Senators unveil Startup Act 2.0, aim for spike in companies, jobs (Video)

Four U.S. Senators, including Jerry Moran of Kansas, on Tuesday introduced Startup Act 2.0, a piece of bipartisan legislation designed to jumpstart the economy through the creation and growth of new businesses. Startup Act 2.0 builds on the original Startup Act, which was introduced to the senate by Moran and Mark Warner (D-Va.) in December…

Marco Rubio (from left), Mark Warner, Steve Case, Chris Coons and Jerry Moran were on hand Tuesday for the introduction of Startup Act 2.0.

Four U.S. Senators, including Jerry Moran of Kansas, on Tuesday introduced Startup Act 2.0, a piece of bipartisan legislation designed to jumpstart the economy through the creation and growth of new businesses. Startup Act 2.0 builds on the original Startup Act, which was introduced to the senate by Moran and Mark Warner (D-Va.) in December but didn’t progress beyond that. The new Startup Act also draws from components of the AGREE Act, which was introduced by Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) in November.

Startup Act 2.0 would create new opportunities for American-educated and entrepreneurial immigrants to remain in the United States. It would also alleviate regulatory burdens and change the tax code — both moves designed to accelerate the growth of startups.

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The new legislation contains many of the same provisions as its predecessor, but it differs from the original Startup Act in a couple of main ways: 

  • Research credits – The Act calls for a limited research and development tax credit for startups that satisfy certain conditions.
  • Employment-based visas – The Act eliminates the per-country limitation currently in place for employment-based immigrant visas.

Startup Act 2.0 also differs from last year’s legislation in its language regarding certain tax credits for young companies and its handling of the accelerated commercialization of taxpayer-funded research.

In advance of Tuesday’s announcement, the four senators co-authored an opinion piece about the legislation that was published on Monday by Politico. The piece touched, among other things, on the Act’s implications for immigrant entrepreneurs:

Vital to any new business are the talented individuals who turn ideas into reality — including foreign-born entrepreneurs. More than a quarter of technology and engineering companies created in the U.S. between 1995 and 2005 had at least one key founder who was foreign-born, according to researchers at Duke and at the University of California, Berkeley. Yet current immigration policies have hurt U.S. efforts to compete in the global contest for entrepreneurial talent.

Many of the principles included in Startup Act 2.0 are based on the research and analysis of the Kansas City, Mo.-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and have been endorsed by President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

“Kauffman’s research solidifies the wealth of contributions new firms make to job creation and the economy, and the time is ripe for legislative action that will fuel our nation’s entrepreneurial engine,” Robert E. Litan, the Kauffman Foundation’s vice president of research and policy, said. “We need reforms such as better access to capital, visas for STEM graduates and foreign-born entrepreneurs, and regulatory improvements for new firms to start, hire and innovate.”

For footage from Tuesday’s announcement, see the video below. For more on Startup Act 2.0, read the senators’ piece from Politico: “Startup Act’s Economic Benefits.”


Credits: Photo from coons.senate.gov. Video from youtube.com.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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