Its the J.O.B.S. bill - get it?
Story from the NYT:
The House overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday to ease small businesses’ access to investments and capital markets, a sign that the shadow of the November election is pressing Congress into action.
The large margin of victory — the bill passed 390 to 23 — on the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act is expected to propel the legislation into law. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said a Senate version would probably be unveiled early next week. It largely reflects the House bill, which is known as the JOBS Act, and Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said he expected it to pass before the end of the month.
The vote came on the same day that Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said that the House was likely to set aside contentious efforts to draft its own transportation and infrastructure bill and take up a bipartisan Senate version once it passed. The Senate version cleared a crucial procedural hurdle on Thursday on the way to expected passage early next week.
- More commentary from The Hill:
One piece of the bill, H.R. 3606, would create a new class of companies labeled as "emerging growth companies" that would enjoy relaxed rules under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The bill also ends an SEC ban on small company advertisements to solicit capital, allows the solicitation of funds over the Internet, known as crowdfunding, increases the offering threshold from $5 million to $50 million before SEC registration is required, raises the shareholder registration requirement from 500 to 1,000 shareholders, and increases the number of shareholders allowed to invest in community banks from 500 to 2,000.
- Forbes wonder if the bill will encourage fraud.
