WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) today commended the bipartisan passage of the JOBS Act (H.R. 3606) in the U.S. Senate. The legislation, which passed 73-26, includes three job-creating bills authored by Sen. Toomey:

• The Small Company Capital Formation Act with Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) (S. 1544): This legislation would cut regulatory burdens on small businesses and make it easier for them to raise much-needed capital through public offerings.
• The Private Company Flexibility and Growth Act with Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) (S. 1824): This legislation would raise the shareholder limit from 500 to 2,000 for community banks and non-banks and would exempt employees from this cap. As a result, small businesses will have the flexibility to focus on long-term growth, job creation and creating better environments for their employees.
• The Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) (S. 1933): This legislation would make it easier for growing firms to go public by reducing the hurdles of an initial public offering by phasing in many of the costliest obligations over time.

"The Senate's passage of the JOBS Act today is a victory for growing companies across the country," Sen. Toomey said. "By lessening the regulatory burden on entrepreneurs, small businesses, and other job creators this legislation represents a limited-government solution for spurring economic growth without using taxpayer dollars. In our struggling economy, quicker entry into the market, greater access to capital and reduced regulations will help small companies expand, hire new workers and create thousands of new jobs. I am pleased Congress was able to work together in a bipartisan fashion, and I appreciated the opportunity to help craft this bill. I hope the House takes up this bill in a timely manner and sends it to the president to sign it into law as soon as possible."

Many companies in Pennsylvania will be able to grow because of the reforms in the JOBS Act, creating new jobs in the process. These companies have thanked Sen. Toomey for his leadership and his support:

• "This legislation will help Wawa, a family and employee stock ownership plan company, grow and expand. We applaud Sen. Toomey's efforts to design this bipartisan legislation which will enable privately held companies the flexibility needed to focus on growth, add jobs, and remain strong economic drivers in their communities." - Howard Stoeckel, chief executive officer of Wawa in Wawa, Delaware County
• "Sen. Toomey's efforts on this legislation will go a long way towards helping local startups turn into the next big employers in our region. It will help alleviate many of the burdens up-and-coming companies face in trying to access the capital necessary to expand." - Phil Bell, CEO of Electro-Petroleum in Wayne, Chester County
• "This bipartisan legislation introduced by Sen. Toomey will be very conducive to job growth and innovation in the Pittsburgh life sciences sector. Most small life science companies in the region have issues accessing the capital needed to expand, and this bill will help alleviate many of those burdens at no cost to taxpayers." - Vin Jannetty, CEO of Flexuspine in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
• "The IPO on ramp bill introduced by Sen. Toomey will help drive all aspects of a life science company's development as it grows and evolves from the laboratory to the clinic, to the benefit of patients and the health care system.As a serial life sciences entrepreneur during the past decade that has started companies and advised numerous early stage companies, I know this legislation will expedite the ability of new companies to succeed." - Todd Wallach, CEO of Molecular Detection in Wayne, Chester County
• "I commend Sen. Toomey's efforts to decrease the regulatory burdens placed on manufacturers such as Ecore that are looking to grow and expand. This legislation could go a long way towards helping us hire more workers right here in Pennsylvania." - Art Dodge, CEO of Ecore International in York, York County
• "Private biotech companies such as Vitae face a severe gap in the ability to access capital when promising new drugs - like our drug for chronic kidney disease - successfully progress to middle- and late- stage clinical development. Changes to the offering threshold of Regulation A would significantly improve the funding opportunities for small biotech companies by giving them access to the public markets at an earlier stage in their growth cycle and allowing them to raise the valuable capital needed, thus increasing their ability to grow jobs and speeding the delivery of life-saving therapies to patients." - Jeff Hatfield, CEO of Vitae Pharmaceuticals in Fort Washington, Montgomery County