Washington, D.C. – Today, John Lettieri, President and CEO of the Economic Innovation Group (EIG), will testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship at its hearing entitled, “Noncompete Agreements and American Workers.”
“At a time when policymakers are struggling to find ways to improve worker mobility, increase business formation, strengthen innovation, and boost wages, noncompete reform is an obvious place to start,” says Lettieri in his testimony. “Indeed, federal policy to limit the use of noncompete agreements would be among the most impactful and least expensive ways to jumpstart economic dynamism and improve the fortunes of American workers.”
An estimated one in five American workers are covered by a noncompete, and nearly twice as many have signed one at some point in the past. EIG’s issue brief, authored by University of Maryland Assistant Professor, Evan Starr, explored how noncompete agreements have impacted worker mobility, wage growth, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
EIG supports the bipartisan Workforce Mobility Act, which would boost worker mobility and promote a more open, competitive, and dynamic economy by limiting the use of noncompete agreements by U.S. employers, requiring employers to notify employees of the limits of their application, and delegating appropriate enforcement and reporting responsibilities to the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor. The bill was recently introduced by Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Chris Murphy (D-CT).
The hearing will take place at 10:00 am ET in room 428A of the Russell Senate Office Building and will be live-streamed. Lettieri’s full written statement can be found here. Additional witnesses will include Evan Starr, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and Keith Bollinger.
About the Economic Innovation Group (EIG)
The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) is a bipartisan ideas laboratory and advocacy organization whose mission is to advance solutions that empower entrepreneurs and investors to forge a more dynamic American economy. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., EIG convenes leading experts from the public and private sectors, produces original research, and works to advance creative legislative proposals that will bring new jobs, investment, and economic growth to communities across the nation. For more information, visit eig.org.
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