II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2419 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the technical and business 

assistance services under the SBIR and STTR programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2018 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. GARDNER) 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 improve the technical 

and business assistance services under the SBIR and 

STTR programs. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Support Startup Busi5 nesses Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS AS7 SISTANCE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(q) of the Small Busi9 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(q)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

2 ‘‘AND BUSINESS’’ after ‘‘TECHNICAL’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

4 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

5 (A)— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘a vendor selected 

7 under paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘1 or 

8 more vendors selected under paragraph 

9 (2)(A)’’; 

10 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and business’’ before 

11 ‘‘assistance services’’; and 

12 (iii) by inserting ‘‘assistance with 

13 product sales, intellectual property protec14 tions, market research, market validation, 

15 and development of regulatory plans and 

16 manufacturing plans,’’ after ‘‘tech17 nologies,’’; and 

18 (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘, 

19 including intellectual property protections’’ be20 fore the period at the end; 

21 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘Each agency may select a 

23 vendor to assist small business concerns to 

24 meet’’ and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each agency may se2 lect 1 or more vendors from which small busi3 ness concerns may obtain assistance in meet4 ing’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(B) SELECTION BY SMALL BUSINESS

7 CONCERN.—A small business concern may, by 

8 contract or otherwise, select 1 or more vendors 

9 to assist the small business concern in meeting 

10 the goals listed in paragraph (1).’’; 

11 (4) in paragraph (3)— 

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘paragraph 

13 (2)’’ each place it appears; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘$5,000 per year’’ each 

15 place it appears and inserting ‘‘5 percent of the 

16 amount of the award’’; 

17 (C) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 

18 ‘‘which shall be in addition to the amount of 

19 the recipient’s award’’ and inserting ‘‘which 

20 may, as determined appropriate by the head of 

21 the Federal agency, be included as part of the 

22 recipient’s award or be in addition to the 

23 amount of the recipient’s award’’; 

24 (D) in subparagraph (C)— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘or business’’ after 

2 ‘‘technical’’; 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘the vendor’’ and in4 serting ‘‘a vendor’’; and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: ‘‘Business-related services aimed at 

7 improving the commercialization success of 

8 a small business concern may be obtained 

9 from an entity, such as a public or private 

10 organization or an agency of or other enti11 ty established or funded by a State that fa12 cilitates or accelerates the commercializa13 tion of technologies or assists in the cre14 ation and growth of private enterprises 

15 that are commercializing technology.’’; 

16 (E) in subparagraph (D)— 

17 (i) by inserting ‘‘or business’’ after 

18 ‘‘technical’’ each place it appears; and 

19 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the ven20 dor’’ and inserting ‘‘1 or more vendors’’; 

21 and 

22 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(E) MULTIPLE AWARD RECIPIENTS.—The 

24 Administrator shall establish a limit on the 

25 amount of technical and business assistance 


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1 services that may be received or purchased 

2 under subparagraph (B) by small business con3 cerns with respect to multiple Phase II SBIR or 

4 STTR awards for a fiscal year.’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTING.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A small business con8 cern that receives technical or business assist9 ance from a vendor under this subsection dur10 ing a fiscal year shall submit to the Federal 

11 agency contracting with the vendor a descrip12 tion of the technical or business assistance pro13 vided. 

14 ‘‘(B) USE OF EXISTING REPORTING MECH15 ANISM.—The information required under sub16 paragraph (A) shall be collected by a Federal 

17 agency as part of a report required to be sub18 mitted by small business concerns engaged in 

19 SBIR or STTR projects of the Federal agency 

20 for which the requirement was in effect on the 

21 date of enactment of this paragraph.’’. 

22 (b) REVIEW.—Not later than the end of fiscal year 

23 2019, the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis24 tration shall submit to the Committee on Small Business 

25 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee 


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1 on Small Business of the House of Representatives a re2 port reviewing the efficacy of the provision of technical 

3 and business assistance under section 9(q) of the Small 

4 Business Act (2 U.S.C. 638(q)), as amended by subsection 

5 (a). 

Æ 


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