# Manufacturing Reinvestment Corporation Act: Plain Language Summary

This bill creates a new government organization called the Manufacturing Reinvestment Corporation to help rebuild America's manufacturing industry. The corporation would sit within the Department of Commerce and work to develop a national strategy for manufacturing that focuses on creating good jobs, addressing climate change, and ensuring that manufacturing benefits reach communities that have been left behind—particularly communities of color and low-income areas.

The bill recognizes that manufacturing has declined dramatically over the past 40 years, contributing to economic inequality and environmental problems. It argues that revitalizing manufacturing is essential for addressing climate change (by developing clean manufacturing), creating stable jobs, and fixing environmental injustice—the reality that polluting factories and industrial sites are disproportionately located in communities of color. Rather than returning to old-style manufacturing that excluded workers of color and women, the bill aims to build a new manufacturing sector that actively includes and empowers these groups.

To make this happen, the corporation would establish up to 30 local "Manufacturing Renaissance Councils" across the country over the next decade. These councils would be run by groups of local stakeholders—including labor unions, community organizations, schools, local governments, and small manufacturers—working together to strengthen manufacturing in their regions. The councils would help companies avoid closure by providing early warning systems and technical assistance, support workers and entrepreneurs in buying and running manufacturing businesses, connect businesses with financing, and work with local institutions like colleges and hospitals to create steady demand for local manufacturers.

The bill sets ambitious national goals, including making manufacturing represent 20 percent of the economy by 2035, achieving zero emissions in manufacturing by 2030, and ensuring that manufacturing business ownership reflects the diversity of local communities by 2030. While the bill doesn't directly provide money to individual workers or businesses, it creates the infrastructure and funding mechanisms for local councils to offer grants, loans, and technical assistance to support manufacturing growth in their areas.

Manufacturing Reinvestment Corporation Act

Schakowsky, Janice D.

Manufacturing Reinvestment Corporation Act This bill establishes the Manufacturing Reinvestment Corporation within the Department of Commerce. The corporation must set national strategic objectives for the manufacturing industry with an emphasis on equity and inclusion. Based on specified criteria, the corporation also must establish and make grants to 30 local Manufacturing Renaissance Councils to support the corporation's objectives. Each council must have a governing board comprised of at least nine members, which include community stakeholder organizations, local governments, educational institutions, and manufacturing companies. Each council must use grants from the corporation for economic development programs in the community, education and training, and wraparound services such as child care and mental health services. Additionally, the bill provides for the composition of the corporation's board of directors as well as the appointment of an executive director and other employees. The corporation must report annually about its national strategy and finances. The bill requires financial audits of the corporation and of each grantee and contractor.