The JOBS Act is the type of bill 'we should all be able to agree on,' Mitch McConnell said. Senate passes JOBS Act, with tweak

The Senate on Thursday approved a package of bills that relaxes federal regulations to help boost small businesses and startup companies as the economy continues to recover.

Senators passed the JOBS Act on a 73-26 vote Thursday, two weeks after the House voted 390-23 to approve it. The measure is backed by President Barack Obama in a rare, election-year agreement in a polarized Washington.


But Democrats and several Republicans successfully changed the bill in a way they said would provide more stringent safeguards for investors. That means it now heads back to the House, instead of to the president’s desk for his signature.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama was “grateful” for the vote and called on the House to swiftly pass the bill when it hits the floor early next week.

“We are heartened by the important investor protections added to the crowdfunding provision,” Carney said, “and will be vigilant in monitoring this and other elements to ensure the overall bill achieves its goal of helping entrepreneurs while maintaining protections for investors.”

Senate Republicans had generally opposed changes to the House-passed version, which was primarily shepherded in the House by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). But Cantor said the House will vote next week on the Senate version.

“Today’s strong Senate vote combined with bipartisan support in the House, from the president, and the business community shows even in a divided Washington we can come together to get things done for our nation’s job creators,” Cantor said.

“The JOBS Act is a great example of the type of legislation we should all be able to agree on,” added Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “And there’s no reason for delay.”

The overall bill would ease a set of six Securities and Exchange Commission regulations intended to make it easier for companies to go public more quickly and raise money more easily — such as allowing more shareholders to take part in companies without triggering SEC regulations. By cutting away federal red tape, backers of the JOBS Act believe it would be easier for businesses to hire workers.

Other provisions of the JOBS — or Jumpstart Our Business Startups — Act allow small businesses to use ads to solicit investors and permit more companies making public offerings to opt out of SEC rules.

“We’ve made it more expensive to go public in this country, and for years, done nothing to make it easier to raise capital privately,” said Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). “This bill addresses both.”

For days before the vote, a number of Democratic senators voiced a litany of concerns involving different provisions in the JOBS Act, arguing that the bill would undo critical financial oversight. Lawmakers also complained that the House-passed bill never got a hearing in the Senate.

“Why should investors choose to invest in companies under conditions that do less to protect their money?” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Thursday. “Why should investors who were burned during the dot-com crash put more capital in companies that are exempt from the same rules we put in place to ensure it would never happen again?”

All 26 senators who voted against the JOBS Act were Democrats or independents who caucus with Democrats.

The change comes with an amendment, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), which would place additional restrictions on so-called crowdfunding, in which small amounts of money are collected from large groups of people.

Merkley said the crowdfunding portion of the House bill is “simply a pathway to predatory scams.”

Another amendment, which was sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I) and would have changed the definition of a shareholder, was quickly rejected by voice vote. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce had warned senators in a letter Wednesday that it “strongly” opposed the amendment