American Opportunity Act of 2011
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
American Opportunity Act of 2011 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for 25% of a qualified equity investment in a qualified small business entity. Defines "qualified small business entity" as a domestic corporation or partnership that: (1) is a small business headquarted in the United States, (2) is engaged in a high technology trade or business, (3) has been in existence for less than five years as of the date of the qualified equity investment, and (4) employs less than 100 full-time employees, more than 50% of whom perform substantially all of their services in the United States. Limits the dollar amount of such credit to $500 million for each of calendar years 2011 through 2015.
Requires: (1) the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations on the allocations of such credit to a small business entity, and (2) the Comptroller General to audit the investment tax credit program.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on February 2, 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 February 2, 2011: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- 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?
Mark Pryor (D-AR) introduced it on February 2, 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 February 2, 2011, 5699 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5699 days ago, on February 2, 2011.
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