general.--A recipient of financial
or technical assistance under subparagraph (A)
may use such financial or technical assistance
to support an investment in an ecosystem that
will improve the competitiveness of United
States manufacturing.
(ii) Investments supported.--Investments
supported under this subparagraph may include--
(I) infrastructure;
(II) access to capital;
(III) promotion of exports and
foreign direct investment;
(IV) equipment or facility
upgrades;
(V) workforce training, retraining,
or recruitment and retention, including
that of women and underrepresented
minorities;
(VI) energy or process efficiency;
(VII) business incubators;
(VIII) site preparation;
(IX) advanced research;
(X) supply chain development; and
(XI) small business assistance.
(4) Coordination.--
(A) Coordination by secretary of commerce.--The
Secretary shall coordinate with the heads of the
participating agencies to identify programs under
paragraph (1)(C).
(B) Inter-agency coordination.--The heads of the
participating agencies shall coordinate with each
other--
(i) to leverage complementary activities,
including from non-Federal sources, such as
philanthropies; and
(ii) to avoid duplication of efforts.
(d) Receipt of Transferred Funds.--The Secretary may accept amounts
transferred to the Secretary from the head of another participating
agency to carry out this section.
<all>