II 

Calendar No. 349 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1961 

To amend the Small Business Act to temporarily reauthorize certain pilot 

programs under the Small Business Innovation Research Program and 

the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 16, 2017 

Mr. RISCH (for himself and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 

and Entrepreneurship 

MARCH 19, 2018 

Reported by Mr. RISCH, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to temporarily reauthorize 

certain pilot programs under the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, 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 ‘‘SBIR and STTR Over3 sight and Pilot Program Extension Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PILOT EXTENSIONS AND REPORTING COMPLIANCE; 

5 PILOT PROGRAM. 

6 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (cc), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘2018’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (gg)(7), by striking ‘‘2017’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘2018’’; 

12 (3) in subsection (jj)(7), by striking ‘‘2017’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘2018’’; 

14 (4) in subsection (mm)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (i) in the matter preceding subpara17 graph (A), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘2018’’; 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (I), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

21 (iii) in subparagraph (J), by striking 

22 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

23 and’’; and 

24 (iv) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(K) funding for improvements that in2 crease commonality across data systems, reduce 

3 redundancy, and improve data oversight and ac4 curacy.’’; and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(7) SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS; FAST PRO7 GRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

9 term ‘covered Federal agency’ means a Federal 

10 agency that— 

11 ‘‘(i) is required to conduct an SBIR 

12 program; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) elects to use the funds allocated 

14 to the SBIR program of the Federal agen15 cy for the purposes described in paragraph 

16 (1). 

17 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Each covered Fed18 eral agency shall transfer an amount equal to 

19 15 percent of the funds that are used for the 

20 purposes described in paragraph (1) to the Ad21 ministration— 

22 ‘‘(i) for the Regional SBIR State Col23 laborative Initiative Pilot Program estab24 lished under subsection (tt); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) for the Federal and State Tech2 nology Partnership Program established 

3 under section 34; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) to support the Office of the Ad5 ministration that administers the SBIR 

6 program and the STTR program, subject 

7 to agreement from other agencies about 

8 how the funds will be used, in carrying out 

9 those programs and the programs de10 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii). 

11 ‘‘(8) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of amounts provided 

13 to the Administration under paragraph (7), not 

14 less than $5,000,000 shall be used to provide 

15 awards under the Regional SBIR State Collabo16 rative Initiative Pilot Program established 

17 under subsection (tt) for each fiscal year in 

18 which the program is in effect. 

19 ‘‘(B) DISBURSEMENT FLEXIBILITY.—The 

20 Administration may use any unused funds 

21 made available under subparagraph (A) as of 

22 April 1 of each fiscal year for awards to carry 

23 out clauses (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (7)(B) 

24 after providing written notice to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Small Business 

2 and Entrepreneurship and the Committee 

3 on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Small Busi5 ness and the Committee on Appropriations 

6 of the House of Representatives.’’; and 

7 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(tt) REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INI9 TIATIVE PILOT PROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

11 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

12 ‘‘(i) a research institution; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) a small business concern; 

14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘eligible State’ means— 

15 ‘‘(i) a State that the Administrator 

16 determines is in the bottom half of States, 

17 based on the average number of annual 

18 SBIR program awards made to companies 

19 in the State for the preceding 3 years for 

20 which the Administration has applicable 

21 data; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) an EPSCoR State that— 

23 ‘‘(I) is a State described in clause 

24 (i); or 

25 ‘‘(II) is— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) not a State described 

2 in clause (i); and 

3 ‘‘(bb) invited to participate 

4 in a regional collaborative; 

5 ‘‘(C) the term ‘EPSCoR State’ means a 

6 State that participates in the Experimental 

7 Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of 

8 the National Science Foundation, as established 

9 under section 113 of the National Science 

10 Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 

11 U.S.C. 1862g); 

12 ‘‘(D) the term ‘FAST program’ means the 

13 Federal and State Technology Partnership Pro14 gram established under section 34; 

15 ‘‘(E) the term ‘pilot program’ means the 

16 Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative 

17 Pilot Program established under paragraph (2); 

18 ‘‘(F) the term ‘regional collaborative’ 

19 means a collaborative consisting of eligible enti20 ties that are located in not less than 3 eligible 

21 States; and 

22 ‘‘(G) the term ‘State’ means any State of 

23 the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

24 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any terri25 tory or possession of the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 

2 shall establish a pilot program, to be known as the 

3 Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot 

4 Program, under which the Administrator shall pro5 vide awards to regional collaboratives to address the 

6 needs of small business concerns in order to— 

7 ‘‘(A) be more competitive in the proposal 

8 and selection process for awards under the 

9 SBIR program and the STTR program; and 

10 ‘‘(B) increase technology transfer and com11 mercialization. 

12 ‘‘(3) GOALS.—The goals of the pilot program 

13 are— 

14 ‘‘(A) to create regional collaboratives that 

15 allow eligible entities to work cooperatively to 

16 leverage resources to address the needs of small 

17 business concerns; 

18 ‘‘(B) to grow SBIR program and STTR 

19 program cooperative research and development 

20 and commercialization through increased 

21 awards under those programs; 

22 ‘‘(C) to increase the participation of States 

23 that have historically received a lower level of 

24 awards under the SBIR program and the 

25 STTR program; 


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1 ‘‘(D) to utilize the strengths and advan2 tages of regional collaboratives to better lever3 age resources, best practices, and economies of 

4 scale in a region for the purpose of increasing 

5 awards and increasing the commercialization of 

6 the SBIR program and STTR projects; 

7 ‘‘(E) to increase the competitiveness of the 

8 SBIR program and the STTR program; 

9 ‘‘(F) to identify sources of outside funding 

10 for applicants for an award under the SBIR 

11 program or the STTR program, including ven12 ture capitalists, angel investor groups, private 

13 industry, crowd funding, and special loan pro14 grams; and 

15 ‘‘(G) to offer increased one-on-one engage16 ments with companies and entrepreneurs for 

17 SBIR program and STTR program education, 

18 assistance, and successful outcomes. 

19 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A regional collabo21 rative that desires to participate in the pilot 

22 program shall submit to the Administrator an 

23 application at such time, in such manner, and 

24 containing such information as the Adminis25 trator may require. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTI2 TIES AND COORDINATOR.—A regional collabo3 rative shall include in an application submitted 

4 under subparagraph (A)— 

5 ‘‘(i) the name of each lead eligible en6 tity from each eligible State in the regional 

7 collaborative, as designated under para8 graph (5)(A); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the name of the coordinator for 

10 the regional collaborative, as designated 

11 under paragraph (6). 

12 ‘‘(C) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.—A re13 gional collaborative shall include in an applica14 tion submitted under subparagraph (A) an ex15 planation regarding how the activities of the re16 gional collaborative under the pilot program 

17 would differ from other State and Federal out18 reach activities in each eligible State in the re19 gional collaborative. 

20 ‘‘(5) LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible State in 

22 a regional collaborative shall designate 1 eligible 

23 entity located in the eligible State to serve as 

24 the lead eligible entity for the eligible State. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION BY GOVERNOR.— 

2 Each lead eligible entity designated under sub3 paragraph (A) shall be authorized to act as the 

4 lead eligible entity by the Governor of the appli5 cable eligible State. 

6 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each lead eligi7 ble entity designated under subparagraph (A) 

8 shall be responsible for administering the activi9 ties and program initiatives described in para10 graph (7) in the applicable eligible State. 

11 ‘‘(6) REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE COORDI12 NATOR.—Each regional collaborative shall designate 

13 a coordinator from amongst the eligible entities lo14 cated in the eligible States in the regional collabo15 rative, who shall serve as the interface between the 

16 regional collaborative and the Administration with 

17 respect to measuring cross-State collaboration and 

18 program effectiveness and documenting best prac19 tices. 

20 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.—Each regional collabo21 rative that is provided an award under the pilot pro22 gram may, in each eligible State in which an eligible 

23 entity of the regional collaborative is located— 

24 ‘‘(A) establish an initiative under which 

25 first-time applicants for an award under the 


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1 SBIR program or the STTR program are re2 viewed by experienced, national experts in the 

3 United States, as determined by the lead eligi4 ble entity designated under paragraph (5)(A); 

5 ‘‘(B) engage national mentors on a fre6 quent basis to work directly with applicants for 

7 an award under the SBIR program or the 

8 STTR program, particularly during Phase II, 

9 to assist with the process of preparing and sub10 mitting a proposal; 

11 ‘‘(C) create and make available an online 

12 mechanism to serve as a resource for applicants 

13 for an award under the SBIR program or the 

14 STTR program to identify and connect with 

15 Federal labs, prime government contractor com16 panies, other industry partners, and regional in17 dustry cluster organizations; 

18 ‘‘(D) conduct focused and concentrated 

19 outreach efforts to increase participation in the 

20 SBIR program and the STTR program by 

21 small business concerns owned and controlled 

22 by women, small business concerns owned and 

23 controlled by veterans, small business concerns 

24 owned and controlled by socially and economi25 cally disadvantaged individuals (as defined in 


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1 section 8(d)(3)(C)), and historically Black col2 leges and universities; 

3 ‘‘(E) administer a structured program of 

4 training and technical assistance— 

5 ‘‘(i) to prepare applicants for an 

6 award under the SBIR program or the 

7 STTR program— 

8 ‘‘(I) to compete more effectively 

9 for Phase I and Phase II awards; and 

10 ‘‘(II) to develop and implement a 

11 successful commercialization plan; 

12 ‘‘(ii) to assist eligible States focusing 

13 on transition and commercialization to win 

14 Phase III awards from public and private 

15 partners; 

16 ‘‘(iii) to create more competitive pro17 posals to increase awards from all Federal 

18 sources, with a focus on awards under the 

19 SBIR program and the STTR program; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iv) to assist first-time applicants by 

22 providing small grants for proof of concept 

23 research; and 

24 ‘‘(F) assist applicants for an award under 

25 the SBIR program or the STTR program to 


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1 identify sources of outside funding, including 

2 venture capitalists, angel investor groups, pri3 vate industry, crowd funding, and special loan 

4 programs. 

5 ‘‘(8) AWARD AMOUNT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

7 shall provide an award to each eligible State in 

8 which an eligible entity of a regional collabo9 rative is located in an amount that is not more 

10 than $300,000 to carry out the activities de11 scribed in paragraph (7). 

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible State 

14 may not receive an award under both the 

15 FAST program and the pilot program for 

16 the same year. 

17 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

18 Nothing in clause (i) may be construed to 

19 prevent an eligible State from applying for 

20 an award under the FAST program and 

21 the pilot program for the same year. 

22 ‘‘(9) DURATION OF AWARD.—An award pro23 vided under the pilot program— 

24 ‘‘(A) shall be for a period of not more than 

25 1 year; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) may be renewed by the Administrator 

2 for 1 additional year. 

3 ‘‘(10) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall 

4 terminate on September 30, 2018. 

5 ‘‘(11) REPORT.—Not later than March 30, 

6 2018, the Administrator shall submit to the Com7 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

8 the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 

9 the House of Representatives a report on the pilot 

10 program, which shall include— 

11 ‘‘(A) details regarding the recipient of each 

12 award provided under the pilot program, includ13 ing the amount of each award, the number of 

14 small business concerns that received assistance 

15 from the award amounts, and the manner in 

16 which the award was used to meet the goals de17 scribed in paragraph (3); 

18 ‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, an assess19 ment of the best practices of the pilot program, 

20 including an analysis of how the pilot program 

21 compares to the FAST program and a single22 State approach; and 

23 ‘‘(C) recommendations regarding whether 

24 any aspect of the pilot program should be ex25 tended or made permanent. 


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1 ‘‘(uu) OUTSTANDING REPORTS AND EVALUA2 TIONS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 30, 

4 2018, the Administrator shall submit to the Com5 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

6 the Senate, the Committee on Small Business of the 

7 House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

8 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

9 Representatives— 

10 ‘‘(A) each report, evaluation, or analysis, 

11 as applicable, described in subsection (b)(7), 

12 (g)(9), (o)(10), (y)(6)(C), (gg)(6), (jj)(6), and 

13 (mm)(6); and 

14 ‘‘(B) metrics regarding, and an evaluation 

15 of, the authority provided to the National Insti16 tutes of Health, the Department of Defense, 

17 and the Department of Education under sub18 section (cc). 

19 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 

20 December 31, 2017, the head of each agency that is 

21 responsible for carrying out a provision described in 

22 subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) shall sub23 mit to the Administrator any information that is 

24 necessary for the Administrator to carry out the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1961.RS S1961

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1 sponsibilities of the Administrator under that para2 graph.’’. 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SBIR and STTR Over5 sight and Pilot Program Extension Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PILOT EXTENSIONS AND REPORTING COMPLIANCE; 

7 PILOT PROGRAM. 

8 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (cc), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘2019’’; 

12 (2) in subsection (gg)(7), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘2019’’; 

14 (3) in subsection (jj)(7), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘2019’’; 

16 (4) in subsection (mm)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (i) in the matter preceding subpara19 graph (A), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘2019’’; 

21 (ii) in subparagraph (I), by striking 

22 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

23 (iii) in subparagraph (J), by striking 

24 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

25 and 


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1 (iv) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(K) funding for improvements that in3 crease commonality across data systems, reduce 

4 redundancy, and improve data oversight and ac5 curacy.’’; and 

6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(7) SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS; FAST PRO8 GRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

10 term ‘covered Federal agency’ means a Federal 

11 agency that— 

12 ‘‘(i) is required to conduct an SBIR 

13 program; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) elects to use the funds allocated to 

15 the SBIR program of the Federal agency for 

16 the purposes described in paragraph (1). 

17 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Each covered Federal 

18 agency shall transfer an amount equal to 15 per19 cent of the funds that are used for the purposes 

20 described in paragraph (1) to the Administra21 tion— 

22 ‘‘(i) for the Regional SBIR State Col23 laborative Initiative Pilot Program estab24 lished under subsection (tt); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) for the Federal and State Tech2 nology Partnership Program established 

3 under section 34; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) to support the Office of the Ad5 ministration that administers the SBIR 

6 program and the STTR program, subject to 

7 agreement from other agencies about how 

8 the funds will be used, in carrying out those 

9 programs and the programs described in 

10 clauses (i) and (ii). 

11 ‘‘(8) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of amounts provided to 

13 the Administration under paragraph (7), not less 

14 than $5,000,000 shall be used to provide awards 

15 under the Regional SBIR State Collaborative 

16 Initiative Pilot Program established under sub17 section (tt) for each fiscal year in which the pro18 gram is in effect. 

19 ‘‘(B) DISBURSEMENT FLEXIBILITY.—The 

20 Administration may use any unused funds made 

21 available under subparagraph (A) as of April 1 

22 of each fiscal year for awards to carry out 

23 clauses (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (7)(B) after 

24 providing written notice to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Small Business 

2 and Entrepreneurship and the Committee 

3 on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Small Business 

5 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 House of Representatives.’’; and 

7 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(tt) REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INITIA9 TIVE PILOT PROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

11 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

12 ‘‘(i) a research institution; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) a small business concern; 

14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘eligible State’ means— 

15 ‘‘(i) a State that the Administrator de16 termines is in the bottom half of States, 

17 based on the average number of annual 

18 SBIR program awards made to companies 

19 in the State for the preceding 3 years for 

20 which the Administration has applicable 

21 data; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) an EPSCoR State that— 

23 ‘‘(I) is a State described in clause 

24 (i); or 

25 ‘‘(II) is— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) not a State described 

2 in clause (i); and 

3 ‘‘(bb) invited to participate 

4 in a regional collaborative; 

5 ‘‘(C) the term ‘EPSCoR State’ means a 

6 State that participates in the Established Pro7 gram to Stimulate Competitive Research of the 

8 National Science Foundation, as established 

9 under section 113 of the National Science Foun10 dation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 

11 1862g); 

12 ‘‘(D) the term ‘FAST program’ means the 

13 Federal and State Technology Partnership Pro14 gram established under section 34; 

15 ‘‘(E) the term ‘pilot program’ means the 

16 Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative 

17 Pilot Program established under paragraph (2); 

18 ‘‘(F) the term ‘regional collaborative’ means 

19 a collaborative consisting of eligible entities that 

20 are located in not less than 3 eligible States; and 

21 ‘‘(G) the term ‘State’ means any State of 

22 the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

23 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any terri24 tory or possession of the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall 

2 establish a pilot program, to be known as the Re3 gional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot Pro4 gram, under which the Administrator shall provide 

5 awards to regional collaboratives to address the needs 

6 of small business concerns in order to— 

7 ‘‘(A) be more competitive in the proposal 

8 and selection process for awards under the SBIR 

9 program and the STTR program; and 

10 ‘‘(B) increase technology transfer and com11 mercialization. 

12 ‘‘(3) GOALS.—The goals of the pilot program 

13 are— 

14 ‘‘(A) to create regional collaboratives that 

15 allow eligible entities to work cooperatively to le16 verage resources to address the needs of small 

17 business concerns; 

18 ‘‘(B) to grow SBIR program and STTR 

19 program cooperative research and development 

20 and commercialization through increased awards 

21 under those programs; 

22 ‘‘(C) to increase the participation of States 

23 that have historically received a lower level of 

24 awards under the SBIR program and the STTR 

25 program; 


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1 ‘‘(D) to utilize the strengths and advantages 

2 of regional collaboratives to better leverage re3 sources, best practices, and economies of scale in 

4 a region for the purpose of increasing awards 

5 and increasing the commercialization of the 

6 SBIR program and STTR projects; 

7 ‘‘(E) to increase the competitiveness of the 

8 SBIR program and the STTR program; 

9 ‘‘(F) to identify sources of outside funding 

10 for applicants for an award under the SBIR 

11 program or the STTR program, including ven12 ture capitalists, angel investor groups, private 

13 industry, crowd funding, and special loan pro14 grams; and 

15 ‘‘(G) to offer increased one-on-one engage16 ments with companies and entrepreneurs for 

17 SBIR program and STTR program education, 

18 assistance, and successful outcomes. 

19 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A regional collaborative 

21 that desires to participate in the pilot program 

22 shall submit to the Administrator an application 

23 at such time, in such manner, and containing 

24 such information as the Administrator may re25 quire. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTI2 TIES AND COORDINATOR.—A regional collabo3 rative shall include in an application submitted 

4 under subparagraph (A)— 

5 ‘‘(i) the name of each lead eligible enti6 ty from each eligible State in the regional 

7 collaborative, as designated under para8 graph (5)(A); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the name of the coordinator for 

10 the regional collaborative, as designated 

11 under paragraph (6). 

12 ‘‘(C) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.—A re13 gional collaborative shall include in an applica14 tion submitted under subparagraph (A) an ex15 planation regarding how the activities of the re16 gional collaborative under the pilot program 

17 would differ from other State and Federal out18 reach activities in each eligible State in the re19 gional collaborative. 

20 ‘‘(5) LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible State in a 

22 regional collaborative shall designate 1 eligible 

23 entity located in the eligible State to serve as the 

24 lead eligible entity for the eligible State. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION BY GOVERNOR.— 

2 Each lead eligible entity designated under sub3 paragraph (A) shall be authorized to act as the 

4 lead eligible entity by the Governor of the appli5 cable eligible State. 

6 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each lead eligi7 ble entity designated under subparagraph (A) 

8 shall be responsible for administering the activi9 ties and program initiatives described in para10 graph (7) in the applicable eligible State. 

11 ‘‘(6) REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE COORDI12 NATOR.—Each regional collaborative shall designate a 

13 coordinator from amongst the eligible entities located 

14 in the eligible States in the regional collaborative, 

15 who shall serve as the interface between the regional 

16 collaborative and the Administration with respect to 

17 measuring cross-State collaboration and program ef18 fectiveness and documenting best practices. 

19 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.—Each regional collabo20 rative that is provided an award under the pilot pro21 gram may, in each eligible State in which an eligible 

22 entity of the regional collaborative is located— 

23 ‘‘(A) establish an initiative under which 

24 first-time applicants for an award under the 

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1 viewed by experienced, national experts in the 

2 United States, as determined by the lead eligible 

3 entity designated under paragraph (5)(A); 

4 ‘‘(B) engage national mentors on a frequent 

5 basis to work directly with applicants for an 

6 award under the SBIR program or the STTR 

7 program, particularly during Phase II, to assist 

8 with the process of preparing and submitting a 

9 proposal; 

10 ‘‘(C) create and make available an online 

11 mechanism to serve as a resource for applicants 

12 for an award under the SBIR program or the 

13 STTR program to identify and connect with 

14 Federal labs, prime government contractor com15 panies, other industry partners, and regional in16 dustry cluster organizations; 

17 ‘‘(D) conduct focused and concentrated out18 reach efforts to increase participation in the 

19 SBIR program and the STTR program by small 

20 business concerns owned and controlled by 

21 women, small business concerns owned and con22 trolled by veterans, small business concerns 

23 owned and controlled by socially and economi24 cally disadvantaged individuals (as defined in 


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1 section 8(d)(3)(C)), and historically Black col2 leges and universities; 

3 ‘‘(E) administer a structured program of 

4 training and technical assistance— 

5 ‘‘(i) to prepare applicants for an 

6 award under the SBIR program or the 

7 STTR program— 

8 ‘‘(I) to compete more effectively 

9 for Phase I and Phase II awards; and 

10 ‘‘(II) to develop and implement a 

11 successful commercialization plan; 

12 ‘‘(ii) to assist eligible States focusing 

13 on transition and commercialization to win 

14 Phase III awards from public and private 

15 partners; 

16 ‘‘(iii) to create more competitive pro17 posals to increase awards from all Federal 

18 sources, with a focus on awards under the 

19 SBIR program and the STTR program; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iv) to assist first-time applicants by 

22 providing small grants for proof of concept 

23 research; and 

24 ‘‘(F) assist applicants for an award under 

25 the SBIR program or the STTR program to 


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27 

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1 identify sources of outside funding, including 

2 venture capitalists, angel investor groups, pri3 vate industry, crowd funding, and special loan 

4 programs. 

5 ‘‘(8) AWARD AMOUNT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

7 shall provide an award to each eligible State in 

8 which an eligible entity of a regional collabo9 rative is located in an amount that is not more 

10 than $300,000 to carry out the activities de11 scribed in paragraph (7). 

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible State 

14 may not receive an award under both the 

15 FAST program and the pilot program for 

16 the same year. 

17 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Noth18 ing in clause (i) may be construed to pre19 vent an eligible State from applying for an 

20 award under the FAST program and the 

21 pilot program for the same year. 

22 ‘‘(9) DURATION OF AWARD.—An award provided 

23 under the pilot program— 

24 ‘‘(A) shall be for a period of not more than 

25 1 year; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) may be renewed by the Administrator 

2 for 1 additional year. 

3 ‘‘(10) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall 

4 terminate on September 30, 2019. 

5 ‘‘(11) REPORT.—Not later than March 30, 2019, 

6 the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 

7 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

8 and the Committee on Small Business of the House 

9 of Representatives a report on the pilot program, 

10 which shall include— 

11 ‘‘(A) details regarding the recipient of each 

12 award provided under the pilot program, includ13 ing the amount of each award, the number of 

14 small business concerns that received assistance 

15 from the award amounts, and the manner in 

16 which the award was used to meet the goals de17 scribed in paragraph (3); 

18 ‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, an assess19 ment of the best practices of the pilot program, 

20 including an analysis of how the pilot program 

21 compares to the FAST program and a single22 State approach; and 

23 ‘‘(C) recommendations regarding whether 

24 any aspect of the pilot program should be ex25 tended or made permanent. 


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1 ‘‘(uu) OUTSTANDING REPORTS AND EVALUATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 30, 

3 2019, the Administrator shall submit to the Com4 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

5 the Senate, the Committee on Small Business of the 

6 House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

7 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep8 resentatives— 

9 ‘‘(A) each report, evaluation, or analysis, as 

10 applicable, described in subsection (b)(7), (g)(9), 

11 (o)(10), (y)(6)(C), (gg)(6), (jj)(6), and (mm)(6); 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) metrics regarding, and an evaluation 

14 of, the authority provided to the National Insti15 tutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and 

16 the Department of Education under subsection 

17 (cc). 

18 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 

19 December 31, 2018, the head of each agency that is 

20 responsible for carrying out a provision described in 

21 subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) shall sub22 mit to the Administrator any information that is nec23 essary for the Administrator to carry out the respon24 sibilities of the Administrator under that para25 graph.’’. 


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Calendar No. 349 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1961 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to temporarily 

Program, and for other purposes. and the Small Business Technology Transfer Small Business Innovation Research Program reauthorize certain pilot programs under the 

MARCH 19, 2018 

Reported with an amendment 


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