News Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), along with Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), last week introduced Startup Act 2.0 – bipartisan legislation that picks up where the JOBS Act left off by doing more to jumpstart the economy through the creation and growth of new businesses. Startup Act 2.0 sets out to prove the critics wrong: Congress can get something done during an election year by coming together to strengthen the economy and create jobs. Click here to learn more.\

In the days since its introduction, leading business and technology organizations representing some of America’s fastest growing and most innovative companies and small businesses have endorsed Startup Act 2.0:

“As a onetime start-up that now employs thousands of Americans and continues to hire many more each year, we are proud to support Senators Moran, Warner, Rubio and Coons’ Startup Act 2.0. Small businesses often use Google to grow, expand and thrive online; and helping these businesses succeed is a key to our success.”

– Former Rep. Susan Molinari, R-NY, Vice President of Public Policy, Google

“[Startup Act 2.0’s] passage will help solidify America’s position as the world’s most entrepreneurial nation. I am particularly pleased the bill includes a provision that will enable highly-skilled engineers and entrepreneurs to start companies in the United States, as winning the global battle for talent is essential if we are going to keep our entrepreneurial economy moving forward.”

- Steve Case, CEO of Revolution LLC, member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

“Startup Act 2.0 is a package of common sense approaches that will spur innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation… Supporting innovation is not a partisan issue – it’s an American priority. This bill is supported by respected, forward-thinking members of Congress from both parties. It is an essential counterpart to the equally bipartisan JOBS Act, which was overwhelmingly passed by the Senate. We urge the Senate to move quickly and enact the Startup Act 2.0.”

-Michael Petricone, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)

“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. We need reforms such as those included in Startup Act 2.0 including better access to capital, visas for STEM graduates and foreign-born entrepreneurs, and regulatory improvements for new firms to start, hire and innovate.”

- Robert E. Litan, Vice President of Research and Policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

“The National Small Business Association (NSBA) is pleased to support Startup Act 2.0, which will promote and facilitate entrepreneurship, job creation, and new business formation… The importance of attracting and retaining highly-skilled immigrant workers and entrepreneurs is certainly recognized by the membership of NSBA, which has identified this issue as essential to creating jobs and maintaining long-term economic growth… Additionally, having long advocated for a comprehensive analysis of all proposed federal regulations, NSBA is extremely pleased to see that this bill includes language requiring a cost-benefit analysis of all proposed rules with an economic impact of $100 million or more.”

-Todd McCracken, President, National Small Business Association

“The genius of Startup Act 2.0 is that it takes a multi-pronged approach to advancing strong innovation policies in such areas as: regulatory reform, access to capital, visa reform for STEM graduates and foreign-born entrepreneurs, and small business tax reform… There is much talk in Washington about helping start-up businesses, but [Startup Act 2.0] takes tangible action toward achieving that goal. Now that the JOBS Act is law, CONNECT strongly encourages Majority Leader Reid to promptly place the Startup Act on the Senate floor calendar to keep advancing the innovation policy momentum on Capitol Hill.”

– Timothy Taridibono, Vice President of Public Policy, CONNECT

“From coast to coast, there is one issue on the minds of all Americans: create new jobs. We need bipartisan solutions to policy barriers that are preventing new ideas, new businesses and new jobs from taking root here in the United States. Startup Act 2.0 meets those criteria and breaks down barriers to economic growth. It brings together Republicans and Democrats. And it would put more Americans to work. The bipartisan sponsors of the Startup Act 2.0 have put together a policy blueprint to fuel new business start-ups in the U.S. They understand that the secret to success is marrying financial capital with innovative human capital.”

– Robert Hoffman, Senior Vice President for Government Relations, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)

“Startup Act 2.0 will deliver much needed tools to our entrepreneurs, who are the lynchpin to our nation’s technology industry and the leaders of the innovation economy into the next century. The best way to promote innovation is to clear the way for the main agents of innovation: the entrepreneurs who create new businesses… We encourage the Senate to take up the legislation as soon as possible. Startup Act 2.0 is smart policy which illustrates that entrepreneurship is not a Republican or Democratic idea. It’s an American idea.

–Shawn Osborne, President and CEO, TechAmerica

 

“America’s priority must be to create new jobs, and American businesses must be able to be better equipped to do so. Legislation like Startup Act 2.0 will target obstacles currently undermining the efforts of America’s job creators. It is especially encouraging to see a group of Senators come together in a bipartisan fashion to support the serious issue of job creation facing our country. The Forum hopes that Congress and the Administration can work together and pass initiatives like Startup Act 2.0, which will promote innovation and enhance the conditions for our job creators and job seekers.”

– Financial Services Forum

“This legislation is vital to efforts to retain more of the best and brightest advanced degree recipients from our own universities to grow new businesses that create American jobs. [Startup Act 2.0] also helps respond to statistics that show that 25 percent of tech and engineering companies started between 1995 and 2005 had at least one foreign-born founder.”

Cathy Sloan, Vice President, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA)

 

# # #