Startup Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 328 To jump-start economic recovery through the formation and growth of new businesses, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 4, 2019 Mr. MORAN (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. BLUNT, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To jump-start economic recovery through the formation and growth of new businesses, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Startup Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Conditional permanent resident status for immigrants with an advanced degree in a STEM field. Sec. 4. Immigrant entrepreneurs. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 328 IS Sec. 5. Elimination of the per country numerical limitation for employment- based visas. Sec. 6. Accelerated commercialization of taxpayer-funded research. Sec. 7. Regional innovation program. Sec. 8. Economic impact of significant Federal agency rules. Sec. 9. Biennial State startup business report. Sec. 10. New business formation report. Sec. 11. Rescission of unspent Federal funds. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) Achieving economic recovery will require the 3 formation and growth of new companies. 4 (2) Between 1980 and 2005, companies that 5 were less than 5 years old accounted for nearly all 6 net job creation in the United States. 7 (3) New firms in the United States create an 8 average of 3,000,000 jobs per year. 9 (4) To get Americans back to work, entre- 10 preneurs must be free to innovate, create new com- 11 panies, and hire employees. 12 SEC. 3. CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR 13 IMMIGRANTS WITH AN ADVANCED DEGREE 14 IN A STEM FIELD. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title II of the Immi- 16 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is 17 amended by inserting after section 216A the following: 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 328 IS ‘‘SEC. 216B. CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS 1 FOR ALIENS WITH AN ADVANCED DEGREE IN 2 A STEM FIELD. 3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 4 vision of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 5 may— 6 ‘‘(1) adjust the status of not more than 50,000 7 aliens who have earned a master’s degree or a doc- 8 torate degree at an institution of higher education in 9 a STEM field to that of an alien conditionally ad- 10 mitted for permanent residence; and 11 ‘‘(2) authorize each alien granted an adjust- 12 ment of status under paragraph (1) to remain in the 13 United States— 14 ‘‘(A) for up to 1 year after the expiration 15 of the alien’s student visa under section 16 101(a)(15)(F)(i) if the alien is diligently 17 searching for an opportunity to become actively 18 engaged in a STEM field; and 19 ‘‘(B) indefinitely if the alien remains ac- 20 tively engaged in a STEM field. 21 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR CONDITIONAL PERMANENT 22 RESIDENT STATUS.—Every alien applying for conditional 23 permanent resident status under this section shall submit 24 an application to the Secretary of Homeland Security be- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 328 IS fore the expiration of the alien’s student visa in such form 1 and manner as the Secretary shall prescribe by regulation. 2 ‘‘(c) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS- 3 SISTANCE.—An alien granted conditional permanent resi- 4 dent status under this section shall not be eligible, while 5 in such status, for— 6 ‘‘(1) any unemployment compensation (as de- 7 fined in section 85(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 8 of 1986); or 9 ‘‘(2) any Federal means-tested public benefit 10 (as that term is used in section 403 of the Personal 11 Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 12 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1613)). 13 ‘‘(d) EFFECT ON NATURALIZATION RESIDENCY RE- 14 QUIREMENT.—An alien granted conditional permanent 15 resident status under this section shall be deemed to have 16 been lawfully admitted for permanent residence for pur- 17 poses of meeting the 5-year residency requirement under 18 section 316(a)(1). 19 ‘‘(e) REMOVAL OF CONDITION.—The Secretary of 20 Homeland Security shall remove the conditional basis of 21 an alien’s conditional permanent resident status under 22 this section on the date that is 5 years after the date such 23 status was granted if the alien maintained his or her eligi- 24 bility for such status during the entire 5-year period. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 328 IS ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 ‘‘(1) ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN A STEM FIELD.— 2 The term ‘actively engaged in a STEM field’— 3 ‘‘(A) means— 4 ‘‘(i) gainfully employed in a for profit 5 business or nonprofit organization in the 6 United States in a STEM field; 7 ‘‘(ii) teaching 1 or more STEM field 8 courses at an institution of higher edu- 9 cation; or 10 ‘‘(iii) employed by a Federal, State, or 11 local government entity; and 12 ‘‘(B) includes any period of up to 6 13 months during which the alien does not meet 14 the requirement under subparagraph (A) if 15 such period was immediately preceded by a 1- 16 year period during which the alien met the re- 17 quirement under subparagraph (A). 18 ‘‘(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 19 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 20 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 21 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 22 ‘‘(3) STEM FIELD.—The term ‘STEM field’ 23 means any field of study or occupation included on 24 the most recent STEM-Designated Degree Program 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 328 IS List published in the Federal Register by the De- 1 partment of Homeland Security (as described in sec- 2 tion 214.2(f)(11)(i)(C)(2) of title 8, Code of Federal 3 Regulations).’’. 4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 5 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 6 note) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 7 section 216A the following: 8 ‘‘Sec. 216B. Conditional permanent resident status for aliens with an advanced degree in a STEM field.’’. (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 9 STUDY.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp- 12 troller General of the United States shall submit a 13 report to Congress regarding the alien college grad- 14 uates who were granted immigrant status under sec- 15 tion 216B of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 16 as added by subsection (a). 17 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 18 paragraph (1) shall include— 19 (A) the number of aliens described in para- 20 graph (1) who have earned a master’s degree, 21 broken down by the number of such degrees in 22 science, technology, engineering, and mathe- 23 matics; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 328 IS (B) the number of aliens described in 1 paragraph (1) who have earned a doctorate de- 2 gree, broken down by the number of such de- 3 grees in science, technology, engineering, and 4 mathematics; 5 (C) the number of aliens described in para- 6 graph (1) who have founded a business in the 7 United States in a STEM field; 8 (D) the number of aliens described in 9 paragraph (1) who are employed in the United 10 States in a STEM field, broken down by em- 11 ployment sector (for-profit, nonprofit, or gov- 12 ernment); and 13 (E) the number of aliens described in para- 14 graph (1) who are employed by an institution of 15 higher education. 16 (3) DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘institution of 17 higher education’’ and ‘‘STEM field’’ have the 18 meanings given such terms in section 216B(f) of the 19 Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by sub- 20 section (a). 21 SEC. 4. IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS. 22 (a) QUALIFIED ALIEN ENTREPRENEURS.— 23 (1) ADMISSION AS IMMIGRANTS.—Chapter 1 of 24 title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 328 IS U.S.C. 1151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 1 end the following: 2 ‘‘SEC. 210A. QUALIFIED ALIEN ENTREPRENEURS. 3 ‘‘(a) ADMISSION AS IMMIGRANTS.—The Secretary of 4 Homeland Security may issue a conditional immigrant 5 visa, in accordance with this section and section 216A, to 6 not more than 75,000 qualified alien entrepreneurs. 7 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR CONDITIONAL PERMANENT 8 RESIDENT STATUS.—Every alien applying for a condi- 9 tional immigrant visa under this section shall submit an 10 application to the Secretary of Homeland Security in such 11 form and manner as the Secretary shall prescribe by regu- 12 lation. 13 ‘‘(c) REVOCATION.—If, during the 4-year period be- 14 ginning on the date on which an alien is granted a visa 15 under this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security de- 16 termines that the alien is no longer a qualified alien entre- 17 preneur, the Secretary shall— 18 ‘‘(1) revoke such visa; and 19 ‘‘(2) notify the alien that he or she— 20 ‘‘(A) may voluntarily depart from the 21 United States in accordance with section 240B; 22 or 23 ‘‘(B) will be subject to removal proceedings 24 under section 240 if the alien does not depart 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 328 IS from the United States not later than 6 months 1 after receiving notification under this para- 2 graph. 3 ‘‘(d) REMOVAL OF CONDITIONAL BASIS.—The Sec- 4 retary of Homeland Security shall remove the conditional 5 basis of the status of an alien issued an immigrant visa 6 under this section on that date that is 4 years after the 7 date on which such visa was issued if such visa was not 8 revoked pursuant to subsection (c). 9 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 ‘‘(1) FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘full- 11 time employee’ means a United States citizen or 12 legal permanent resident who is paid by the new 13 business entity registered by a qualified alien entre- 14 preneur at a rate that is comparable to the median 15 income of employees in the region. 16 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED ALIEN ENTREPRENEUR.—The 17 term ‘qualified alien entrepreneur’ means an alien 18 who— 19 ‘‘(A) at the time the alien applies for an 20 immigrant visa under this section— 21 ‘‘(i) is lawfully present in the United 22 States; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 328 IS ‘‘(ii)(I) holds a nonimmigrant visa 1 issued pursuant to section 2 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b); or 3 ‘‘(II) holds a nonimmigrant visa 4 issued pursuant to section 5 101(a)(15)(F)(i); 6 ‘‘(B) during the 1-year period beginning on 7 the date the alien is granted a visa under this 8 section— 9 ‘‘(i) registers at least 1 new business 10 entity in a State; 11 ‘‘(ii) employs, at such business entity 12 in the United States, at least 2 full-time 13 employees who are not relatives of the 14 alien; and 15 ‘‘(iii) invests, or raises capital invest- 16 ment of, not less than $100,000 in such 17 business entity; and 18 ‘‘(C) during the 3-year period beginning on 19 the last day of the 1-year period described in 20 paragraph (2), employs, at such business entity 21 in the United States, an average of at least 5 22 full-time employees who are not relatives of the 23 alien.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 328 IS (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 1 tents of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 2 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended by adding after the 3 item relating to section 210 the following: 4 ‘‘Sec. 210A. Qualified alien entrepreneurs.’’. (b) CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STA- 5 TUS.—Section 216A of the Immigration and Nationality 6 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186b) is amended— 7 (1) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place 8 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 9 Homeland Security’’; 10 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(C), by striking 11 ‘‘203(b)(5),’’ and inserting ‘‘203(b)(5) or 210A, as 12 appropriate,’’; 13 (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘alien en- 14 trepreneur must’’ each place such term appears and 15 inserting ‘‘alien entrepreneur shall’’; 16 (4) in subsection (d)(1)(B), by striking the pe- 17 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘or 210A, as appro- 18 priate.’’; and 19 (5) in subsection (f)(1), by striking the period 20 at the end and inserting ‘‘or 210A.’’. 21 (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 22 STUDY.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S328.IS S328 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 328 IS troller General of the United States shall submit a 1 report to Congress regarding the qualified alien en- 2 trepreneurs who were granted immigrant status 3 under section 210A of the Immigration and Nation- 4 ality Act, as added by subsection (a). 5 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para- 6 graph (1) shall include information regarding— 7 (A) the number of qualified alien entre- 8 preneurs who have received immigrant status 9 under section 210A of the Immigration and Na- 10 tionality Act, as added by subsection (a), listed 11 by country of origin; 12 (B) the localities in which such qualified 13 alien entrepreneurs have initially settled; 14 (C) whether such qualified alien entre- 15 preneurs generally remain in the localities in 16 which they initially settle; 17 (D) the types of commercial enterprises 18 that such qualified alien entrepreneurs have es- 19 tablished; and 20 (E) the types and number of jobs created 21 by such qualified alien entrepreneurs [Text truncated for display. 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