H.R. 4429 · Where this bill is now
In the Senate
Passed the House Dec 1, 2025. Received Dec 2, 2025; no Senate vote yet
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryExpands what counts as venture capital investments
The Securities and Exchange Commission oversees investment firms, and venture capital funds get special treatment under the rules—fewer paperwork requirements, audits, and restrictions on talking to investors. Right now, venture capital funds can only count most of their money as "real" venture capital investments if they buy directly into companies. This bill would let them also count secondary transactions (buying existing investments from other investors) and investments in other venture capital funds as qualifying investments, as long as those still make up the bulk of what the fund does.
How it affects you
This change mainly affects venture capital fund managers and the investors who put money into these funds. For everyday people, the practical impact depends on whether you've invested in venture capital funds yourself, which most people haven't. The bill gives fund managers more flexibility in how they structure their investments, but the summary doesn't spell out whether this makes these funds work better or worse for individual investors.
Read the official summary (Introduced in House, Jul 16, 2025)
Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise venture capital investment regulations to allow additional types of investments to be considered as qualifying investments. Venture capital funds are exempt from certain regulations applicable to other investment firms, including those related to filings, audits, and restricted communications with investors. Under current regulations, non-qualifying investments—which include secondary transactions and investments in other venture capital funds—may comprise up to 20% of a venture capital fund.
The bill allows investments acquired through secondary transactions or investments in other venture capital funds to be considered as qualifying investments for venture capital funds. However, for a private fund to qualify as a venture capital fund, the fund's investments must predominately (1) be acquired directly, or (2) be investments in other venture capital funds.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionH. R. 4429
AN ACT
Developing and Empowering our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025
Sponsor: Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO-2) · Introduced Jul 16, 2025 · Finance and Financial Sector · 4 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Dec 2, 2025: “Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.”