U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, has teamed with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and others in an unlikely Washington alliance that seeks to expand on the Jobs Act signed into law earlier this year.
The Startup Act 2.0, a proposal by Rubio, Warner, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., is intended to aid new businesses, with an emphasis on those involving science, technology, engineering and math, as a means to boost the economy.
Teaming up with Senators Moran, Warner and Coons on Startup Act 2.0 is a worthy effort to break through Washingtons gridlock and help entrepreneurs create new jobs through key reforms to our tax, visa and regulatory systems, Rubio stated in a release.
Startup Act 2.0 is built on ideas that have bipartisan support and could become law tomorrow if Washington stopped playing games and started working for the people.
The act would create research and development tax credits for new start-ups, make capital gains taxes exemptions permanent for stock sold on new businesses, and create a STEM visa system for foreign students with advanced science and technology degrees.
Working together, we have put together bipartisan proposals that will help us compete and win the global contest for talent, Warner stated in a release.
We also propose responsible steps that will help our colleges and universities move taxpayer-funded R&D out of the lab and into the marketplace. Startup Act 2.0 [is] the logical next step following enactment of the bipartisan Jobs Act earlier this year.
Rubio has been the subject of GOP vice president speculators for months. Meanwhile, Warner has been discussed as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.
Among the proposals of the Startup Act 2.0:
- Creates a new STEM visa so that U.S.-educated foreign students, who graduate with a masters or Ph.D. in science, technology, engineering or mathematics can receive a green card and stay in this country where their talent and ideas can fuel growth and create American jobs.
- Creates an Entrepreneurs Visa for legal immigrants, so they can remain in the United States, launch businesses and create jobs.
- Eliminates the per-country caps for employment-based immigrant visas which hinder U.S. employers from recruiting the top-tier talent they need to grow.
- -- Makes permanent the exemption of capital gains taxes on the sale of start-up stock held for at least five years so investors can provide financial stability at a critical juncture of firm growth.
- Creates a targeted research and development tax credit for young start-ups less than five years old and with less than $5 million in annual receipts. This R&D credit is designed to allow start-ups to offset employee taxes freeing up resources to help these young companies expand and create jobs.
- Uses existing federal R&D funding to support university initiatives designed to bring cutting-edge research to the marketplace more quickly where it can propel economic growth.
- Requires all government agencies to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of all proposed major rules with an economic impact of $100 million or more. This new requirement will help determine the efficacy of regulations and their potential impact on the formation and growth of new businesses.
- Directs the U.S. Department of Commerce to assess state and local policies that aid in the development of new businesses. Through the publication of reports on new business formation and the entrepreneurial environment, lawmakers will be better equipped to encourage entrepreneurship with the most successful policies.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
