[Senate Report 115-204]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 298
115th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 115-204
_______________________________________________________________________
MADE IN AMERICA MANUFACTURING COMMUNITIES ACT OF 2017
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
on
S. 701
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
February 5, 2018.--Ordered to be printed
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
79-010 WASHINGTON : 2018
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
one hundred fifteenth congress
second session
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida
ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
TED CRUZ, Texas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
DEAN HELLER, Nevada TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
MIKE LEE, Utah TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West MARGARETWOODHASSAN,NewHampshire
Virginia
CORY GARDNER, Colorado CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD C. YOUNG, Indiana JON TESTER, Montana
Nick Rossi, Staff Director
Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
Christopher Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
Calendar No. 298
115th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 115-204
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MADE IN AMERICA MANUFACTURING COMMUNITIES ACT OF 2017
_______
February 5, 2018.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Thune, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 701]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to
which was referred the bill (S. 701) to improve the
competitiveness of United States manufacturing by designating
and supporting manufacturing communities, having considered the
same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment (in the
nature of a substitute) and recommends that the bill (as
amended) do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of S. 701, the Made in America Manufacturing
Communities Act of 2017, is to improve the competitiveness of
United States manufacturing by designating and supporting
manufacturing communities.
Background and Needs
The Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership
(IMCP) was established by the Department of Commerce (DOC) at
the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to incentivize
and facilitate collaboration among private and public sector
stakeholders in U.S. manufacturing communities. The IMCP is
designed to support growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector,
new manufacturing jobs, regional economic growth, and regional
economic and workforce development objectives. Between 2014 and
2015, 2-year IMCP designations were awarded to 24 locally
organized, public-private consortiums across the United States
that successfully demonstrated best practices in advancing
innovative regional manufacturing economies.
In order to qualify for an initial designation, an
applicant is required to demonstrate the strength of an
existing manufacturing industry in its region or community and
to describe its proposed strategies to target investments and
achieve measurable progress in six areas. The six areas are as
follows: workforce and training; research and innovation;
infrastructure and site development; supply chain support;
trade and international investment; and operational improvement
and capital access. Twelve of the 24 IMCP designations were
renewed in November 2016, while the remaining 12 IMCP
designations continued through 2017.
The following IMCP participating agencies have identified
existing programs that are aligned with manufacturing and have
agreed to provide preferential consideration to program
applications submitted for manufacturing communities: the DOC,
the EDA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
the International Trade Administration, the Department of
Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Department of
Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Housing
and Urban Development, the Department of Labor, the Department
of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Small Business Administration, the National Science Foundation,
the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Delta Regional
Authority.
The bill, which would make the IMCP program permanent, is
supported by the following organizations: the American Small
Manufacturers Coalition, the American Sustainable Business
Council, the Association for Manufacturing Technology, the
Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, the
Manufacturing Alliance of Communities, the National Association
of Counties, the National Association of Development
Organizations, the National Skills Coalition, the National
Tooling and Machining Association, the North American Die
Casting Association, the Precision Machined Products
Association, the Precision Metalforming Association, and the
U.S. Conference of Mayors.
summary of provisions
S. 701 would codify the existing IMCP program at the DOC to
improve the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing by
designating consortiums as manufacturing communities and
authorizing Federal agencies to provide them with preferential
consideration for grant programs and financial and technical
assistance. Pursuant to the bill, the DOC would designate
consortiums as manufacturing communities for 2 years using a
competitive process, including a process for renewal, and
specified criteria. Recipients of financial or technical
assistance from participating agencies would be allowed to use
the funds to improve the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing
with investments that may include infrastructure, access to
capital, promotion of exports and foreign direct investment,
equipment upgrades, workforce training, energy or process
efficiency, and other specified purposes.
Legislative History
Senator Gillibrand (for herself and Senators Blumenthal,
Moran, Capito, King, and Collins) introduced S. 701 on March
22, 2017. The bill is also cosponsored by Senators Baldwin,
Feinstein, and Klobuchar.
A previous version of the bill, S. 2526, was introduced in
the 114th Congress. S. 701 is identical to a first degree
amendment offered by Senators Blumenthal and Klobuchar to S.
3084, the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, which
was adopted by the Committee by voice vote on June 29, 2016.
That provision was not ultimately included in the final version
of S. 3084 that was enacted into law in January 2017.
On April 5, 2017, the Committee met in open Executive
Session and, by voice vote, ordered the bill reported favorably
with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute). At the
markup, the Committee adopted an amendment offered by Senator
Klobuchar to allow the inclusion of information about the
participation of women and underrepresented minorities in the
application of a consortium to be a manufacturing community,
and to permit the use of financial or technical assistance
under the program for workforce recruitment and retention,
including that of women and underrepresented minorities.
Estimated Costs
In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget
Office:
S. 701--Made in America Manufacturing Communities Act of 2017
S. 701 would expand and codify into law an existing pilot
program that designates some consortiums of private and public
sector entities that aim to improve manufacturing in a
particular region as ``manufacturing communities'' and offers
them preferential consideration for some federal assistance.
Those designations expire in 2017.
Under the bill, the Department of Commerce (DOC) also would
be required to develop a program to which groups of public and
private sector entities could apply to be designated as a
manufacturing community. Such a designation would last for two
years and could be renewed for a maximum of four additional
years. Manufacturing communities would be eligible for
preferential consideration for financial or technical
assistance or awards from participating federal agencies or
programs.
Based on an analysis of information from DOC and the Small
Business Administration, CBO estimates that implementing S. 701
would cost $5 million over the 2018-2022 period for the
Economic Development Administration within DOC to operate the
program and for increased administrative costs to federal
agencies that participate in the program; such spending would
be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Enacting S. 701 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO
estimates that enacting S. 701 would not increase net direct
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive
10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 701 contains no intergovernmental or private sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Stephen Rabent.
The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Regulatory Impact Statement
In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the
legislation, as reported:
number of persons covered
The bill would cover consortiums that are already subject
to similar eligibility policies and procedures under the
existing program at the DOC. Each would include at least one
institution of higher education, private sector entity, and
government entity. Currently, there are 24 consortiums that
have been granted manufacturing community designations by the
DOC under 2 rounds of designations.
economic impact
The bill is intended to have a positive economic impact
with respect to manufacturing competitiveness for individuals,
consumers, and businesses affiliated with or located near
designated manufacturing communities. Specifically, a member of
a consortium designated as a manufacturing community may
receive preferential consideration for and subsequent award of
financial or technical assistance under a program of a
participating agency. Such assistance may include investments
in infrastructure, access to capital, promotion of exports and
foreign direct investment, equipment or facility upgrades,
workforce training, recruitment and retention, energy or
process efficiencies, business incubators, site preparation,
advanced research, supply chain development, and small business
assistance.
privacy
The bill would not impact the personal privacy of
individuals, since the bill would affect institutions of higher
education, private companies, and State and local governments
that voluntarily apply through consortiums to be designated as
manufacturing communities or receive financial or technical
assistance from the DOC under the IMCP program.
paperwork
The bill would not increase paperwork requirements for
eligible consortiums that voluntarily apply to participate
beyond what is currently required under the existing IMCP
program. Under the bill, applications to the IMCP program would
include the following: a description of the regional boundaries
of the consortium; a description of the manufacturing
concentration of the consortium; an integrated assessment of
the local industrial ecosystem of the region of the consortium;
an evidence-based plan for developing components of such
ecosystem; a description of the investments and the
implementation strategy the consortium intends to use to
address gaps in such ecosystem; and a description of the
outcome-based metrics, benchmarks, and milestones that the
consortium will track to gauge performance of the strategy of
the consortium.
Congressionally Directed Spending
In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the
rule.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Sec. 1. Short title.
This section would provide that the Act may be cited as the
``Made in America Manufacturing Communities Act of 2017.''
Sec. 2. Definitions.
This section would define the terms ``Manufacturing
Community Support Program,'' ``participating agency,''
``participating program,'' and ``Secretary.''
Sec. 3. Program to designate and support manufacturing communities.
This section would require the Secretary of Commerce to
establish a program to improve the manufacturing
competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing by designating
consortiums for 2 years and supporting them as manufacturing
communities. The eligibility requirements for such a consortium
would include it do the following: represent a region that is
large enough to contain critical elements of the key
technologies or supply chain prioritized by the consortium and
small enough to enable close collaboration among the
consortium's members; include at least one institution of
higher education, a private sector entity, and a government
entity; and have a lead applicant that is a district
organization, an Indian tribe, a State or political subdivision
of a State, an institution of higher education, or a nonprofit
organization or association cooperating with a political
subdivision of a State. This section also would provide for
competitive application and renewal processes. The section
would allow other Federal agencies to support the manufacturing
communities by awarding them financial or technical assistance,
providing preferential consideration when members of a
consortium apply for Federal or technical assistance, or
providing a Federal point of contact to help consortiums access
Federal funds or technical assistance.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the
bill as reported would make no change to existing law.
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