TEN AGENCY SBIR/STTR PROGRAMS EXTENDED THROUGH JANUARY 31, 2010

(From the SBIR Insider) The SBIR/STTR programs will be extended through January 31, 2010, except for the DoD which was addressed separately by the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, and will run through September 30, 2010. This is another temporary reauthorization while the Senate and House negotiate their differences in opinion regarding the final reauthorization. More info on the reauthorization can be found at http://www.zyn.com/sbir/insider/sb-insider10-29-09.htm#two.

Senate Passes Bill To Extend SBIR/STTR For 6 Months

(From the SBIR Insider) On October 26, 2009, the Senate passed S. 1929 that extends SBIR/STTR for all agencies (except DoD) as well as other small business programs for 6 months, expiring on April 30, 2010. This bill does not effect the earlier DoD SBIR/STTR 1 year extension passed by Congress as part of the DoD 2010 Authorization expected to be signed by the President on Wednesday. The bill will now be sent to the House to be evaluated by the House Small Biz Committee. For more info on the reauthorization:

http://www.zyn.com/sbir/insider/sb-insider10-26-09.htm

Senate Temporarily Extends the SBIR & STTR Programs

The United States Senate on September 29, 2009 passed legislation to temporarily extend programs that fall under the Small Business Administration (SBA). The amended bill, H.R. 3614, provides for a clean extension of all SBA programs through October 31, 2009.

Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, today issued the following statement on the passing of the extension: "While the goal remains to send to the President comprehensive reauthorization legislation for all of the SBA's programs, including for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs that the Senate passed in July, this temporary extension ensures that in the short-term these programs will continue to create jobs and provide resources to entrepreneurs across the country. With the need to reauthorize SBA's contracting programs, counseling programs, capital programs, and the SBIR and STTR programs, I would have preferred a longer, more realistic extension to provide more stability for small businesses. However, in the interest of swift passage, the Senate agreed to the House's request for a one-month extension."

Click here for the full article.

House Passes a Bill to Extend the SBIR & STTR Programs until October 31, 2009

The House overwhelmingly (417 to 2) passed a bill, H.R. 3614 on 9/23/09 that extends the SBIR, STTR, the Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) and many other SBA programs through October 31, 2009. Click here for more info.

SBIR SAVED FROM LAPSING BY AN 11TH HOUR CONTINUING RESOLUTION

According to the SBIR Insider, The House just passed the Senate's Continuing Resolution (CR), S.1513 that keeps the SBIR program, as well as a few other SBA programs running (as is) through September 30, 2009. Although significant progress has been made, there's still a good deal of work to be done and it was simply not possible to reconcile their views before the deadline. Look out for more information as it comes out.

Senate Passes Their Version of the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization

Monday afternoon, July 13, 2009 the Senate put the finishing touches on their SBIR reauthorization bill, S.1233 and passed it via unanimous consent.The Senate bill, which differs from the House version, provides for an increase to the SBIR program allocation, raising it to 3.5 percent, spread out over 11 years. The SBIR allocation increase includes all agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. The bill also increases the STTR program allocation from 0.3 percent to 0.6 percent over six years. Additionally, the Senate bill would amend eligibility requirements to allow businesses owned and controlled by multiple venture capital firms to compete for a percentage of SBIR projects. To improve the diversity of the programs, the measure also reauthorizes the Federal and State Technology program and Rural Outreach Program.

The next step will be a conference of House and Senate "conferees" that will attempt to hammer the two bills into one cohesive bill (lots of work and compromising to be done). Then, if they come to agreement, the final bill gets sent to the President for his signature. If the two bodies cannot agree, we could be looking at another continuing resolution.

Learn more here.

House Passess HR 2965 "The Enhancing Small Business Research & Innovation Act of 2009"

The U.S. House of Representatives on July 8 overwhelmingly approved legislation, HR 2965, entitled "The Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act of 2009," to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program through 2011. The bill significantly boosts the dollar value of SBIR awards but decreases their number because the overall level of available grants funds was not increased. The bill would also remove a 2003 rule barring venture capital backed firms from receiving SBIR awards. There are eligibility restrictions in the House bill. For example, the House bill prevents SBIR funding to companies that: have more than 500 employees; are majority owned by just one venture firm; or have the majority of board seats held by one venture firm.

The bill would increase the amount of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research grants for early stage innovation to $250,000 and push SBIR Phase 2 grants to $2 million (Phase 1 grants are now $100,000; Phase 2 grants are $750,000). The House bill must now be reconciled with a Senate committee version, S.1233, the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2009, that limits how much of the SBIR awards can go to venture capital backed firms (18 percent of National Institutes of Health grants and 8 percent of grants from the 10 other federal agencies that make SBIR awards.) The Senate version would also increase awards to $150,000 for Phase 1 grants and $1 million for Phase 2 grants, and cap at 50 percent how far above the recommended amounts the grants can go, as well as increase the overall SBIR appropriation.

House Committee Passes Their Version of the new SBIR Re-authorization

The House Small Business Committee just passed a version of the SBIR authorization that would put NO caps on VC owned company participation in the SBIR program. Now, both the Senate and House have to have floor votes on their own respective bills. Assuming they both pass, it will set the stage for the negotiation of the final bill to be sent to the President. The House bill would also increase Phase I's to $250k, and Phase II's to $2 million, as well as create a $27.5 million Phase III pot to further catalyze commercialization. However, they did not include any funding allocation increases to the program, which would mean significantly less grants available to innovative small businesses. Check out the following article for more info:

http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2009/06/25/two-bills-to-redo-sbir-program-clash-on-vc-inclusion/