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Expanding Access to Capital Act of 2023

Floor Speech

Date: March 6, 2024
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. STEIL. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the Expanding Access to Capital Act. This package would help improve our capital markets to foster innovation, growth, and job creation here in the United States.

It is a win for workers, investors, and entrepreneurs. It includes two bills I introduced that would help smaller public companies raise money.

The first, the Helping Startups Continue to Grow Act, would expand the IPO on-ramp first established in the bipartisan JOBS Act. It allows more early-stage companies to keep their emerging growth company status for longer, and it would update the low caps currently in place. The provisions ensure more companies can benefit from the rightsized disclosures and reduce compliance costs that come with EGC status.

Thanks to EGC status, these companies can focus on innovation and job creation rather than complying with a regulatory regime designed for larger and more mature firms. This is especially helpful for R&D- intensive startups that often work for years to develop lifesaving cures or transformative technologies.

This package also includes my bill to expand the availability of well-known seasoned issuer status to more small public companies. This designation allows qualified companies to use the shelf registration process, saving them time and money when they go to the public markets to raise capital.

In the two decades since the WKSI construct was created, it has been shown to be safe and effective. My targeted reform would reduce the cost of capital for small market companies, spurring more job creation and growth.

Many of these ideas are in Chairman McHenry's package, and they have long had bipartisan support and a long bipartisan track record.

My colleagues on both sides of the aisle should vote to modernize our capital markets. It is good for workers, investors, and entrepreneurs seeking to invest in American innovation and build a better future.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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