Startup Act of 2011
Latest action. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-482.
Startup Act of 2011 - Requires the head of any federal or independent regulatory agency, before issuing a notice of rulemaking in connection with the issuance of a proposed major rule, to complete a review that, among other things, analyzes the problem that the rule intends to address, and identifies and analyzes the rule's expected impact on state, local, and tribal governments, as well as on the ability of new businesses to form and expand. Requires a rule cost-benefit analysis.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) provide a permanent full tax exclusion on gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock held for more than five years, (2) repeal the minimum tax preference and the 28% capital gains rate on such stock, and (3) provide a limited tax credit for certain startup small businesses.
Directs the Comptroller General to assess the costs and benefits to prospective investors, shareholders, and securities markets of allowing smaller stock issuers to opt out of company regulatory requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to use certain federal agency extramural budget funds to award grants to institutions of higher education for initiatives to improve the commercialization and expedited transfer of university-based research and resultant technology. Establishes the Committee on Research Commercialization Improvement.
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) adjust to conditional permanent resident the status of up to 50,000 aliens who have earned a master's or doctorate degree in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field (STEM); and (2) issue a conditional immigrant visa to up to 75,000 qualified alien entrepreneurs.
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to regularly compile: (1) information from each of the states and the District of Columbia on laws that affect the formation and growth of new businesses, and (2) quantitative and qualitative information on U.S. businesses that are not more than one year old. Requires related reports.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on December 8, 2011. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 6, 2012: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-482.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced it on December 8, 2011, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on December 8, 2011, 5390 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5301 days ago, on March 6, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers