The Encouraging Employee Ownership Act Advances in Congress
Executive Director
On March 9, the Senate Banking Committee unanimously approved the Encouraging Employee Ownership Act (S. 488), a bill that would ease current Securities and Exchange Commission rules, making it easier for private companies to provide stock-based compensation to employees. The bill would increase to $20 million the current $5 million cap on the amount of stock closely held companies can award employees before triggering certain SEC reporting requirements. The amount would be indexed for inflation annually.
The bill passed the House last year, but was not acted on in the Senate. It has been reintroduced this year as H.R. 1343. Senators Warner (D-VA) and Toomey (R-PA) sponsored the Senate version, and Representative Randy Hultgren (R-IL) introduced the House bill.
More about this bill is on the NCEO's Rapid Response to Current Events page.