Washington, D.C. — Linda Moore, President and CEO of TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, issued the following statement outlining TechNet’s priorities in advance of President Trump’s address to the joint session of Congress. 

“TechNet is focused on policies that will strengthen America’s competitive edge during this unprecedented time of global technological advancement. We look forward to the President’s address and are hopeful that his agenda will prioritize efforts that bolster U.S. leadership on AI, advance innovation-friendly tax laws, help the U.S. attract and retain the best talent, pass a comprehensive federal privacy law, and institute trade policies that protect American companies abroad.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to help us solve the greatest challenges of our time, create meaningful value across every sector of our economy, and improve the lives of all Americans. In order to ensure that we all reap the benefits of this transformative technology, we need to support science-based standards and best practices to deploy responsible AI while enacting policies that help ensure the United States remains the global leader in its development.

“As Congress works through the budget reconciliation process, we urge the President to support U.S. tax policies that encourage innovation and strengthen American businesses. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) included critical provisions that encourage domestic investment and benefit U.S. workers, encourage private investment and spur economic growth. Preserving the current 21% corporate tax rate is essential to sustaining this momentum. We also urge the President and Congress to prioritize permanently reinstating the ability for businesses to deduct R&D expenses, as well as capital investments more broadly, in the year they are incurred, extend the 25% advanced manufacturing investment credit under the CHIPS and Science Act, and reinstate the 1099-K reporting threshold to $20,000.

“The United States is engaged in a race to recruit the world’s best high-skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. If we can’t attract and retain the best global talent, we will lose our technological and competitive edge. As President Trump has said, ‘We want these exceptional students and workers to stay, flourish, and thrive in America.’

“We also need to protect consumers and create more certainty for businesses with one national federal privacy law. Twenty states have enacted their own different, often conflicting, state privacy laws with more to come. According to a report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a 50-state patchwork would cost our economy more than $1 trillion over ten years, with $200 billion being paid by small businesses. The United States needs a single, preemptive data privacy law at the federal level to protect consumers’ privacy while ensuring that businesses can follow the rules as they continue to innovate.

“We urge the President and Congress to focus on these priorities to ensure America remains the global leader in innovation so we can reap the economic and societal benefits for generations to come.”

TechNet released a federal policy agenda, which provides a roadmap of the issues that will help ensure that the U.S. remains the global leader in technology. The policies include: 

  • Leading the World in Artificial Intelligence
  • Recruiting the World’s Best Talent
  • Investing in America’s Own STEM Talent Pipeline
  • Enacting Innovation-Friendly Tax Laws
  • Protecting Consumers and Create Certainty with a Comprehensive Data Privacy Law
  • Empowering Successful American Companies
  • Protecting American Innovation Around the Globe
  • Supporting Pioneering Workforce Models
  • Unleashing America’s Mobility Future

You can read more about our federal policy agenda here.