S. 2779: Manufacturing Extension Partnership Improvement Act of 2016

114th Congress · introduced 2016-04-12 · Commerce · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2016-04-12 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Manufacturing Extension Partnership Improvement Act of 2016

Plain summary

Manufacturing Extension Partnership Improvement Act of 2016 This bill amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to direct the Department of Commerce, through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to convert the current program for creation and support of regional centers for the transfer of manufacturing technology into one for creation and support of manufacturing extension centers for the transfer of manufacturing technology and best business practices, to be known as the Hollings Manufacturing Extension (HME) Partnership, and reauthorized for FY2017-FY2020. Each Hollings Manufacturing Extension Center may be affiliated with an institution of higher education or a state or local government, as well as with a U.S.-based nonprofit institution (or consortium of such institutions) as under current law. Authorized Center activities that currently include selective, short-term loans of advanced manufacturing equipment to small manufacturing firms shall be replaced by facilitation of collaborations and partnerships between small and medium-sized manufacturing companies and community colleges and area career and technical education schools. The bill repeals the current six-year limit on federal financial assistance to a Center, allowing open-ended assistance through a cooperative agreement. Commerce shall appoint a panel to review and evaluate each Center receiving financial assistance during its third and eighth years of operation, but the Department shall review a Center directly during its fifth year of operation. Each Center shall establish a board to oversee its operations. The bill establishes a Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board. The NIST shall establish within the HME Partnership: a program of competitive awards for a participating Center, or a consortium of Centers, to develop projects to solve new or emerging manufacturing problems; and an innovation services initiative to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers in improving profitability through the reduction of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental waste.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Manufacturing Extension Partnership Improvement Act of 2016

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] · 4 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Susan M. Collins (R-ME), Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] reported raising $5.0 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Ballot initiative: A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114s2779.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>

Record fed-us-cong114-s2779 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114