[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2045 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2045
To reauthorize the SBIR and STTR programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 27, 2019
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Cardin) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize the SBIR and STTR programs, 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 Permanency and
Improvement Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. PERMANENCY OF SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS.
(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, 2022'' 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 2022''.
SEC. 3. ALLOCATION INCREASE.
(a) SBIR.--Section 9(f)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
638(f)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``expend'' and inserting ``obligate for expenditure'';
(2) in subparagraph (H), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(3) in subparagraph (I), by striking ``and each fiscal year
thereafter,'' and inserting a semicolon; and
(4) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the following:
``(J) not less than 3.5 percent of such budget in
fiscal year 2020;
``(K) not less than 4 percent of such budget in
fiscal year 2021;
``(L) not less than 5 percent of such budget in
fiscal year 2022;
``(M) not less than 6 percent of such budget in
fiscal year 2023; and
``(N) not less than 6.4 percent of such budget in
fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter.''.
(b) STTR.--Section 9(n)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
638(n)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``expend'' and
inserting ``obligate for expenditure''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) in clause (iv), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in clause (v), by striking ``fiscal year 2016
and each fiscal year thereafter.'' and inserting
``fiscal year 2019;''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(vi) 0.55 percent for fiscal year 2020;
``(vii) 0.65 percent for fiscal year 2021;
``(viii) 0.75 percent for fiscal year 2022;
``(ix) 0.85 percent for fiscal year 2023;
and
``(x) 1 percent for fiscal year 2024 and
each fiscal year thereafter.''.
SEC. 4. ACCELERATING AWARD TIMELINES ACROSS AGENCIES.
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended--
(1) in subsection (g)(8)--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in subparagraph (C), by adding ``and'' at the
end; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) the average and median amount of time that
each Federal agency with an SBIR program takes to
review and make a final decision on proposals submitted
under the program;'';
(2) in subsection (o)(9)--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in subparagraph (C), by adding ``and'' at the
end; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) the average and median amount of time that
each Federal agency with an STTR program takes to
review and make a final decision on proposals submitted
under the program;'';
(3) in subsection (hh)--
(A) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Requirement to accelerate all sbir and sttr awards.--
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
paragraph, each Federal agency participating in the SBIR
program or STTR program, other than the Department of Defense,
shall establish a program to reduce the time for awards under
the SBIR and STTR programs of the Federal agency by--
``(A) developing simplified and standardized
procedures and model contracts throughout the Federal
agency for Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III SBIR
awards;
``(B) for Phase I SBIR and STTR awards, reducing
the amount of time between solicitation closure and
award;
``(C) for Phase II SBIR and STTR awards, reducing
the amount of time between the end of a Phase I award
and the start of the Phase II award;
``(D) for Phase II SBIR and STTR awards that skip
Phase I, reducing the amount of time between
solicitation closure and award;
``(E) for sequential Phase II SBIR and STTR awards,
reducing the amount of time between Phase II awards;
and
``(F) reducing the award times described in
subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F) to be as
close to 90 days as possible.''; and
(4) in subsection (ii), by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Additional comptroller general reports.--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) not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this paragraph, a report that--
``(i) provides the average and median
amount of time that each Federal agency with an
SBIR or STTR program takes to review and make a
final decision on proposals submitted under the
program; and
``(ii) compares that average and median
amount of time with that of the previous 5
fiscal years; and
``(B) not later than March 31, 2023, a report
that--
``(i) includes the information described in
subparagraph (A);
``(ii) assesses where each Federal agency
participating in the SBIR or STTR program needs
improvement with respect to the proposal review
and award times under the program;
``(iii) identifies best practices for
shortening the proposal review and award times
under the SBIR and STTR programs; and
``(iv) analyzes the efficacy of the program
established under subsection (hh)(3).''.
SEC. 5. ENCOURAGING VENTURE CAPITAL-OWNED PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.
Section 9(dd) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(dd)) is
amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
``(1) Authority.--The head of a Federal agency that
participates in the SBIR program--
``(A) may award not more than 25 percent of the
funds allocated for the SBIR program of the Federal
agency to small business concerns that are owned in
majority part by multiple venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms through
competitive, merit-based procedures that are open to
all eligible small business concerns; and
``(B) may not award any funds allocated for the
SBIR program of the Federal agency to small business
concerns owned by venture capital operating companies,
hedge funds, or private equity firms whose owners do
not have United States citizenship.'';
(2) by striking paragraph (2);
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (7) as
paragraphs (2) through (6); and
(4) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) indicate if any of the venture capital
operating companies, hedge fund, or private equity firm
owners of the small business concern do not have United
States citizenship.''.
SEC. 6. PHASE III AWARD EDUCATION.
Section 9(r)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4)) is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) train contracting officers in the execution
of Phase III sole source award contracts.''.
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