Startup Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-1965
Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]
Introduced: 2011-12-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Advisory bodies
Business investment and capital
Capital gains tax
Census and government statistics
Congressional oversight
Corporate finance and management
Economic performance and conditions
Education programs funding
Financial services and investments
Foreign labor
Government information and archives
Higher education
Immigration status and procedures
Income tax credits
Income tax exclusion
Income tax rates
Research administration and funding
Research and development
Science and engineering education
Securities
Small business
State and local government operations
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Technology transfer and commercialization
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2011-12-08
text: 
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.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-03-06
text: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 112-482.
action_date: 2011-12-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2011-12-08
text: Introduced in Senate