II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 177 

To amend the Small Business Act to extend the Small Business Innovation 

Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, to increase 

the allocation of Federal agency grants for those programs, to add 

water, energy, transportation, and domestic security related research 

to the list of topics deserving special consideration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 8, 2009 

Mr. FEINGOLD 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 extend the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, to increase the allocation of 

Federal agency grants for those programs, to add water, 

energy, transportation, and domestic security related research to the list of topics deserving special consideration, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Our 

3 Economy Through Small Business Innovation Act of 

4 2009’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

6 It is the sense of the Senate that— 

7 (1) this Nation’s small businesses are the 

8 source of nearly 50 percent of our country’s employ9 ment; 

10 (2) small businesses have been and are a lead11 ing source of this country’s innovation and entrepre12 neurial strategies and skills; 

13 (3) small technology businesses tend to be high14 ly innovative, play a substantial role in technological 

15 advancement, and contribute to the standard of liv16 ing in this country; 

17 (4) the SBIR and STTR programs can result 

18 and have resulted in the development and commer19 cialization of new products and processes; 

20 (5) the Federal Government should give par21 ticular encouragement to small businesses that ad22 dress priority national interests, including water se23 curity, energy innovation, transportation efficiencies 

24 and domestic security needs; and 

25 (6) the SBIR and STTR programs should be 

26 extended for these purposes and the administrative 


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1 costs associated with such extensions should be 

2 borne by the respective Federal departments and 

3 agencies. 

4 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF TERMINATION DATES. 

5 (a) SBIR.—Section 9(m) of the Small Business Act 

6 (15 U.S.C. 638(m)) is amended by striking ‘‘2008’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘2022’’. 

8 (b) STTR.—Section 9(n)(1)(A) of the Small Busi9 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(n)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2023’’. 

11 SEC. 4. INCREASE IN THE ALLOCATION OF FEDERAL AGEN12 CY GRANTS FOR SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS. 

13 (a) SBIR PROGRAM EXPENDITURES.—Section 

14 9(f)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(f)(1)) 

15 is amended by striking subparagraphs (A) through (C) 

16 and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) not less than 2.5 percent of such budget 

18 in fiscal year 2009; 

19 ‘‘(2) not less than 5.0 percent of such budget 

20 in fiscal year 2010; 

21 ‘‘(3) not less than 7.5 percent of such budget 

22 in fiscal year 2011; and 

23 ‘‘(4) not less than 10.0 percent of such budget 

24 in fiscal year 2012 and each fiscal year thereafter,’’. 


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1 (b) STTR PROGRAM EXPENDITURES.—Section 

2 9(n)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 638(n)(1)(B)) is amended by striking clauses (i) and (ii) 

4 and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(i) not less than 0.3 percent in fiscal 

6 year 2009; 

7 ‘‘(ii) not less than 0.6 percent in fiscal 

8 year 2010; 

9 ‘‘(iii) not less than 0.8 percent in fis10 cal year 2011; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) not less than 1.0 percent in fis12 cal year 2012 and each fiscal year there13 after.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. INCREASED SBIR AND STTR AWARD LEVELS. 

15 (a) SBIR AWARD LEVEL.—Section 9(j)(2)(D) of the 

16 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(j)(2)(D)) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘$300,000’’; and 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘$750,000’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘$2,200,000’’. 

22 (b) STTR AWARD LEVEL.—Section 9(p)(2)(B)(ix) of 

23 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(p)(2)(B)(ix)) is 

24 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$300,000’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘$750,000’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘$2,200,000’’. 

5 SEC. 6. INCLUSION OF ENERGY, SECURITY, TRANSPOR6 TATION, AND WATER RELATED RESEARCH IN 

7 THE LIST OF TOPICS DESERVING SPECIAL 

8 CONSIDERATION AS SBIR RESEARCH TOPICS. 

9 Section 9(g)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 638(g)(3)) is amended— 

11 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

12 by inserting ‘‘or pressing research priorities’’ after 

13 ‘‘critical technologies’’; 

14 (2) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

15 end; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) the National Academy of Sciences in 

18 the final report issued by the America’s Energy 

19 Future: Technology Opportunities, Risks, and 

20 Tradeoffs project that relate to emerging re21 newable energy, energy efficiency, or renewable 

22 fuels technologies, or in subsequent reports re23 lating to such technologies; 

24 ‘‘(D) the National Academy of Sciences in 

25 the final report issued by the Transit Research 


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1 and Development: Federal Role in the National 

2 Program project, the Research and Innovative 

3 Technology Administration of the Department 

4 of Transportation in the report entitled ‘Trans5 portation Research, Development and Tech6 nology Strategic Plan (2006–2010)’, or the Na7 tional Academy of Sciences or the Department 

8 of Transportation in subsequent reports relat9 ing to transportation and infrastructure; 

10 ‘‘(E) the Committee on Water System Se11 curity Research of the National Academy of 

12 Sciences in the 2007 report by the committee, 

13 entitled ‘Improving the Nation’s Water Secu14 rity; Opportunities for Research’ or the 2006 

15 report by the committee, entitled ‘Public Water 

16 Distribution Systems: Assessing and Reducing 

17 Risks’, or by the National Academy of Sciences 

18 or the Environmental Protection Agency in sub19 sequent reports relating to improving the Na20 tion’s water supply and security; 

21 ‘‘(F) the Government Accountability Of22 fice, in— 

23 ‘‘(i) the report entitled ‘Homeland Se24 curity: First Responders’ Ability to Detect 

25 and Model Hazardous Releases in Urban 


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1 Areas Is Significantly Limited’, GAO–08– 

2 180, issued June 27, 2008; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the report entitled ‘Nuclear Se4 curity: NRC and DHS Need to Take Addi5 tional Steps to Better Track and Detect 

6 Radioactive Materials’, GAO–08–598, 

7 issued June 19, 2008; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) the report entitled ‘Supply 

9 Chain Security: Challenges to Scanning 

10 100 Percent of U.S.-Bound Cargo Con11 tainers’, GAO–08–533T, issued June 12, 

12 2008; or 

13 ‘‘(G) the National Academy of Science, in 

14 the report entitled ‘Toward a Safer and More 

15 Secure Cyberspace’ or in subsequent reports by 

16 the National Academy of Science relating to cy17 bersecurity and which shall include cybersecu18 rity technologies also designed to protect pri19 vacy;’’. 

20 SEC. 7. OFFSET. 

21 The Secretary of Defense shall terminate the Air22 borne Laser program. 

Æ 


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