Senate Should Pass Crowdfunding Legislation

As the economy dived, small businesses found capital to be hard (if not impossible) to secure.  Consequently, many small businesses are still working their way out of tough economic times, and most have had difficulty growing and adding employees.  While there is no single answer to this urgent problem, there are a number of small steps that Congress can take that will allow small businesses to raise capital more easily.  Clearly, our national economic recovery will not be achieved until small business begin to grow and prosper.


Recently, the House passed H.R. 2390, the “Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act,” by the lop-sided margin of 407 – 17.  During the current session, there have been few issues that Congress has been able to agree on; however, this wide margin of passage highlights H.R. 2930 as a bi-partisan no-brainer.


Essentially, this legislation would amend the securities laws to allow businesses to raise as much as $2 million ($1 million if audited financial statements are not provided) per year through small individual investments.  Individuals would be allowed to invest up to $10,000 per year (or 10 percent of annual income if less than $10K).


Certain things just make sense.  Now, as the country faces huge unemployment rates, facilitating the creation of jobs is a major political topic.  Easing the ability of small businesses to raise much-needed capital to grow and expand will do just that.