[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 160 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 160

 To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to 
             establish an Innovation Voucher Grant Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 2, 2021

Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself, Mr. Young, and Mr. Coons) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to 
             establish an Innovation Voucher Grant Program.

    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 ``Small Business Innovation Voucher 
Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
            (2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
                    (A) an institution of higher education, as defined 
                in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1001); or
                    (B) a nonprofit research lab, institution, or other 
                similar organization in the United States associated 
                with educational or research activities, including a 
                federally funded research and development center.
            (3) Hubzone.--The term ``HUBZone'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 31(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        657a(b)).
            (4) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Innovation 
        Voucher Grant Program established under section 3.
            (5) Reservist.--The term ``Reservist'' means a member of a 
        reserve component of the Armed Forces named in section 10101 of 
        title 10, United States Code.
            (6) Rural area.--The term ``rural area'' means any county 
        that the Bureau of the Census has defined as mostly rural or 
        completely rural in the most recent decennial census.
            (7) Service-connected.--The term ``service-connected'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, United 
        States Code.
            (8) Small business concern; small business concern owned 
        and controlled by veterans; small business concern owned and 
        controlled by women.--The terms ``small business concern'', 
        ``small business concern owned and controlled by veterans'', 
        and ``small business concern owned and controlled by women'' 
        have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
            (9) Small business concern in an underserved market.--The 
        term ``small business concern in an underserved market'' means 
        a small business concern--
                    (A) that is located in--
                            (i) a low- to moderate-income community;
                            (ii) a HUBZone;
                            (iii) a community that has been designated 
                        as an empowerment zone or an enterprise 
                        community under section 1391 of the Internal 
                        Revenue Code of 1986;
                            (iv) a community that has been designated 
                        as a Promise Zone by the Secretary of Housing 
                        and Urban Development;
                            (v) a community that has been designated as 
                        a qualified opportunity zone under section 
                        1400Z-1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 
                        or
                            (vi) a rural area;
                    (B) for which more than 50 percent of the employees 
                reside in a low- to moderate-income community;
                    (C) that has been in existence for not more than 2 
                years;
                    (D) owned and controlled by socially and 
                economically disadvantaged individuals, including 
                minorities;
                    (E) owned and controlled by women;
                    (F) owned and controlled by veterans;
                    (G) owned and controlled by service-disabled 
                veterans; or
                    (H) not less than 51 percent owned and controlled 
                by 1 or more--
                            (i) members of the Armed Forces 
                        participating in the Transition Assistance 
                        Program of the Department of Defense;
                            (ii) Reservists;
                            (iii) spouses of veterans, members of the 
                        Armed Forces, or Reservists; or
                            (iv) surviving spouses of veterans who died 
                        on active duty or as a result of a service-
                        connected disability.
            (10) Small business concern owned and controlled by 
        socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.--The term 
        ``small business concern owned and controlled by socially and 
        economically disadvantaged individuals'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).

SEC. 3. INNOVATION VOUCHER GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a program to 
be known as the ``Innovation Voucher Grant Program'' under which the 
Administrator shall, on a competitive basis and in accordance with 
subsection (g), award to small business concerns grants for the Federal 
share of the cost of purchasing from eligible entities technical 
assistance and services necessary to carry out projects to advance 
research, development, or commercialization of new or innovative 
products and services.
    (b) Purposes of Program.--The purposes of the Program are--
            (1) to foster collaboration between small business concerns 
        and research institutions or other similar organizations;
            (2) to facilitate access by small business concerns to 
        capital-intensive infrastructure and advanced research 
        capabilities;
            (3) to enable small business concerns to access technical 
        expertise and capabilities that will lead to the development of 
        innovative products;
            (4) to promote business dynamism and competition;
            (5) to stimulate United States leadership in advanced 
        research, innovation, and technology;
            (6) to accelerate the development of an advanced workforce; 
        and
            (7) to preserve and create new jobs.
    (c) Application.--
            (1) In general.--A small business concern desiring a grant 
        under the Program shall submit to the Administrator an 
        application with the eligible entity from which the small 
        business concern will purchase technical assistance and 
        services using funds awarded under the grant.
            (2) Selection.--Not later than 180 days after the deadline 
        established by the Administrator to submit applications under 
        paragraph (1), the Administrator shall select the recipients of 
        the grants under the Program.
    (d) Evaluation.--In evaluating an application for a grant under the 
Program, the Administrator shall take into consideration--
            (1) the likelihood that funds awarded under the grant will 
        be used to create or advance a novel product or service;
            (2) the feasibility of creating or advancing a novel 
        product or service proposed to be created or advanced using 
        funds awarded under the grant; and
            (3) whether creating or advancing a product or service 
        proposed to be created or advanced using funds awarded under 
        the grant could be accomplished without a grant awarded under 
        the Program.
    (e) Amount.--A grant made under the Program shall be made in an 
amount of not less than $15,000 and not more than $75,000, which shall 
remain available to the grantee until expended.
    (f) Amounts for Small Business Concerns.--
            (1) In general.--Except to the extent that the 
        Administrator determines otherwise, not less than 40 percent of 
        the amounts made available for the Program in a fiscal year 
        shall be set aside and expended through--
                    (A) a small business concern in an underserved 
                market; or
                    (B) a small business concern in a region or State 
                that has historically been underserved by Federal 
                research and development funds.
            (2) Remaining amount.--Any amount that is set aside under 
        paragraph (1) in a fiscal year that is not expended by the end 
        of the fiscal year shall be--
                    (A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), 
                available in the following fiscal year to make grants 
                to small business concerns described in subparagraphs 
                (A) and (B) of paragraph (1); and
                    (B) on and after October 1, 2024, available to make 
                grants to all small business concerns under the 
                Program.
    (g) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of purchasing 
technical assistance and services described in subsection (a) using 
funds awarded under a grant made under the Program shall be--
            (1) not more than 75 percent, if the amount of the grant is 
        less than $50,000; and
            (2) not more than 50 percent, if the amount of the grant is 
        not less than $50,000.
    (h) Reports.--
            (1) Reports from grant recipients.--Not later than 180 days 
        after the date on which a project carried out under a grant 
        awarded under the Program is completed, the recipient of the 
        grant shall submit to the Administrator a report on the 
        project, including--
                    (A) whether and how the project met the original 
                expectations for the project;
                    (B) how the results of the project were 
                incorporated in the business of the grant recipient; 
                and
                    (C) whether and how the project improved innovation 
                practices of the grant recipient.
            (2) Report of the administrator.--Not later than 2 years 
        after the date on which the Administrator establishes the 
        Program, and every 2 years thereafter until the date on which 
        the amounts appropriated for the Program are expended, 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 grants 
        awarded under the Program, including--
                    (A) a description of the grants awarded;
                    (B) the estimated number of products or services 
                created or advanced under grants awarded under the 
                Program that could have been created or advanced 
                without grants awarded under the Program; and
                    (C) a description of the impact of the Program on 
                knowledge transfer and commercialization.
            (3) Final report of the administrator.--Not later than 180 
        days after the date on which amounts appropriated for the 
        Program are expended, the Administrator shall submit to the 
        committees described in paragraph (2) a final report containing 
        the information described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of 
        that paragraph.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the 
Administrator to carry out the Program $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2021 through 2025, to remain available until expended.
    (b) Administrative Costs.--Not more than 5 percent of amounts 
appropriated under subsection (a) may be used for administrative costs.
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