Angel Insights Blog

On February 27 and 28, the ACA Public Policy Team convened in Washington, D.C., to discuss legislative priorities for the upcoming year and meet with numerous lawmakers and legislators, highlighted by a meeting with the new SEC Commissioner Jaimie Lizarraga. The trip started with the public policy team meeting to discuss this year’s priorities. Chief among these priorities is continuing to advocate for the accredited investor definition, QSBS and Section 1202, funding caps and continuing to build out the Ann & Bill Payne ACA Angel University.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the team went to Capitol Hill to meet with several different legislators and their staff. The team met with staff for Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and Rep. French Hill (R-AK) to discuss the importance of angel investing. Both of these members are on the House Financial Services Committee and are running to be the top Republican on the Committee when current Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) retires from Congress this year. On the Senate side, the ACA team met with staffers from the office of Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to discuss the importance of angel investing. ACA encouraged the Senator and his team to have the Senate take up the legislation that has already passed the House to expand the accredited investor definition.

The ACA team also met with several staffers at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ACA Board Member Marcia Dawood serves on the SEC’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee. This relationship enabled the whole ACA team to have meaningful meetings with the SEC and a chance to form deeper relationships in hopes of advocating for all angel investors. The ACA team met with the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance to brief them on Angel University and how it can become a pathway to sophistication and accredited investor status for individuals who don’t meet the current income or asset thresholds. They met with Stacey Bowers, the new Director of the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation at the SEC, to discuss ACA’s continued engagement and partnership with the SEC and the Small Business Office. The team met with Barbara Roper, the Senior Advisor to SEC Chair Gary Gensler. They explained the importance of ACA, why it is vital to not change the accredited investor definition and discussed further opportunities to brief Chair Gensler on ACA’s priorities.

Finally, the ACA team met with SEC Commissioner Jaimie Lizarraga. This was ACA’s first time meeting with the Commissioner himself after he took this position in July 2022. The team articulated ACA’s purpose, policy goals, and invited the Commissioner to meet with angel groups across the country when he travels.

The public policy team’s two days in Washington, D.C., were well spent as they looked to further ACA’s public policy goals for the year. 

If you're interested in volunteering or joining the ACA Public Policy Committee Ambassador program,  please reach out here! You can learn more about how the Committee engages and works on behalf of all investors here.