Startups voice need for strong digital trade policy
Startup News Digest 2/02/24
Startup News Digest 1/19/24
Startup News Digest 1/12/24
Startup News Digest 1/05/24
Startup News Digest 12/15/23
Startup News Digest 12/01/23
Startup News Digest 08/18/23
State Policy Update: Legislatures around the country are wrapping up. What have they been up to and how will it impact startups?
As summer kicks into gear, state legislatures are closing up shop, but not before introducing and passing legislation impacting startups. In the absence of federal action on many technology policy issues occupying the public imagination, state legislatures have acted to create their own rules, which can vary slightly, significantly—or outright conflict with—each other.
Startup News Digest 06/16/23
The Big Story: House advances tax package with pro-startup provisions. A House committee advanced multiple tax bills this week that include several startup priorities. Legislation passed by Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee includes two bills—the Small Business Jobs Act and the Build It in America Act—that would fix R&D expensing, create startup investment incentives, and fix reporting threshold. While the entire package faces uncertainty in the Democrat-controlled Senate, several provisions—including startup priorities like R&D expensing— have bipartisan support.
Startup News Digest 06/09/23
The Big Story: Startups call on Congress to fix R&D expensing. Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress took steps this week toward addressing a critical tax issue impacting startups’ bottom lines: a recently enacted change to how startups expense research, development, and experimentation costs. House and Senate lawmakers held two hearings this week exploring how the tax code, including incentives around R&D impact small businesses and startups.
Startup News Digest 05/26/23
Startup News Digest 04/28/23
The Big Story: Over 65 startups call for uniform federal privacy law. This week, startups are calling on Congress to pass a federal privacy law that takes the startup ecosystem into account. A coalition of startups and support organizations across 26 states sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to pass a law that creates uniformity, promotes clarity, limits bad faith litigation, accounts for the resources of startups, and recognizes the interconnectedness of the startup ecosystem. The letter comes as states continue to enact their own unique data privacy laws, and as a Congressional committee explored the problems posed by a sectoral federal privacy landscape in a hearing this week.
Change to R&D treatment could shoulder startups with hefty tax bill
For many startups, this year’s taxes will reflect a detrimental change to the research and development (R&D) tax credit thanks to a bill Congress passed in 2017. Without a Congressional fix, small businesses and startups without deep pockets will be less able to weather the cash flow burdens resulting from the change, and some companies may be facing hefty tax bills and will table plans for future R&D.
Startup News Digest 03/17/23
The Big Story: SVB fallout puts startup banking needs in the spotlight. In the wake of last week’s collapse of a key startup-facing bank, many in the startup ecosystem are concerned about the banking options and funding landscape for startups across the country. Last week, California regulators and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shuttered and placed into receivership Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a mainstay bank for the global startup ecosystem. At the same time, startups scrambled to move funds and were unsure if they’d have the capital to pay their employees this week.
Startup News Digest 02/10/23
The Big Story: Hearings cast spotlight on capital access obstacles. Lawmakers heard from entrepreneurs and investors this week as they examined key issues impacting startups’ ability to access capital. The House Financial Services subcommittee held two hearings covering multiple legislative proposals, including efforts to expand the pool of accredited investors and changes to the structure of certain investment funds. Those changes, if enacted, would bring much needed diversity to the startup ecosystem’s investor pool and boost funding opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs.
Startup News Digest 09/30/22
The Big Story: Network access fee debates heat up worldwide. This week, European telecom companies redoubled their push to make large Internet companies pay based on the traffic they generate, a policy that would undermine net neutrality principles and negatively impact the broader Internet ecosystem. The push comes after months of agitating by Internet service providers (ISPs) for the payments, called network access fees, and amid a growing number of jurisdictions that have taken steps toward such policies, including South Korea.
Global Tax Deal Could Help Tech, but It Has to Survive Congress
Changes to Little Discussed Tax Provision Could Slow Startup Financing
After weeks of discussion, Congress remains at a standstill in the fight to advance both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the proposed $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, with some legislators concerned about the size and scope of the packages. Revenue raisers in the form of tax increases have centered the reconciliation debate. But another proposed provision — to alter the favorable treatment of qualified small business stock (QSBS) — should be on startups’ radars.
As Policymakers Turn the Heat up on Tech Policy, Startups Need a Seat at the Table
In a new Medium post, Engine announced the launch of our Startup Agenda 2021, which outlines the policy priorities of the U.S. startup community. The Startup Agenda 2021 covers a range of policy issues that include capital access, connectivity, intellectual property, privacy, and more. As we explain in our post below, there are startups in every state and congressional district across the country, and their perspective is especially critical if policymakers hope to craft rules and regulations that boost innovation and competition.
