WASHINGTON – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents 3 million companies across the United States in addition to business associations and state and local chambers, has announced its support for Startup Act – the bipartisan jobs plan aimed at jumpstarting the economy through the creation and growth of new businesses. U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), along with Chris Coons (D-Del.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), recently reintroduced Startup Act in the 114th Congress.

In a letter this week to Sen. Moran, who is the lead Startup Act sponsor along with Sen. Warner, Executive Vice President for Government Affair at the Chamber R. Bruce Josten said he “welcomes the introduction of the Startup Act and looks forward to further discussions… on this important legislation.”

The letter continued, “Unleashing and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit has been the hallmark of sustained economic growth in the United States since the nation’s inception. For over a decade we have seen this economic engine sputter through a drag on the traditional strength of business formation. This trend has slowly started to reverse with the passage of the bi-partisan Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (“JOBS Act”). The bi-partisan Startup Act is another important step in reversing that trend. Continued efforts to restart the business formation engine are critical for the economy to grow and create jobs.”

Click below to read the full text of the U.S. Chamber’s letter to Sen. Moran on Startup Act.

Startup Act – based on research and analysis by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation based in Kansas City – modifies the tax code to encourage investment in new businesses, accelerates the commercialization of university research that can lead to new ventures, and seeks to improve the regulatory process. Research shows that for close to three decades, companies less than five years old have created almost all net new jobs in America – averaging about 3 million jobs each year. 

“Startup Act is about new jobs for Americans through the creation and growth of new businesses,” Sen. Moran said. “Entrepreneurs and the businesses they create are responsible for almost every net new job in America, but under our country’s current policies, new business formation and the rate of entrepreneurship among young people have reached historic lows. We must reverse these trends. Startup Act would reduce barriers to growth, encourage investment in new businesses, stem government overregulation, and accelerate the commercialization of university research that can lead to new ventures. Startup Act would also help make certain America remains the land of opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs from around the globe. Under new leadership in the 114th Congress, I am hopeful Startup Act will no longer denied a vote.”

Startup Act is the only proposal that creates both Entrepreneur and STEM Visas for highly-educated and entrepreneurs here legally to stay in the United States where their talent and new ideas can fuel economic growth and create American jobs.

Foreign-born entrepreneurs have a long history of creating businesses in America. Of the current Fortune 500 companies – including Apple, Google and eBay – more than 40 percent were founded by a first- or second-generation American. These American companies employ more than 10 million people.

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