The Big Story: Biden unveils infrastructure plan with broadband, tax proposals. President Joe Biden announced an ambitious $2 trillion proposal this week that would rely on a combination of spending and tax credits to upgrade and expand the nation’s infrastructure. In addition to devoting billions of dollars towards upgrading schools, improving roads and bridges, and spurring a shift towards clean energy sources, the plan would also allocate $100 billion towards the expansion of broadband to narrow the nation’s digital divide. In a speech on Wednesday announcing his infrastructure plan, President Biden said the connectivity funding would “make sure every single American has access to high-quality, affordable high-speed Internet.”
The U.S. startup community stands to benefit from many of the proposals included in Biden’s plan. By devoting billions of dollars to help ensure that every American and U.S. business has access to affordable and reliable high-speed Internet access, the plan would improve connectivity in underserved communities and further open the door for the creation of innovative startups all across the country. Biden’s plan will also likely give a boost to entrepreneurs in the clean energy and transportation sectors, and it contains proposals to distribute funding in a way that ensures entrepreneurs—particularly those from communities of color and from underserved areas—are receiving equitable support.
The White House said that the proposal, known as the American Jobs Plan, would cost approximately $2 trillion in spending over eight years, and would be paid for with a hike to the corporate tax rate over the next 15 years—from the current top rate of 21 percent to 28 percent. Some entrepreneurs, while receptive of the proposal, have expressed concern about the plan to raise taxes on U.S. companies as the country continues to emerge from the pandemic.
By offering financial support to entrepreneurs across the country, the Biden administration’s proposal would ensure that startups and other small businesses can play an active role in upgrading and improving the nation’s infrastructure. We hope that the Biden administration will continue to engage with entrepreneurs across the country moving forward to boost pro-startup policies in the American Jobs Plan, which will be critical for reducing any potential harm to the startup community as the U.S. recovers from the pandemic.
Policy Roundup:
Biden administration lets H-1B visa ban expire. The White House allowed the previous administration’s ban on the issuance of new non-immigrant visas—including the H-1B visa program for high-skilled workers—to expire this week, providing a victory for technology companies that rely on access to foreign-born talent to power innovation and growth. Engine and a coalition of 118 startups and other tech companies previously sent a letter to the Trump administration last year expressing concern that the ban would “needlessly put American startups at risk of falling behind international competitors and make it less likely that financially strapped companies survive the economic fallout from COVID-19.”
Texas lawmakers advance bill to limit tech companies’ content moderation practices. The Texas Senate approved legislation yesterday that would prohibit large social media companies from moderating content based on their users’ political views and require them to create an appeals process for users whose content has been moderated. As we’ve noted, state bills aimed at limiting content moderation and imposing new obligations for companies that host user-generated content misunderstand the realities of content moderation.
How proposals to amend copyright law could impact startups. In a new blog post, Engine examines some recent policy proposals to amend Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)—a bedrock Internet law that provides startups, Internet users, and copyright holders with a balanced framework to address allegations of online infringement—and explains how the entrepreneurial community could be affected by change to the law. For example, proposals seeking to mandate the use of inherently-limited filtering technology and hold companies accountable for infringing content of which they have no knowledge could create new costs and risks for early-stage Internet companies.
USTR calls out countries imposing data restrictions. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual report on foreign trade barriers identified a number of global roadblocks that could impact “future U.S. growth opportunities,” including restrictive data policies implemented by a host of foreign governments. USTR said that it would engage with foreign countries—including India, China, and Korea—to address policies that currently limit cross-border data transfers and the export of U.S. digital services.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Zeeland, Michigan. Lakeshore Advantage is a nonprofit economic development organization that’s working to support startups, entrepreneurs, and businesses in West Michigan. We recently spoke with Amanda Chocko, the Director of Entrepreneurship at Lakeshore Advantage, to learn more about the organization’s work supporting local startups, the importance of reliable broadband services, and what the future holds for West Michigan’s startup community.
