Angel Insights Blog

By: Angela Jackson is an ACA Board Member and Chairs the “Grassroots Group” for ACA members interested in interacting with Members of Congress.  Want to join?  Shoot Angela an email.

Exciting things are happening in Washington, DC relative to advancing the ACA legislative agenda - and we're requesting your immediate help.

Call to Action - by Monday January 9!

ACA just got word that the House of Representatives plans to vote on the HALOS Act next week.  HALOS (Helping Angels Lead Our Startups) exempts demo days from general solicitation rules, meaning that companies that participate in any type of demo day would no longer need to worry about taking extra steps to verify investors are accredited – unless they are going the solicitation 506(c) way.  And angels who prefer to invest in private deals would have better assurances that companies had not tripped the general solicitation trigger.  The bill, HR 79, has great bi-partisan sponsors:  leads Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and co-sponsors Andy Barr (R-KY), Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), John Delaney (D-MD), Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Jared Polis (D-CO), Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Ann Wagner (R-MO).

This bill was popular last year with the House of Representatives and in both parties, but we think it is vital for angels to remind their legislators about this important bill to get their support again this year.  (As a reminder, bills have to be reintroduced in each Congress, so even though the House passed the HALOS Act last year, they need to again in this Congress.)  ACA has already written the attached letter of support for the bill. Will you write your Congressperson a note like the following by next Monday, January 9?  You can email it to the Member of Congress in your district via their website, easily discoverable by googling their name. If you are unsure who your Representative is, this site lets you enter a zip code to find him/her: 

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

SAMPLE LETTER/EMAIL

Dear Representative Name,

As a constituent in your District, I am writing to express my support for HR 79, the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act, which promotes capital formation for job-creating startups.  It is my understanding that the House of Representatives will vote on this bill the week of January 9^th.  The HALOS Act is important to startups and investors in our Congressional district because it clarifies that companies that participate in “demo days” are not subject to red tape and verifications that actually keep angel investors from investing in those companies.  It fixes an unintended consequence from SEC rulemaking to implement a part of the JOBS Act. (Name of demo day in your community) is one of these demo days that is important to our community, not only in highlighting important startups here, but also for educating other entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in how companies raise funding.  (Your community event) and many other demo days have been held for many years without any fraud or other issues.  I am a member of the Angel Capital Association and agree with the attached letter from ACA, which provides more details about this important bill.  Please vote in favor of this bill for the sake of the many promising startups in (community).  Thank you.

Your Name 

Address

Thank you for doing this- it should take just a few minutes. It would be terrific if you could email me so I can tally where we got emails/calls in, and share that with our ACA Public Policy team. Thanks!