The most challenging aspect of the Startup Act created by Republican Senator, Jerry Moran, is that relating to immigration, the Kansas Senator admits. But, he says that because it is difficult to deal with some immigration policies today, it does not mean that something should not and cannot be done.
Immigrant founders of tech startup companies in Kansas City increasingly believe that their businesses may not survive the interminable wait for the arrival of a long-term solution to a shortage of skilled labor, which could take years to come to fruition. Moran’s bipartisan legislation was first introduced in 2011, but the current version would enable the creation of 75,000 entrepreneur US visas and 50,000 STEM US visas, as well as several provisions intended to reduce barriers for worldwide talent, regulatory relief, seeding money for nationwide commercialization projects, capital formation, and access to commercializing research programs funded by the federal government, according to Moran.
Moran’s recent attempt to get the entrepreneur bill pushed through comes as the two major political parties of the US continue to argue over immigration issues and a media focus on the number of immigrants being deported from the country.
Moran says there has been a decline in the number of startups, according to Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation data, with the number of new entrepreneurs in the US falling to 0.31 percent from 0.33 percent in 2016 and that Congress needs to understand how important the startup community is to the US economy.