Press Release
McHenry Bill to Encourage Angel Investing Passes Financial Services CommitteeBipartisan, bicameral bill now heads to House floor for a vote
Washington,
March 9, 2017
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Jeff Butler
(202-225-2576)
Today, Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry (R, NC-10), Vice Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, spoke in support of and voted for his bill H.R. 1219, the Supporting America's Innovators Act of 2017. The bill passed out of the committee by a vote of 54 to 2. H.R. 1219 now awaits a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. You can see the full video of McHenry's statement from today's markup in support of H.R. 1219 by clicking here, or on the image below.
"Over the past five years I've worked tirelessly to update our federal regulatory framework so it works for small businesses and startups," said McHenry. "Today, we took a huge step in those efforts as the Supporting America's Innovators Act passed out of both the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees. With bipartisan support in both chambers, I'm confident this bill will soon become law, allowing angel investing to reach its true potential." H.R. 1219, the Supporting America's Innovators Act of 2017 amends an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940 by increasing the investor limitation from 100 to 250 people for qualifying venture capital funds. The bill would eliminate a significant barrier facing small businesses and startups, instead incentivizing venture capital funds to grow their investments in rural-state entrepreneurs, helping local economies grow and thrive. Earlier today, H.R. 1219's Senate companion legislation, S. 444, unanimously passed the the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The Senate companion, which was introduced by Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D, ND) and Senator Dean Heller (R, NV), now heads to the full Senate for a vote. Following committee passage of S. 444, Senators Heitkamp and Heller released the following statements. “By making sure rural startups and small businesses have better access to investments from venture capital funds, we can help create new jobs and strengthen our hometown economies,”said Heitkamp. “Today, committees in both the House and Senate agreed. By passing our bipartisan, bicameral bill, it will help sharpen the focus on exciting new startup and small business investment opportunities that exist here in the heartland and get rid of a barrier to economic growth. We introduced our bill just last week, and it’s already gained tremendous momentum – and I’ll keep working to build on that excitement for bipartisan reforms that grow and invigorate our economy.” “This bipartisan piece of legislation allows for more investors to enter into venture capital-type funds. That means small businesses will now have more access to capital to grow and create jobs. It also allows for more individual investors to participate in ventures with small businesses. I’d like to thank Senator Heitkamp for her leadership on this legislation,” said Heller. |