Tech Industry Execs Hit Washington D.C.
A group of 10 tech-industry executives spent Tuesday and Wednesday lobbying members of Congress and the Obama administration on issues like taxes, immigration reform, and software piracy.
The group, which included Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer, Adobe (ADBE) CEO Shantanu Narayen, and Sybase (SY) CEO John Chen, met with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, among others. Their visit comes as the tech sector is generally enthused about some elements of the administration’s stimulus package, but beginning to express worries about potential tax hikes being suggested to pay for the expanded government spending.
The executives highlighted the contribution of the tech sector to the U.S. economy—the country exported $36 billion worth of software more than it imported in 2008—and advocated for policy changes that would help the sector, says Robert Holleyman, president of the Business Software Alliance, the trade organization that arranged the meetings.
