By Emily Holden, CQ Staff

Moving along legislation to loosen securities regulations on smaller businesses, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday filed cloture on two amendments and the underlying bill.

The move sets up votes for March 20 on the motion to invoke cloture on amendments involving investor protections and reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, and on the bill (HR 3606) itself.

A substitute amendment by Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed would address Democratic concerns that the measure does not offer enough protections for investors, although it will likely be rejected. The substitute amendment would define “emerging-growth companies” eligible to delay some compliance requirements as those with less than $350 million in annual gross revenue, rather than $1 billion.

The substitute amendment, cosponsored by Carl Levin of Michigan and Small Business Chairwoman Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, would place new restrictions on those engaged in “crowdfunding,” including a requirement to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., said Wednesday that, under the bill passed by the House on March 8, investors would not have access to “vital information” about newly public firms that would not be required to comply with federal disclosure regulations.

The Senate also is expected to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on another amendment, by Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell, that would reauthorize the Export-Import Bank’s soon-to-expire charter for four years and increase its lending cap by $40 billion over that time. That amendment is cosponsored by Tim Johnson, D-S.D.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala. It is expected to be adopted.

The small export financing agency has become a point of controversy this election year, providing Democrats an opportunity to highlight GOP divisions while bolstering their manufacturing platform with a measure strongly supported by business groups.

Cantwell’s state is home to aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing Corp., the largest U.S. exporter by value and long the biggest beneficiary of the Ex-Im Bank’s export-financing activities.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., opposes the effort to tack the Ex-Im provision onto the securities bill. Cantor and other Republican leaders are stuck between conservative opponents of the export financing agency, including groups such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America, and business groups that want the bank’s lending authority expanded.

Reid, D-Nev., also filed cloture on the underlying bill and filled the remainder of the amendment tree, suggesting these two offerings will be the only substantive amendments considered.

The bill would ease access to capital for some smaller companies and make it easier for them to make initial stock offerings.

Under current rules, if a company wants to make stock offerings of more than $5 million available to the public, it must comply with all SEC registration requirements. The bill would raise that threshold to $50 million.

The bill also would increase the shareholder threshold that would trigger mandatory SEC registration from 500 shareholders to 2,000.