Mark R. Warner

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) joined a bipartisan group of 10 senators today to introduce the Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 to bring long-overdue reforms to the nation’s immigration laws for highly-skilled immigrants working in the science and technology fields. The proposal will increase the number of temporary visas that are available to these highly-skilled immigrants, so more can remain in the United States and contribute to U.S. innovation and economic growth.  This new bill complements Sen. Warner’s efforts to provide green cards to foreign-born, U.S.-educated students and entrepreneurs through The Startup Act, which he introduced in 2011 and 2012.

In addition to Sen. Warner, the nine other cosponsors of the Immigration Innovation Act are Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Dean Heller (R-NV), John Hoeven (R-ND), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

“Major employers have more jobs than they can fill with highly-trained Americans. These commonsense and overdue reforms to our high-skill immigration system will help promote innovation and economic growth across Virginia and across America,” Sen. Warner said. “Our bipartisan bill reflects the growing consensus that major reforms are needed to keep the best and brightest students and skilled workers, particularly in the fields of science, technology, math, and engineering, here in America.  I am advocating for the inclusion of this proposal—and STEM green cards-- as part of the comprehensive immigration overhaul currently being discussed in Washington.”

The Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 focuses on three areas vital to ensuring the United States can attract the type of workers needed to grow its economy:  

• the quantity of employment-based nonimmigrant visas (H-1B visas), allowing for their growth depending on the demands of the economy; 

• increased access to green cards for high-skilled workers, expanding the exemptions and eliminating the annual per country limits for employment based green cards; 

• reforms to the fees on H-1B and green cards so those fees can be used to promote American worker retraining and education.  

“Our immigration system needs to be modernized to be more welcoming of highly skilled immigrants and the enormous contributions they can make to our economy and society,” said Sen. Rubio. “This reform is as much about modernizing our immigration system as it is about creating jobs. It'll help us attract more highly skilled workers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, which will help our unemployed, underemployed or underpaid American workers find better jobs."

A summary of the bill is below, and the bill can be accessed here.

Immigration Innovation (I²) Act of 2013

Employment-Based Nonimmigrant H-1B Visas

• Increase H-1B cap from 65,000 to 115,000
• Establish a market-based H-1B escalator, so that the cap can adjust – up or down – to the demands of the economy (includes a 300,000 ceiling on the ability of the escalator to move)
• If the cap is hit in the first 45 days when petitions may be filed, an additional 20,000 H-1B visas will be made available immediately.  
• If the cap is hit in the first 60 days when petitions may be filed, an additional 15,000 H-1B visas will be made available immediately.  
• If the cap is hit in the first 90 days when petitions may be filed, an additional 10,000 H-1B visas will be made available immediately.  
• If the cap is hit during the 185-day period ending on the 275^th day on which petitions may be filed, and additional 5,000 H-1B will be made available immediately. 

• Uncap the existing U.S. advanced degree exemption (currently limited to 20,000 per year)
• Authorize employment for dependent spouses of H-1B visa holders
• Increase portability of high skilled foreign workers by:
• Removing impediments and costs of changing employers;
• Establishing a clear transition period for foreign workers as they change jobs; and,
• Restoring visa revalidation for E, H, L, O, and P nonimmigrant visa categories

• Allow dual intent for foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities to provide the certainty they need to ensure their future in the United States

• Enable the recapture of green card numbers that were approved by Congress in previous years but were not used
• Exempt certain categories of persons from the employment-based green card cap:
• Dependents of employment-based immigrant visa recipients
• U.S. STEM advance degree holders
• Persons with extraordinary ability
• Outstanding professors and researchers
• Provide for the roll-over of unused employment-based immigrant visa numbers to the following fiscal year so future visas are not lost due to bureaucratic delays
• Eliminate annual per-country limits for employment based visa petitioners and adjust per-country caps for family-based immigrant visas

• Reform fees on H-1B visas and employment-based green cards; use money from these fees to fund a grant program to promote STEM education and worker retraining to be administered by the states.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) today invited President Obama to join them in helping startups and small businesses succeed. In December, Sens. Moran and Warner introduced legislation called The Startup Act (S. 1965) to jumpstart the economy through the creation and growth of new businesses.

“Last night, in your State of the Union address, you called on Congress to pass an agenda that helps startups and small businesses succeed. We have introduced such a bill to harness the job-creating potential of entrepreneurs,” the Senators said. “In the Startup Act, we address the need to reduce regulatory burdens, provide tax relief to help startups grow, support research conducted at American universities that will spur innovation, and we create new opportunities for American-educated foreign students to stay in the United States where their high-tech skills will fuel growth in our country.”

“You asked for an agenda that accomplishes these very goals, and we could not agree more,” the Senators wrote. “We stand ready to work with you on these issues.”

Many of the measures in the Startup Act are also supported by President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.  In fact, seven of the recommendations from the Council’s interim report in October are addressed in the Startup Act.

Click here to read a copy of the letter sent to President Obama. Click here to read the proposals outlined by the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Click here to read more about the Startup Act.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today introduced bipartisan legislation that would update regulatory and tax policies to encourage entrepreneurs and innovators to launch new companies, creating jobs and broadening economic opportunities. Today's initiative builds upon bipartisan legislation Senator Warner introduced last week that is designed to make it easier for growing companies to access investment capital.

The Start-Up Act, introduced today with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), speeds-up the transfer of research and technology from university laboratories to the marketplace; modernizes tax policies to encourage longer-term investments of early-stage capital;  reforms visa requirements for foreign-born students earning advanced degrees from U.S. colleges and starting companies based on science, technology, engineering and math; and examines federal policies to identify those regulations which discourage start-up businesses.

“Encouraging early-stage investment in fast-growing, entrepreneurial start-up businesses is one of the best ways to create new jobs,” Senator Warner said. “This legislation includes new tools that will renew the focus on tech start-ups and help unleash the next wave of American entrepreneurs.”

Before entering politics, Senator Warner played a key role in the development of the U.S. wireless and technology industries. As a business leader, he co-founded the wireless company Nextel and was a founding partner of Columbia Capital, which invested in hundreds of technology start-up companies that created thousands of new jobs.

“Senators Warner and Moran recognize the important role entrepreneurs play in job creation, and I commend them for working across party lines to improve the environment for entrepreneurs to start and grow their firms,” said  Steve Case, a member of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and a co-founder and the former CEO of AOL. “By increasing access to capital, lowering the tax and regulatory burden on young businesses, and attracting the world’s best and brightest entrepreneurs to the United States, the Startup Act will play an important role in helping to create the next generation of iconic American companies.”

Last week, Senator Warner also introduced bipartisan legislation to make it easier for small and medium-sized companies to access investment capital. The Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act of 2011, co-sponsored with U.S. Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA), Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), would reduce hurdles to an initial public offering (IPO) by phasing-in many of the costliest obligations over time while also maintaining key investor protections.

"We need to make it easier for companies to go public because 90% of jobs are created after an IPO," Senator Warner said. "When AOL went public, it had 100 employees, and a decade later it had 10,000 employees. We need to make the smart policy choices now that make it less burdensome for start-up companies to grow responsibly and create new jobs." 

A summary of the Start-Up Act can be accessed here, and more details on the Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act can be found here.

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