Startup Act
Latest action · Feb 4, 2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 4, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Startup Act
This bill provides conditional visas to certain immigrants with advanced educational credentials. It also establishes a grant program to promote innovation and imposes requirements on certain rulemaking activities.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may provide conditional permanent resident status to up to 50,000 aliens with advanced science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) degrees. Such aliens may remain in the country for up to one year after the expiration of a student visa to find employment, or indefinitely if already engaged in a STEM field.
DHS may issue conditional immigrant visas for up to 75,000 qualified alien entrepreneurs. The bill imposes various requirements on such entrepreneurs, such as creating a number of full-time jobs for a period of time, after which the alien shall receive permanent resident status.
The bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China.
The bill establishes a grant program to support the commercialization of federally-funded research. It also extends funding authorization through FY2024 for an existing regional innovation grant program and amends the program's provisions.
This bill requires federal agencies, before proposing a rule that may have a significant economic effect, to publish an analysis of the rule, including the problem the rule intends to address and a cost-benefit analysis.
Cosponsors 3
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Feb 4, 2019.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Original | Feb 4, 2019 |
| D-VA | Mark R. Warner | Original | Feb 4, 2019 |
| R-MO | Roy Blunt | Original | Feb 4, 2019 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 4, 2019Introduced in Senate
- Feb 4, 2019Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 386 | Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 | Related bill | Feb 7, 2019 |
| HR 1044 | Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020 | Related bill | Dec 3, 2020 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Economics and Public Finance.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Advanced technology and technological innovations
- Appropriations
- Business investment and capital
- Census and government statistics
- Citizenship and naturalization
- Congressional oversight
- Economic development
- Economic performance and conditions
- Economics and Public Finance
- Employee hiring
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Foreign labor
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Higher education
- Immigration status and procedures
- Research administration and funding
- Research and development
- Science and engineering education
- Small business
- State and local government operations
- Teaching, teachers, curricula
- Technology transfer and commercialization
- Urban and suburban affairs and development
- Visas and passports
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 4, 2019Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.