Today, the Ohio Chamber lent our support to House Bill 312 in Ohio Senate Finance Committee. This measure would allow startups and small businesses the opportunity to offer equity securities for the purpose of raising capital.

Businesses face many challenges when they are starting up, and one of those is having access to capital. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic causing plenty of issues for businesses – both starting up and maintaining – HB 312 has become an extremely important step forward.

We believe that HB 312 has the potential to assist startups and small businesses through the creation of “OhioInvests.” This program will allow for Ohioans to directly invest in startup businesses through a new portal. In the previous General Assembly, this bill was introduced as House Bill 10, and it passed through the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate, but did not make its way completely through the legislative process. Now, HB 312 unanimously passed the Ohio House last November, and we are hopeful that the bill will move quickly through the Ohio Senate and ultimately signed into law.