The Employee Ownership Act of 1999

The Employee Ownership Act of 1999 (H.R. 1462) was a bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives drafted by Coronado, California Republican Dana Rohrabacher. The bill's stated purpose was to influence businesses (through tax incentives) to offer their employees ownership and control of the companies they work for. The bill states, "It is the policy of the United States, that by the year 2010, 30 percent of all United States corporations are owned and controlled by employees of the corporations." The U.S. Senate was considering a similar bill at the time. The bill was introduced on Apr 15, 1999, but the 106th congress did not debate nor vote on this bill. Thus, it did not become law.
Congressman Rohrabacher has been a long time supporter of Employee-owned corporation (ESOPs). This bill would have created a new kind of corporation under the law, the Employee Owned and Controlled Corporation (EOCC). The three primary characteristics of these EOCCs would have been:
*Employees would own at least 50% of all voting stock in the form of an employee trust. At least 90% percent of employees who worked more than 1000 hours a year would have to be allowed to participate in this trust.
*Employees would be allowed to vote on all corporate issues, including board elections.
*Distribution and valuation rules correspond to existing ESOP rules.
The bill had 36 co-sponsors in the House, which included members from both sides of the isle. These included Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN), Collin Clark Peterson (D-MN),Mary Bono (R-CA), Gary Miller (R-CA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and 2008 Republican presidential candidates Ron Paul of Texas and Tom Tancredo of Colorado.[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:HR01462:@@@L&summ2=m&]

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu