Last night, we sent out the following email to our friends and members to inform them of current legislation aimed at easing the way for startups. We want to share the update with you now, as a resource for understanding key provisions of JOBS Act and Startup Act, and to hear your thoughts on these bills. If you want to sign up for email updates like this in the future, subscribe to our mailing list here.
Dear Friend,
Engine has been tracking recent legislative efforts to foster entrepreneurship and small business. Today, the Senate begins debate on the JOBS Act, which passed the House last week. Startup Act is next on the legislative agenda and responds to a number of key startup needs.
JOBS Act
The JOBS Act is a legislative package designed to lower barriers to entry for entrepreneurs by reducing limitations on fundraising and decreasing crippling bureaucratic overhead currently required by existing regulatory legislation. While there’s good and bad contained within it, it is heartening to see Congress prioritizing legislative issues that affect startups. You can read about the provisions we like in the JOBS Act.
- Ease of raising capital through crowdfunding and ease SEC regulations on offerings from $5 million to $50 million, making it easier for startups to raise capital.
- Create IPO onramp for class of emerging growth companies with annual revenue of less than $1 Billion.
- Emerging growth companies are subject to fewer SEC regulations when filing for IPO
But JOBS is just the beginning.
Startup Act
It’s time to move forward on Startup Act. We have only a few weeks left to effect change in Congress this session, and Startup Act represents another clear step toward passing legislation that benefits entrepreneurs and creates jobs -- this year. We also took a look at some of the key provisions in Startup, here’s a quick summary, with more detail available on our blog.
- Promote job growth by making the capital gains tax exemption for startups permanent.
- Reform the process by which qualified STEM graduates and foreign born entrepreneurs are able to stay and start businesses in the United States
- Spur innovation by providing incentives for universities to turn federally funded research into tangible jobs and businesses.
To take action on JOBS Act, sign the petition at AngelList here. And stay tuned, in the coming weeks we’ll ask you to take further action in support of Startup Act.
-The Engine Team
