When deciding what actions should be taken in order to facilitate job market and economic growth, it seems as though House Republicans and Democrats would never come to any kind of agreement. They have been playing the blame game for the past year and it seemed that, for a while, agreement on any kind of large jobs act was far from real. However, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced on Thursday that the Republicans had brought up a jobs bill and plan on passing it through next week. In an interesting twist in the on-going battle, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) states that Democrats are expected to support it.
The jobs bill in the spotlight is the Jumpstart Our Business Startups act and it is expected to be approved by the end of this week. According to Hoyer, the bill is made up of several bills that have already been approved by the House. The new ideas in the bill are ones that Democrats will likely find easy to support. The bills in the act include four that the House has already voted on and passed and two that must still be voted on. Those bills are the Entrepreneur Access to Capital act, the Private Company Flexibility and Growth act, the Access to Capital for Job Creators act and the Small Company Capital Formation act. Simply by looking at the names of these bills, it seems they are focused on supporting the small companies of this country and the growth they bring to the market.
The other two bills that are included in the act still need to be voted on and passed. One of the two, the Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies act, focuses on lowering the costs companies have to make when they go public. The other, the Capital Expansion act, would increase the number of shareholders allowed to invest in a community bank. Currently, only 500 shareholders can invest, but with the passing of this act, that number would be increased to 2,000.
Hoyer was quoted saying, “I believe our side certainly is going to join in supporting these bills, which we think will have some positive effect on small business, entrepreneurs, business formation, capital formation.” Even though Hoyer believes that the Democrats will support the bill, he still thinks that there are many other issues that need to be addressed. Pointing out that the federal highway bill expires at the end of March, he questioned Cantor about when a new bill will be devised. According to Cantor, the Republicans are working on it.
SOURCE: The Hill
IMAGE: Courtesy of Daily Political
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