The House bills passed Thursday would make it easier for small businesses to go public by lifting SEC restrictions on running advertisements soliciting new investors and permit “crowdfunding” so that entrepreneurs can raise equity capital from larger pools of small investors.Small private companies also would be able to sell up to $50 million in shares as part of a public offering before having to register with the SEC, and could have as many as 1,000 shareholders, up from the current cap of 500. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/congresss-new-favorite-four-letter-word-jobs/2012/03/06/gIQAGPzexR_blog.html