[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2812 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2812

 To amend the Small Business Act to reauthorize and improve the Small 
Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology 
               Transfer Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 18, 2016

  Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Markey, and Ms. Ayotte) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Small Business Act to reauthorize and improve the Small 
Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology 
               Transfer Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``SBIR and STTR Reauthorization and 
Improvement Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
                  TITLE I--REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS

Sec. 101. Permanency of SBIR program and STTR program.
    TITLE II--ENHANCED SMALL BUSINESS ACCESS TO FEDERAL INNOVATION 
                              INVESTMENTS

Sec. 201. Allocation increases and transparency in base calculation.
Sec. 202. Regular oversight of award amounts.
               TITLE III--COMMERCIALIZATION IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. 301. Permanency of the commercialization pilot program for 
                            civilian agencies.
Sec. 302. Enforcement of national small business goal for Federal 
                            research and development.
Sec. 303. Tracking rapid innovation fund awards in annual congressional 
                            report.
Sec. 304. Intellectual property protection for technology development.
Sec. 305. Annual GAO audit of compliance with commercialization goals.
Sec. 306. Clarifying the Phase III preference.
Sec. 307. Improvements to technical and business assistance.
             TITLE IV--PROGRAM DIVERSIFICATION INITIATIVES

Sec. 401. Regional SBIR State collaborative initiative pilot program.
Sec. 402. Federal and State Technology Partnership Program.
           TITLE V--OVERSIGHT AND SIMPLIFICATION INITIATIVES

Sec. 501. Data modernization summit.
Sec. 502. Implementation of outstanding reauthorization provisions.
Sec. 503. Strengthening of the requirement to shorten the application 
                            review and decision time.
Sec. 504. Continued GAO oversight of allocation compliance and accuracy 
                            in funding base calculations.
                      TITLE VI--TECHNICAL CHANGES

Sec. 601. Uniform reference to the Department of Health and Human 
                            Services.
Sec. 602. Flexibility for Phase II award invitations.

                  TITLE I--REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS

SEC. 101. PERMANENCY OF SBIR PROGRAM AND STTR PROGRAM.

    (a) SBIR.--Section 9(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(m)) is amended--
            (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Termination'' 
        and inserting ``SBIR Program Authorization''; and
            (2) by striking ``terminate on September 30, 2017'' and 
        inserting ``be in effect for each fiscal year''.
    (b) STTR.--Section 9(n)(1)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(n)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ``through fiscal year 2017''.

    TITLE II--ENHANCED SMALL BUSINESS ACCESS TO FEDERAL INNOVATION 
                              INVESTMENTS

SEC. 201. ALLOCATION INCREASES AND TRANSPARENCY IN BASE CALCULATION.

    (a) SBIR.--Section 9(f) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(f)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``expend'' and inserting ``obligate for 
                expenditure'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (H), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (C) in subparagraph (I), by striking ``and each 
                fiscal year thereafter,'' and inserting a semicolon; 
                and
                    (D) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the 
                following:
                    ``(J) for a Federal agency other than the 
                Department of Defense--
                            ``(i) not less than 3.5 percent of the 
                        extramural budget for research or research and 
                        development of the Federal agency in each of 
                        fiscal years 2018 and 2019;
                            ``(ii) not less than 4 percent of such 
                        extramural in each of fiscal years 2020 and 
                        2021;
                            ``(iii) not less than 4.5 percent of such 
                        extramural in each of fiscal years 2022 and 
                        2023;
                            ``(iv) not less than 5 percent of such 
                        extramural in each of fiscal years 2024 and 
                        2025;
                            ``(v) not less than 5.5 percent of such 
                        extramural in each of fiscal years 2026 and 
                        2027; and
                            ``(vi) not less than 6 percent of such 
                        extramural in fiscal year 2028 and each fiscal 
                        year thereafter; and
                    ``(K) for the Department of Defense--
                            ``(i) not less than 2.5 percent of the 
                        budget for research and development of the 
                        Department of Defense in each of fiscal years 
                        2018 and 2019;
                            ``(ii) not less than 3 percent of such 
                        budget in each of fiscal years 2020 and 2021;
                            ``(iii) not less than 3.5 percent of such 
                        budget in each of fiscal years 2022 and 2023;
                            ``(iv) not less than 4 percent of such 
                        budget in each of fiscal years 2024 and 2025;
                            ``(v) not less than 4.5 percent of such 
                        budget in each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027; 
                        and
                            ``(vi) not less than 5 percent of such 
                        budget in fiscal year 2028 and each fiscal year 
                        thereafter,'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ``(or for the 
        Department of Defense, an amount of the budget for basic 
        research of the Department of Defense)'' after ``research''; 
        and
            (3) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``(or for the Department 
        of Defense an amount of the budget for research of the 
        Department of Defense)'' after ``of the agency''.
    (b) STTR.--Section 9(n)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(n)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by striking ``expend'' and inserting ``obligate 
                for expenditure''; and
                    (B) by striking ``not less than the percentage of 
                that extramural budget specified in subparagraph (B)'' 
                and inserting ``for a Federal agency other than the 
                Department of Defense, not less than the percentage of 
                that extramural budget specified in subparagraph (B) 
                and, for the Department of Defense, not less than the 
                percentage of the budget for research and development 
                of the Department of Defense specified in subparagraph 
                (B)''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
                ``the extramural budget required to be expended by an 
                agency'' and inserting ``the extramural budget, for a 
                Federal agency other than the Department of Defense, 
                and of the budget for research and development, for the 
                Department of Defense, required to be obligated for 
                expenditure with small business concerns'';
                    (B) in clause (iv), by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (C) in clause (v), by striking ``fiscal year 2016 
                and each fiscal year thereafter.'' and inserting ``each 
                of fiscal years 2016 and 2017;''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(vi) 0.55 percent for each of fiscal 
                        years 2018 and 2019;
                            ``(vii) 0.65 percent for each of fiscal 
                        years 2020 and 2021;
                            ``(viii) 0.75 percent for each of fiscal 
                        years 2022 and 2023; and
                            ``(ix) 1 percent for fiscal year 2024 and 
                        each fiscal year thereafter.''.

SEC. 202. REGULAR OVERSIGHT OF AWARD AMOUNTS.

    (a) Elimination of Automatic Inflation Adjustments.--Section 9(j) 
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(j)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(D), by inserting ``through fiscal year 
        2016'' after ``every year''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) 2016 modifications for dollar value of awards.--Not 
        later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the SBIR and 
        STTR Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2016, the 
        Administrator shall modify the policy directives issued under 
        this subsection to--
                    ``(A) eliminate the annual adjustments for 
                inflation of the dollar value of awards described in 
                paragraph (2)(D); and
                    ``(B) clarify that Congress intends to review the 
                dollar value of awards every 3 fiscal years.''.
    (b) Sense of Congress Regarding Regular Review of the Award 
Sizes.--It is the sense of Congress that for fiscal year 2019, and 
every third fiscal year thereafter, Congress should evaluate whether 
the maximum award sizes under the Small Business Innovation Research 
Program under section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 
should be adjusted and, if so, take appropriate action to direct that 
such adjustments be made under the policy directives issued under 
subsection (j) of such section.
    (c) Clarification of Sequential Phase II Awards.--Section 9(ff) of 
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(ff)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
            ``(3) Clarification of sequential phase ii awards.--The 
        head of a Federal agency shall ensure that any sequential Phase 
        II award is made in accordance with the limitations on award 
        sizes under subsection (aa).''.

               TITLE III--COMMERCIALIZATION IMPROVEMENTS

SEC. 301. PERMANENCY OF THE COMMERCIALIZATION PILOT PROGRAM FOR 
              CIVILIAN AGENCIES.

    Section 9(gg) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(gg)) is 
amended--
            (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Pilot 
        Program'' and inserting ``Commercialization Development 
        Awards'';
            (2) by striking paragraphs (2), (7), and (8);
            (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6) as 
        paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5), respectively;
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `commercialization development 
                program' means a program established by a covered 
                Federal agency under paragraph (1); and
                    ``(B) the term `covered Federal agency'--
                            ``(i) means a Federal agency participating 
                        in the SBIR program or the STTR program; and
                            ``(ii) does not include the Department of 
                        Defense.''; and
            (5) by striking ``pilot program'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``commercialization development program''.

SEC. 302. ENFORCEMENT OF NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS GOAL FOR FEDERAL 
              RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

    Section 9(h) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(h)) is 
amended by inserting ``, which may not be less than 10 percent for 
fiscal year 2018, and each fiscal year thereafter,'' after ``shall 
establish goals''.

SEC. 303. TRACKING RAPID INNOVATION FUND AWARDS IN ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL 
              REPORT.

    Section 9(b)(7) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(b)(7)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (F), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(H) information regarding awards under the Rapid 
                Innovation Program under section 1073 of the Ike 
                Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
                Year 2011 (Public Law 111-383; 124 Stat. 4366; 10 
                U.S.C. 2359 note), including--
                            ``(i) the number and dollar amount of 
                        awards made under the Rapid Innovation Program 
                        to business concerns receiving an award under 
                        the SBIR program or the STTR program;
                            ``(ii) the proportion of awards under the 
                        Rapid Innovation Program made to business 
                        concerns receiving an award under the SBIR 
                        program or the STTR program;
                            ``(iii) the proportion of awards under the 
                        Rapid Innovation Program made to small business 
                        concerns; and
                            ``(iv) a projection of the effect on the 
                        number of awards under the Rapid Innovation 
                        Program if amounts to carry out the program 
                        were made available as a fixed allocation of 
                        the amount appropriated to the Department of 
                        Defense for research, development, test, and 
                        evaluation, excluding amounts appropriated for 
                        the defense universities;''.

SEC. 304. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.

    Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(tt) Intellectual Property Protections.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2)(B), the cost of 
        seeking protection for intellectual property, including a 
        trademark, copyright, or patent, that was created through work 
        performed under an SBIR or STTR award is allowable as an 
        indirect cost under that award.
            ``(2) Clarification of patent costs.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A Federal agency shall not 
                directly or indirectly inhibit, through the policies, 
                directives, or practices of the Federal agency, an 
                otherwise eligible small business concern performing 
                under an SBIR or STTR award from recovering patent 
                costs incurred as requirements under that award, 
                including--
                            ``(i) the costs of preparing--
                                    ``(I) invention disclosures;
                                    ``(II) reports; and
                                    ``(III) other documents;
                            ``(ii) the costs for searching the art to 
                        the extent necessary to make the invention 
                        disclosures;
                            ``(iii) other costs in connection with the 
                        filing and prosecution of a United States 
                        patent application where title or royalty-free 
                        license is to be conveyed to the Federal 
                        Government; and
                            ``(iv) general counseling services relating 
                        to patent matters, including advice on patent 
                        laws, regulations, clauses, and employee 
                        agreements.
                    ``(B) Recovery limitations.--After consultation 
                with contracting or auditing authorities, the patent 
                costs described in subparagraph (A) shall be allowable 
                for technology developed under a--
                            ``(i) Phase I award, as indirect costs in 
                        an amount not greater than $5,000;
                            ``(ii) Phase II award, as indirect costs in 
                        an amount not greater than $15,000; and
                            ``(iii) Phase III award in which the 
                        Federal Government has government purpose 
                        rights (as defined in section 227.7103-5 of 
                        title 48, Code of Federal Regulations).''.

SEC. 305. ANNUAL GAO AUDIT OF COMPLIANCE WITH COMMERCIALIZATION GOALS.

    Section 9(nn) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(nn)) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(nn) Annual GAO Report on Government Compliance With Goals, 
Incentives, and Phase III Preference.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of the SBIR and STTR Reauthorization and Improvement 
Act of 2016, and every year thereafter until the date that is 5 years 
after the date of enactment of the SBIR and STTR Reauthorization and 
Improvement Act of 2016, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 
the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
Representatives a report that--
            ``(1) discusses the status of the compliance of Federal 
        agencies with the requirements or authorities established 
        under--
                    ``(A) subsection (h), relating to the establishment 
                by certain Federal agencies of a goal for funding 
                agreements for research and research and development 
                with small business concerns;
                    ``(B) subsection (y)(5)(A), relating to the 
                requirement for the Department of Defense to establish 
                goals for the transition of Phase III technologies in 
                subcontracting plans;
                    ``(C) subsection (y)(5)(B), relating to the 
                requirement for the Department of Defense to establish 
                procedures for a prime contractor to report the number 
                and dollar amount of contracts with small business 
                concerns for Phase III SBIR projects or STTR projects 
                of the prime contractor; and
                    ``(D) subsection (y)(6), relating to the 
                requirement for the Department of Defense to set a goal 
                to increase the number of Phase II SBIR and STTR 
                contracts that transition into programs of record or 
                fielded systems;
            ``(2) includes, for a Federal agency that is in compliance 
        with a requirement described under paragraph (1), a description 
        of how the Federal agency achieved compliance; and
            ``(3) includes a list, organized by Federal agency, of 
        small business concerns that have asserted that--
                    ``(A) technology of the small business concern was 
                stolen by the Government or a prime contractor; or
                    ``(B) the Federal agency solicited bids for a 
                contract that was for work that derived from, extended, 
                or completed efforts made under prior funding 
                agreements under the SBIR program or STTR program.''.

SEC. 306. CLARIFYING THE PHASE III PREFERENCE.

    Section 9(r) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(r)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (4);
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4), and 
        transferring such paragraph to after paragraph (3); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Phase iii award direction for agencies and prime 
        contractors.--To the greatest extent practicable, Federal 
        agencies and Federal prime contractors shall issue Phase III 
        awards relating to technology, including sole source awards and 
        awards under the Defense Research and Development Rapid 
        Innovation Program under section 1073 of the Ike Skelton 
        National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (Public 
        Law 111-383; 124 Stat. 4366; 10 U.S.C. 2359 note), to the SBIR 
        and STTR award recipients that developed the technology.''.

SEC. 307. IMPROVEMENTS TO TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS ASSISTANCE.

    Section 9(q) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(q)) is 
amended--
            (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``and 
        Business'' after ``Technical'';
            (2) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by inserting ``and business'' before 
                        ``assistance services''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``assistance with product 
                        sales, intellectual property protections, 
                        market research,'' after ``technologies,''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``, including 
                intellectual property protections'' before the period 
                at the end; and
            (3) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``$5,000 per 
                year'' each place that term appears and inserting 
                ``$6,500 per project'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``$5,000 per 
                year'' each place that term appears and inserting 
                ``$15,000 per project'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``or 
                business'' after ``technical''; and
                    (D) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``or 
                business'' after ``technical'' each place that term 
                appears.

             TITLE IV--PROGRAM DIVERSIFICATION INITIATIVES

SEC. 401. REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVE PILOT PROGRAM.

    Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (mm)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 
                subparagraph (A), by striking ``2017'' and inserting 
                ``2021''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) SBIR and sttr programs; fast program.--
                    ``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `covered Federal agency' means a Federal agency that--
                            ``(i) is required to conduct an SBIR 
                        program; and
                            ``(ii) elects to use the funds allocated to 
                        the SBIR program of the Federal agency for the 
                        purposes described in paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Requirement.--Each covered Federal agency 
                shall transfer an amount equal to 15 percent of the 
                funds that are used for the purposes described in 
                paragraph (1) to the Administration--
                            ``(i) for the Regional SBIR State 
                        Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program 
                        established under subsection (uu);
                            ``(ii) for the Federal and State Technology 
                        Partnership Program established under section 
                        34; and
                            ``(iii) to support the Office of the 
                        Administration that administers the SBIR 
                        program and the STTR program, subject to 
                        agreement from other agencies about how the 
                        funds will be used, in carrying out those 
                        programs and the programs described in clauses 
                        (i) and (ii).
            ``(8) Pilot program.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Of amounts provided to the 
                Administration under paragraph (7), not less than 
                $5,000,000 shall be used to provide awards under the 
                Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot 
                Program established under subsection (uu) for each 
                fiscal year in which the program is in effect.
                    ``(B) Disbursement flexibility.--The Administration 
                may use any unused funds made available under 
                subparagraph (A) as of April 1 of each fiscal year for 
                awards to carry out clauses (ii) and (iii) of paragraph 
                (7)(B) after providing written notice to--
                            ``(i) the Committee on Small Business and 
                        Entrepreneurship and the Committee on 
                        Appropriations of the Senate; and
                            ``(ii) the Committee on Small Business and 
                        the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                        Representatives.''; and
            (2) by adding after subsection (tt), as added by section 
        304 of this Act, the following:
    ``(uu) Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot 
Program.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `eligible entity' means--
                            ``(i) a research institution; and
                            ``(ii) a small business concern;
                    ``(B) the term `eligible State' means--
                            ``(i) a State that the Administrator 
                        determines is in the bottom half of States, 
                        based on the average number of annual SBIR 
                        program awards made to companies in the State 
                        for the preceding 3 years for which the 
                        Administration has applicable data; and
                            ``(ii) an EPSCoR State that--
                                    ``(I) is a State described in 
                                clause (i); or
                                    ``(II) is--
                                            ``(aa) not a State 
                                        described in clause (i); and
                                            ``(bb) invited to 
                                        participate in a regional 
                                        collaborative;
                    ``(C) the term `EPSCoR State' means a State that 
                participates in the Experimental Program to Stimulate 
                Competitive Research of the National Science 
                Foundation, as established under section 113 of the 
                National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 
                (42 U.S.C. 1862g);
                    ``(D) the term `FAST program' means the Federal and 
                State Technology Partnership Program established under 
                section 34;
                    ``(E) the term `pilot program' means the Regional 
                SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program 
                established under paragraph (2);
                    ``(F) the term `regional collaborative' means a 
                collaborative consisting of eligible entities that are 
                located in not less than 3 eligible States; and
                    ``(G) the term `State' means any State of the 
                United States, the District of Columbia, the 
                Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or 
                possession of the United States.
            ``(2) Establishment.--The Administrator shall establish a 
        pilot program, to be known as the Regional SBIR State 
        Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program, under which the 
        Administrator shall provide awards to regional collaboratives 
        to address the needs of small business concerns in order to be 
        more competitive in the proposal and selection process for 
        awards under the SBIR program and the STTR program and to 
        increase technology transfer and commercialization.
            ``(3) Goals.--The goals of the pilot program are--
                    ``(A) to create regional collaboratives that allow 
                eligible entities to work cooperatively to leverage 
                resources to address the needs of small business 
                concerns;
                    ``(B) to grow SBIR program and STTR program 
                cooperative research and development and 
                commercialization through increased awards under those 
                programs;
                    ``(C) to increase the participation of States that 
                have historically received a lower level of awards 
                under the SBIR program and the STTR program;
                    ``(D) to utilize the strengths and advantages of 
                regional collaboratives to better leverage resources, 
                best practices, and economies of scale in a region for 
                the purpose of increasing awards and increasing the 
                commercialization of the SBIR program and STTR 
                projects;
                    ``(E) to increase the competitiveness of the SBIR 
                program and the STTR program;
                    ``(F) to identify sources of outside funding for 
                applicants for an award under the SBIR program or the 
                STTR program, including venture capitalists, angel 
                investor groups, private industry, crowd funding, and 
                special loan programs; and
                    ``(G) to offer increased one-on-one engagements 
                with companies and entrepreneurs for SBIR program and 
                STTR program education, assistance, and successful 
                outcomes.
            ``(4) Application.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A regional collaborative that 
                desires to participate in the pilot program shall 
                submit to the Administrator an application at such 
                time, in such manner, and containing such information 
                as the Administrator may require.
                    ``(B) Inclusion of lead eligible entities and 
                coordinator.--A regional collaborative shall include in 
                an application submitted under subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) the name of each lead eligible entity 
                        from each eligible State in the regional 
                        collaborative, as designated under paragraph 
                        (5)(A); and
                            ``(ii) the name of the coordinator for the 
                        regional collaborative, as designated under 
                        paragraph (6).
                    ``(C) Avoidance of duplication.--A regional 
                collaborative shall include in an application submitted 
                under subparagraph (A) an explanation as to how the 
                activities of the regional collaborative under the 
                pilot program would differ from other State and Federal 
                outreach activities in each eligible State in the 
                regional collaborative.
            ``(5) Lead eligible entity.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each eligible State in a 
                regional collaborative shall designate 1 eligible 
                entity located in the eligible State to serve as the 
                lead eligible entity for the eligible State.
                    ``(B) Authorization by governor.--Each lead 
                eligible entity designated under subparagraph (A) shall 
                be authorized to act as the lead eligible entity by the 
                Governor of the applicable eligible State.
                    ``(C) Responsibilities.--Each lead eligible entity 
                designated under subparagraph (A) shall be responsible 
                for administering the activities and program 
                initiatives described in paragraph (7) in the 
                applicable eligible State.
            ``(6) Regional collaborative coordinator.--Each regional 
        collaborative shall designate a coordinator from amongst the 
        eligible entities located in the eligible States in the 
        regional collaborative, who shall serve as the interface 
        between the regional collaborative and the Administration with 
        respect to measuring cross-State collaboration and program 
        effectiveness and documenting best practices.
            ``(7) Use of funds.--Each regional collaborative that is 
        provided an award under the pilot program may, in each eligible 
        State in which an eligible entity of the regional collaborative 
        is located--
                    ``(A) establish an initiative under which first-
                time applicants for an award under the SBIR program or 
                the STTR program are reviewed by experienced, national 
                experts in the United States, as determined by the lead 
                eligible entity designated under paragraph (5)(A);
                    ``(B) engage national mentors on a frequent basis 
                to work directly with applicants for an award under the 
                SBIR program or the STTR program, particularly during 
                Phase II, to assist with the process of preparing and 
                submitting a proposal;
                    ``(C) create and make available an online mechanism 
                to serve as a resource for applicants for an award 
                under the SBIR program or the STTR program to identify 
                and connect with Federal labs, prime government 
                contractor companies, other industry partners, and 
                regional industry cluster organizations;
                    ``(D) conduct focused and concentrated outreach 
                efforts to increase participation in the SBIR program 
                and the STTR program by small business concerns owned 
                and controlled by women, small business concerns owned 
                and controlled by veterans, small business concerns 
                owned and controlled by socially and economically 
                disadvantaged individuals (as defined in section 
                8(d)(3)(C)), and historically black colleges and 
                universities;
                    ``(E) administer a structured program of training 
                and technical assistance--
                            ``(i) to prepare applicants for an award 
                        under the SBIR program or the STTR program--
                                    ``(I) to compete more effectively 
                                for Phase I and Phase II awards; and
                                    ``(II) to develop and implement a 
                                successful commercialization plan;
                            ``(ii) to assist eligible States focusing 
                        on transition and commercialization to win 
                        Phase III awards from public and private 
                        partners;
                            ``(iii) to create more competitive 
                        proposals to increase awards from all Federal 
                        sources, with a focus on awards under the SBIR 
                        program and the STTR program; and
                            ``(iv) to assist first-time applicants by 
                        providing small grants for proof of concept 
                        research; and
                    ``(F) assist applicants for an award under the SBIR 
                program or the STTR program to identify sources of 
                outside funding, including venture capitalists, angel 
                investor groups, private industry, crowd funding, and 
                special loan programs.
            ``(8) Award amount.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall provide 
                an award to each eligible State in which an eligible 
                entity of a regional collaborative is located in an 
                amount that is not more than $300,000 to carry out the 
                activities described in paragraph (7).
                    ``(B) Limitation.--
                            ``(i) In general.--An eligible State may 
                        not receive an award under both the FAST 
                        program and the pilot program for the same 
                        year.
                            ``(ii) Rule of construction.--Nothing in 
                        clause (i) shall be construed to prevent an 
                        eligible State from applying for an award under 
                        the FAST program and the pilot program for the 
                        same year.
            ``(9) Duration of award.--An award provided under the pilot 
        program shall be for a period of not more than 1 year, and may 
        be renewed by the Administrator for 1 additional year.
            ``(10) Termination.--The pilot program shall terminate on 
        September 30, 2021.
            ``(11) Report.--Not later than February 1, 2021, the 
        Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small Business 
        and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 
        Business of the House of Representatives a report on the pilot 
        program, which shall include--
                    ``(A) an assessment of the pilot program and the 
                effectiveness of the pilot program in meeting the goals 
                described in paragraph (3);
                    ``(B) an assessment of the best practices, 
                including an analysis of how the pilot program compares 
                to the FAST program and a single-State approach; and
                    ``(C) recommendations as to whether any aspect of 
                the pilot program should be extended or made 
                permanent.''.

SEC. 402. FEDERAL AND STATE TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.

    Section 34 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657d) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (h)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``2001 through 
                2005'' and inserting ``2017 through 2021''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``fiscal years 
                2001 through 2005'' and inserting ``each of fiscal 
                years 2017 through 2021''; and
            (2) in subsection (i), by striking ``September 30, 2005'' 
        and inserting ``September 30, 2021''.

           TITLE V--OVERSIGHT AND SIMPLIFICATION INITIATIVES

SEC. 501. DATA MODERNIZATION SUMMIT.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``Administration'' means the Small Business 
        Administration;
            (2) the term ``Committee'' means the SBIR and STTR 
        Interagency Policy Committee established under subsection (b);
            (3) the terms ``Federal agency'', ``SBIR'', and ``STTR'' 
        have the meanings given such terms under section 9(e) of the 
        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e));
            (4) the term ``participating Federal agency'' means a 
        Federal agency with an SBIR program or an STTR program;
            (5) the term ``phase'' means Phase I, Phase II, and Phase 
        III, as those terms are defined under section 9(e) of the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)); and
            (6) the term ``small business concern'' has the meaning 
        given that term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 632).
    (b) Establishment.--There is established an interagency committee 
to be known as the ``SBIR and STTR Interagency Policy Committee''.
    (c) Membership.--The Committee shall include--
            (1) 2 representatives from each participating Federal 
        agency, of which--
                    (A) 1 shall have expertise with respect to the SBIR 
                program and STTR program of the Federal agency; and
                    (B) 1 shall have expertise with respect to the 
                information technology systems of the Federal agency; 
                and
            (2) 2 representatives from the Administration, of which--
                    (A) 1 shall serve as chairperson of the Committee; 
                and
                    (B) 1 shall be from the Information Technology 
                Development Team of the Office of Investment and 
                Innovation of the Administration.
    (d) Duties.--The Committee shall review the recommendations made in 
the report to Congress by the Office of Science and Technology of the 
Administration entitled ``SBIR/STTR TechNet Public & Government 
Databases'', dated September 15, 2014, and the practices of 
participating Federal agencies to--
            (1) determine how to collect data on achievements by small 
        business concerns in each phase of the SBIR program and the 
        STTR program and ensure collection and dissemination of such 
        data in a timely, efficient, and uniform manner;
            (2) establish a uniform baseline for metrics that support 
        improving the solicitation, contracting, funding, and execution 
        of program management in the SBIR program and the STTR program;
            (3) normalize formatting and database usage across 
        participating Federal agencies; and
            (4) determine the feasibility of developing a common system 
        across all participating Federal agencies and the paperwork 
        requirements under such a common system.
    (e) Implementation.--Not later than September 31, 2018, the 
Committee shall brief the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 
the House of Representatives on the solutions identified by the 
Committee under subsection (d) and resources needed to execute the 
solutions.

SEC. 502. IMPLEMENTATION OF OUTSTANDING REAUTHORIZATION PROVISIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 9(mm) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(mm)), as amended by section 401(1) of this Act, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (3)'' and 
        inserting ``paragraphs (3) and (9)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) Suspension of funding.--
                    ``(A) For federal agencies.--
                            ``(i) In general.--For fiscal years 2018 
                        and 2019, any Federal agency that has not 
                        implemented each provision of law described in 
                        clause (ii)--
                                    ``(I) shall continue to provide 
                                amounts to the Administration in 
                                accordance with paragraph (7)(B); and
                                    ``(II) may not use any additional 
                                amounts as described in paragraph (1) 
                                until 30 days after the date on which 
                                the Federal agency submits to the 
                                Committee on Small Business and 
                                Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the 
                                Committee on Small Business of the 
                                House of Representatives documentation 
                                demonstrating that the Federal agency 
                                has implemented and is in compliance 
                                with each provision of law described in 
                                clause (ii).
                            ``(ii) Provisions.--The provisions of law 
                        described in this subparagraph are the 
                        following:
                                    ``(I) Subsection (r)(4), relating 
                                to Phase III preferences.
                                    ``(II) Paragraphs (5) and (6) of 
                                subsection (y), relating to insertion 
                                goals.
                                    ``(III) Subsection (g)(4)(B), 
                                relating to shortening the decision 
                                time for SBIR awards.
                                    ``(IV) Subsection (o)(4)(B), 
                                relating to shortening the decision 
                                time for STTR awards.
                                    ``(V) Subsection (v), relating to 
                                reducing paperwork and compliance 
                                burdens.
                    ``(B) For administration.--For fiscal years 2018 
                and 2019, if the Administration is not in compliance 
                with subsection (b)(7), relating to annual reports to 
                Congress, the Administration may not use amounts 
                received under paragraph (7)(B) of this subsection for 
                a purpose described in clause (iii) of such paragraph 
                (7)(B).''.
    (b) Clarification of Reporting Requirement.--Section 9(b)(7) of the 
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(b)(7)) is amended in the matter 
preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ``not less than annually'' and 
inserting ``not later than February 1 of each year''.

SEC. 503. STRENGTHENING OF THE REQUIREMENT TO SHORTEN THE APPLICATION 
              REVIEW AND DECISION TIME.

    Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (g)(4), by striking subparagraph (B) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(B) make a final decision on each proposal 
                submitted under the SBIR program--
                            ``(i) for the Department of Health and 
                        Human Services, not later than 1 year after the 
                        date on which the applicable solicitation 
                        closes, with a goal to reduce the review and 
                        decision time to less than 10 months by 
                        September 30, 2019;
                            ``(ii) for the Department of Agriculture 
                        and the National Science Foundation, not later 
                        than 6 months after the date on which the 
                        applicable solicitation closes; or
                            ``(iii) for any other Federal agency--
                                    ``(I) not later than 90 days after 
                                the date on which the applicable 
                                solicitation closes; or
                                    ``(II) if the Administrator 
                                authorizes an extension with respect to 
                                a solicitation, not later than 90 days 
                                after the date that would otherwise be 
                                applicable to the Federal agency under 
                                subclause (I);''; and
            (2) in subsection (o)(4), by striking subparagraph (B) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(B) make a final decision on each proposal 
                submitted under the STTR program--
                            ``(i) for the Department of Health and 
                        Human Services, not later than 1 year after the 
                        date on which the applicable solicitation 
                        closes, with a goal to reduce the review and 
                        decision time to less than 10 months by 
                        September 30, 2019;
                            ``(ii) for the Department of Agriculture 
                        and the National Science Foundation, not later 
                        than 6 months after the date on which the 
                        applicable solicitation closes; or
                            ``(iii) for any other Federal agency--
                                    ``(I) not later than 90 days after 
                                the date on which the applicable 
                                solicitation closes; or
                                    ``(II) if the Administrator 
                                authorizes an extension with respect to 
                                a solicitation, not later than 90 days 
                                after the date that would otherwise be 
                                applicable to the Federal agency under 
                                subclause (I);''.

SEC. 504. CONTINUED GAO OVERSIGHT OF ALLOCATION COMPLIANCE AND ACCURACY 
              IN FUNDING BASE CALCULATIONS.

    Section 5136(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2012 (15 U.S.C. 638 note) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
        ``until the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of 
        this Act'' and inserting ``until the date on which the 
        Comptroller General of the United States submits the report 
        relating to fiscal year 2019'';
            (2) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraph (C) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(C) assess whether the change in the base funding 
                for the Department of Defense as required by 
                subparagraphs (J) and (K) of section 9(f)(1) of the 
                Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(f)(1))--
                            ``(i) improves transparency for determining 
                        whether the Department is complying with the 
                        allocation requirements;
                            ``(ii) reduces the burden of calculating 
                        the allocations; and
                            ``(iii) improves the compliance of the 
                        Department with the allocation requirements; 
                        and''; and
            (3) in paragraph (2) by striking ``under subparagraph (B)'' 
        and inserting ``under subparagraphs (B) and (C)''.

                      TITLE VI--TECHNICAL CHANGES

SEC. 601. UNIFORM REFERENCE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 
              SERVICES.

    Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (cc), by striking ``National Institutes 
        of Health'' and inserting ``Department of Health and Human 
        Services''; and
            (2) in subsection (dd)(1)(A), by striking ``Director of the 
        National Institutes of Health'' and inserting ``Secretary of 
        Health and Human Services''.

SEC. 602. FLEXIBILITY FOR PHASE II AWARD INVITATIONS.

    Section 9(e)(4)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(e)(4)(B)) is amended in the matter preceding clause (i)--
            (1) by striking ``, which shall not include any invitation, 
        pre-screening, or pre-selection process for eligibility for 
        Phase II,''; and
            (2) by inserting ``in which eligibility for an award shall 
        not be based only on an invitation, pre-screening, or pre-
        selection process and'' before ``in which awards''.
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