After 3
years of negotiations and 14 continuing resolutions, the Small Business
Innovation Research Program has finally been given a long-term
reauthorization. Yesterday evening the Senate passed the National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included language to reauthorize
the SBIR and STTR programs for 6 years. President Obama has dropped
his objections to this bill and has indicated he will sign it soon,
making it official. This legislation represents a compromise between
the House and Senate versions of the SBIR reauthorization, and it does
introduce some changes to the SBIR program in ways that we are concerned
about, but on the whole, is much closer in character to the Senate bill
than the House bill.
Some provisions of the new SBIR
legislation are:
- SBIR and STTR reauthorized for six years
- SBIR
allocation increased from 2.5 percent to 3.2 percent over several years
- STTR
allocation increased from .3 percent to .45 percent over six years
- Large
VC participation increased to 25 percent for NIH, DOE, and NSF, and 15
percent for other agencies
- Shortening the time for final
decisions to 90 days
- Shortening the amount of time between
decision and release of funds, with flexibility for the NIH
- Sec.
505, aka the “Velazquez Amendment” that would set arbitrary caps to
limit firms to a certain number and dollar of awards was successfully
removed, and is not in the reauthorization language. Instead, the bill
creates a process by which the agencies, with 60 days for public
comment, can create guidelines to assess whether firms are moving along
their research and developing the technologies and processes that solve
the government’s problems or are commercialized.
- The bill
provides discretion for three agencies (DoD, NIH, and DoEd) to skip
Phase I if the business can demonstrate it has done the equivalent work
of Phase II.
To review the section of the NDAA that
reauthorizes SBIR, click here:
SBIR
Reauthorization Language From NDAA Conference Report
We
want to thank all our friends on the Hill for their tireless work the
past three years in getting this deal done, especially Senators Olympia
Snowe and Mary Landrieu for their efforts in getting SBIR
reauthorization language attached to the NDAA. Senator Landrieu, in
particular, has been the champion of this effort, and this deal was
finally completed only after she took the initiative last week to meet
member-to-member with Representatives Sam Graves and Ralph Hall and
hammer out a deal.
With the SBIR reauthorized, the next step
will be implementation of new rules and regulations at Federal agencies
to comply with the changes in the SBIR program. SBA will develop a
policy directive for agencies, and the SBTC will be in communication
with the SBA and the agencies to provide our input. Starting in
January of next year, we will begin working on an implementation plan,
and likely a series of white papers drafted by committee for specific
agencies, as we have done in the past with the DOD and DOE.
SBTC Conference Call December 20
The SBTC
will host a membership conference call next Tuesday to discuss the new
SBIR reauthorization legislation.
SBTC Conference Call
Tuesday, December 20
11:00am EST
Phone #: 661 673-8600
Pass
#: 925509# |
