US Policy Towards Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Innovation Promotion Act

The "Innovation Promotion Act of 2015" was released as a discussion draft on July 31, 2015. The act promotes a reduction of taxes to 10% for income from intellectual property. It also proposes qualifying tax distributions of qualifying intellectual property from a controlled foreign corporation to the US parent company. This act is indicative of the United States' effort to attract and foster more innovation and research.

Feedback on the Innovation Promotion Act

• Feedback on the Innovation Promotion Act

Summary of Policies

• Summary of Policies

Acts reported on by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

The following pieces of legislation in 2015 were found from http://www.GovTrack.us:

• S. 1400 / H.R. 2221: Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act of 2015
  • Amends the Small Business Act to direct the task force of the Office of Veterans Business Development to provide access to and manage the distribution of excess or surplus property to veteran-owned small businesses
  • Prognosis: 24% chance of being enacted
• S. 2116: Small Business Broadband and Emerging Information Technology Enhancement Act of 2015
  • Improves certain programs of the Small Business Administration to better assist small business customers in accessing broadband technology
  • Prognosis: 23% chance of being enacted
• S. 552 / H.R. 1023: Small Business Investment Capital Company Act of 2015
  • Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to increase the maximum amount of outstanding leverage provided by the Small Business Administration to two or more commonly controlled small business investment companies not under capital impairment from $225 million to $350 million
  • Prognosis: 22% chance of being enacted
• S. 996 / H.R.2266: Commercial Real Estate and Economic Development Act of 2015
  • Reinstates the authority for Small Business Administration low-interest refinancing of small business debt not involving business expansion under the SBA's local development business loan program
  • Effective: on and after enactment of this Act, and during any fiscal year in which the federal government's cost in making loan guarantees under such program is zero.
  • Repeals a provision of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 that terminated such authority as of September 27, 2012.
• S. 1470: Recovery Improvements for Small Entities After Disaster Act of 2015
  • Amends the Small Business Act to provide additional assistance to small business concerns for disaster recovery, and for other purposes.
• S. 1292: HUBZone Revitalization Act of 2015
  • Amends the Small Business Act to treat certain qualified disaster areas as HUBZones and to extend the period for HUBZone treatment for certain base closure areas, and for other purposes.
• S.999 / H.R. 207: Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2015
  • Amends the Small Business Act with respect to the authority of the Small Business Administration to use certain SBA programs, including the small business development center (SBDC) program, to provide grants, financial assistance, loans, export assistance, and subcontracting opportunities on federal contracts to specified small businesses, organizations, state governments, universities, companies, and other entities that assist smaller enterprises.
  • Declares that the SBA shall only use such programs to deliver entrepreneurial development services, entrepreneurial education, support for the development and maintenance of clusters, or business training.
• S. 1756: Small Business Energy Efficiency Act of 2015
  • Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to allow a state development company to use the economic development objective of helping small businesses achieve savings through energy efficiency to qualify for loan assistance.
• S. Res. 252: An original resolution expressing the sense of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate relating to easing the burden of Federal tax compliance on small businesses
  • Amends provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to the taxation of small business entities.
• S. 2126: Women’s Small Business Ownership Act of 2015
  • Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Small Business Administration Office of Women's Business Ownership to address issues concerning specified disciplines required for starting, operating, and increasing a small business.
• S. 957 / H.R. 2499 : Veterans Entrepreneurship Act
  • Increases access to capital for veteran entrepreneurs to help create jobs
• S. 2136: Improving Small Business Innovative Research and Technologies Act of 2015
  • Establishes the Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program
• H.R. 2262: U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act
  • To facilitate a pro-growth environment for the developing commercial space industry by encouraging private sector investment and creating more stable and predictable regulatory conditions, and for other purposes.
• S. 2273: STARTUP Vets Act of 2015
  • A bill to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish an incubator and accelerator grant program for veterans and members of the Armed Forces.
• H. RES. 511: Expressing support for designation of the third Tuesday in November as “National Entrepreneurs’ Day”
  • Expresses support for the designation of National Entrepreneurs Day.
• H. R. 3987: Jobs in America Act
  • To establish an employment-based immigrant visa for alien entrepreneurs who have received significant capital from investors to establish a business in the United States.
• H.R. 616: American Entrepreneurship and Investment Act of 2015
  • To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for reforms to the EB-5 immigrant investor program, and for other purposes.
• H. R. 208: Superstorm Sandy Relief and Disaster Loan Program Improvement Act of 2015
  • To amend section 7(b) of Small Business Act to provide addition awards and financial assistance to small business development centers, women's business centers for disaster recovery. Recipients shall provide counseling, training, and other related services, such as promoting long-term resiliency, to small business concerns and entrepreneurs impacted by a major disaster.
• S. 2138: Small Business Subcontracting Transparency Act of 2015
  • To amend the Small Business Act to improve the review and acceptance of subcontracting plans, and for other purposes.
• H. R. 3997: To amend MAP-21 to establish a veterans business enterprises program, and for other purposes
  • To amend MAP–21 to establish a veterans business enterprises program, and for other purposes.
• H. R. 9: Innovation Act
  • To amend title 35, United States Code, and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to make improvements and technical corrections, and for other purposes.
• S. 1866: Veterans Small Business Ownership Improvements Act of 2015
  • To establish the veterans’ business outreach center program, to improve the programs for veterans of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
• S. 1000: SCORE for Small Business Act of 2015
  • To strengthen resources for entrepreneurs by improving the SCORE program, and for other purposes.
• H. R. 1806: America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015
  • To provide for technological innovation through the prioritization of Federal investment in basic research, fundamental scientific discovery, and development to improve the competitiveness of the United States, and for other purposes.
• H. R. 962: Startup Act
  • To jump-start economic recovery through the formation and growth of new businesses, and for other purposes.
• H. R. 253: Incentivize Growth Now In Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs Act of 2015
  • To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the tax treatment of small business start-up savings accounts.
• H. R. 2868: Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2015
  • To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to improve access and choice for entrepreneurs with small businesses with respect to medical care for their employees.
• H. R. 2060: United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act
  • To promote economic partnership and cooperation between the United States and Mexico, particularly in the areas of academic exchange, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure integration.
• H. R. 2310: Helping Our Middle-Class Entrepreneurs Act
  • To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a standard home office deduction.
• H. R. 3370: EB-JOBS Act of 2015
  • To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote innovation, investment, and research in the United States, and for other purposes.
• H. R. 2670: Microloan Modernization Act of 2015
  • To amend the Small Business Act to provide for expanded participation in the microloan program, and for other purposes.
• S.963: Small Business Innovation Impact Act
  • To require that the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of Small Businesses submit a analysis on the investments of small businesses in developing new and useful inventions and obtaining patents for them. Additionally, the report should include information on university technology transfer to small businesses, university patent licensing, the ability for patents to attract outside investments for small businesses, and the ability for patents to protect against foreign competition.
  • Prognosis: 2% chance of being enacted

Dates of introduction, sponsors, cosponsors, status quo, texts/summaries, a prognosis of the chance of being enacted, and other details, such as related bills, of the above bills can all be found using http://www.GovTrack.us.

More Information Regarding Bills Enacted by the U.S. Congress

In the United States, all bills originating in the House of Representatives begin with "H.R." and all bills originating from the Senate begin with an "S."

Joint resolutions also have the same effect as bills, and are titled as "H. J. Res." or "S. J. Res." depending on whether they originated in the House or Senate, respectively. This means that two different bills can have the same number. In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires approval by the Senate and the House and is presented to the President for his approval or disapproval. However, joint resolutions used to propose amendments to the United States Constitution do not require the approval of the President. Generally, there is no legal difference between a joint resolution and a bill. Both must be passed, in exactly the same form, by both chambers of Congress, and then must — with one exception — be presented to the President and signed by him/her (or, re-passed in override of a presidential veto; or, remain unsigned for ten days while Congress is in session) to become a law. Laws enacted by virtue of a joint resolution are not distinguished from laws enacted by a bill, except that they are designated as resolutions as opposed to acts.

Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Most of the bills reported/introduced by the U.S. Congress pertaining to innovation and entrepreneurship are reported on by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The committee has jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and is also charged with researching and investigating all problems of American small business enterprises. The current Chairman of the Committee is U.S. Senator David Vitter. Other information on the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, including Committee members and recent pieces of legislation, can be found on http://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Home.

How to Search For Bills

Open the following page: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/browse

Type "entrepreneurship" or other key words in the search bar.

For each individual bill listed, click on the bill and open the page, i.e. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1137

On the page, record the bill number "S. 1137", the bill title "PATENT Act", and prognosis "36% chance of being enacted".

If there is "See Instead" under prognosis, there is another bill with this same title introduced to Congress. The two bills contain the same content (for the several bills I have checked). If two bills have the same title but not linked to each other, they still have very similar contents.

Then we click on the "Read Text" and extract the summary of the bill under "A Bill" / "An Act" title: "To amend title 35, United States Code, and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to make improvements and technical corrections, and for other purposes."

HTML code:

On the bill page:

Title and bill number:

<title>PATENT Act (S. 1137) - GovTrack.us</title>

Chance of being enacted:

<dt>Prognosis: <dd>

36% chance of being enacted

On the bill text page: Summary: <p class="official-title">To amend title 35, United States Code, and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to make improvements and technical corrections, and for other purposes.

</section>