Senator John Thune today praised the Senate’s passage of the bipartisan House-passed Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act today by a vote of 73-26.
“Despite Majority Leader Reid’s repeated delay tactics, I am pleased that the Senate today passed the bipartisan JOBS Act,” said Thune. “These common-sense reforms will help our small businesses access capital to grow their businesses and hire additional employees. Small businesses are crucial to our economic recovery and this bill will remove government red tape preventing them from creating more jobs.”
The JOBS Act includes Thune’s Access to Capital for Job Creators legislation that would remove a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provision that currently prevents small businesses from attracting capital from accredited investors nationwide. The SEC’s general solicitation prohibition is a roadblock for small businesses looking to obtain needed capital because it allows them to raise capital only from investors with whom they have a pre-existing relationship. This provision severely hampers the ability for small companies to obtain needed capital from investors in order to grow and create jobs. Thune's legislation would remove the solicitation prohibition and allow businesses to attract capital from accredited investors nationwide.
Thune introduced the Access to Capital for Job Creators legislation in the Senate on November 9, 2011. The White House endorsed the JOBS Act on March 6, 2012, and the House passed a nearly identical version of the bill by an overwhelming margin of 390-23 on March 8, 2012.