The North Carolina JOBS Act, which would enable crowdfunding of startups, could become law during the General Assembly’s current session, a key backer of the bill tells WRAL TechWire. 

Entrepreneur and investor Mark Easley, who is a key advocate of the new source for early-stage business financing, stays in regular contact with key legislators involved with the bill. House Bill H680 passed the House last year but didn’t get out of the Senate.

That could happen soon, barring unforeseen changes or problems, Easley tells WRAL TechWire.

“Representative Tom Murry just called me to give me an update,” Easley wrote Wednesday afternoon. “H680 will be moving through the Senate in the short session.

“Senators [Robert] Rucho and [Jeff] Tarte are working on it for us, and they are confident the bill will be passed.”

(Another key bill of interest to the tech/entrepreneur sector is a patent troll bill backed by SAS. WRAL’s Mark Binker has the details.

The General Assembly is a beehive of activity as usual with legislators in session, but Murry, Rucho and Tarte – all Republicans – seem determined to get the bill to Gov. Pat McCrory.

McCrory, who has been jumping through hoops in trying to charge up job growth and is backing wholesale changes at the Department of Commerce with changes that he says will streamline job creation, is expected to sign the bill.

“The bill is pending right now in front of the Senate Commerce committee, and then will also go through the Senate Finance Committee so they can approve the small registration fee the bill requires,” Ealsey says. “After that it will be eligible for a full vote of the Senate.”

Should no amendments be added, Easley says the bill “will be ready for the Governor’s signature. At this time, we are not expecting any amendments, but it could happen, in which case it would go back to the House.”

To track the bill, check out the General Assembly website and a direct link to HB 680.

Easley and others have a website focused on the crowdfunding issue and the legislation as well as an FAQ about crowdfunding.

In his  most recent post, which WRAL TechWire reprinted, Easley noted:

“The legislation (H680) passed the NC House by an almost unheard of bipartisan vote of 103 to 1 last June, and is now pending in the NC Senate for the short session beginning May 14th. So if everything goes as expected, 2014 will be the year that intrastate investment crowdfunding will become a reality in North Carolina.”

Over the past year, WRAL TechWire has reported in detail about the legislation. Links to previous stories are listed with this story.