II 

Calendar No. 352 

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 

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 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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS AS2 SISTANCE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(q) of the Small Busi4 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(q)) is amended— 

5 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

6 ‘‘AND BUSINESS’’ after ‘‘TECHNICAL’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

9 (A)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘a vendor selected 

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

12 more vendors selected under paragraph 

13 (2)(A)’’; 

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

15 ‘‘assistance services’’; and 

16 (iii) by inserting ‘‘assistance with 

17 product sales, intellectual property protec18 tions, market research, market validation, 

19 and development of regulatory plans and 

20 manufacturing plans,’’ after ‘‘tech21 nologies,’’; and 

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

23 including intellectual property protections’’ be24 fore the period at the end; 

25 (3) in paragraph (2)— 


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

2 vendor to assist small business concerns to 

3 meet’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each agency may se5 lect 1 or more vendors from which small busi6 ness concerns may obtain assistance in meet7 ing’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(B) SELECTION BY SMALL BUSINESS

10 CONCERN.—A small business concern may, by 

11 contract or otherwise, select 1 or more vendors 

12 to assist the small business concern in meeting 

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

14 (4) in paragraph (3)— 

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

16 (2)’’ each place it appears; 

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

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

19 amount of the award’’; 

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

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

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

23 may, as determined appropriate by the head of 

24 the Federal agency, be included as part of the 


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1 recipient’s award or be in addition to the 

2 amount of the recipient’s award’’; 

3 (D) in subparagraph (C)— 

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

5 ‘‘technical’’; 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘the vendor’’ and in7 serting ‘‘a vendor’’; and 

8 (iii) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: ‘‘Business-related services aimed at 

10 improving the commercialization success of 

11 a small business concern may be obtained 

12 from an entity, such as a public or private 

13 organization or an agency of or other enti14 ty established or funded by a State that fa15 cilitates or accelerates the commercializa16 tion of technologies or assists in the cre17 ation and growth of private enterprises 

18 that are commercializing technology.’’; 

19 (E) in subparagraph (D)— 

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

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

22 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the ven23 dor’’ and inserting ‘‘1 or more vendors’’; 

24 and 

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


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

2 Administrator shall establish a limit on the 

3 amount of technical and business assistance 

4 services that may be received or purchased 

5 under subparagraph (B) by small business con6 cerns with respect to multiple Phase II SBIR or 

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

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

9 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTING.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A small business con11 cern that receives technical or business assist12 ance from a vendor under this subsection dur13 ing a fiscal year shall submit to the Federal 

14 agency contracting with the vendor a descrip15 tion of the technical or business assistance pro16 vided. 

17 ‘‘(B) USE OF EXISTING REPORTING MECH18 ANISM.—The information required under sub19 paragraph (A) shall be collected by a Federal 

20 agency as part of a report required to be sub21 mitted by small business concerns engaged in 

22 SBIR or STTR projects of the Federal agency 

23 for which the requirement was in effect on the 

24 date of enactment of this paragraph.’’. 


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

2 2019, the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis3 tration shall submit to the Committee on Small Business 

4 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee 

5 on Small Business of the House of Representatives a re6 port reviewing the efficacy of the provision of technical 

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

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

9 (a). 

10 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Support Startup Busi12 nesses Act of 2018’’. 

13 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS AS14 SISTANCE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(q) of the Small Business 

16 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(q)) is amended— 

17 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

18 BUSINESS’’ after ‘‘TECHNICAL’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

21 (A)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘a vendor selected under 

23 paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘1 or more 

24 vendors selected under paragraph (2)(A)’’; 


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

2 ‘‘assistance services’’; and 

3 (iii) by inserting ‘‘assistance with 

4 product sales, intellectual property protec5 tions, market research, market validation, 

6 and development of regulatory plans and 

7 manufacturing plans,’’ after ‘‘technologies,’’; 

8 and 

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

10 including intellectual property protections’’ be11 fore the period at the end; 

12 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

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

14 vendor to assist small business concerns to meet’’ 

15 and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each agency may select 

17 1 or more vendors from which small business 

18 concerns may obtain assistance in meeting’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(B) SELECTION BY SMALL BUSINESS CON21 CERN.—A small business concern may, by con22 tract or otherwise, select 1 or more vendors to as23 sist the small business concern in meeting the 

24 goals listed in paragraph (1).’’; 

25 (4) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting 

2 ‘‘OR BUSINESS’’ after ‘‘TECHNICAL’’; 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘paragraph 

4 (2)’’ each place it appears; 

5 (C) in subparagraph (B)— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘$5,000 per year’’ each 

7 place it appears and inserting ‘‘$50,000 

8 with respect to each award’’; and 

9 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘which 

10 shall be in addition to the amount of the re11 cipient’s award’’ and inserting ‘‘which shall 

12 be included as part of the recipient’s 

13 award’’; 

14 (D) in subparagraph (C)— 

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

16 ‘‘technical’’; 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘the vendor’’ and in18 serting ‘‘a vendor’’; and 

19 (iii) by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: ‘‘Business-related services aimed at 

21 improving the commercialization success of 

22 a small business concern may be obtained 

23 from an entity, such as a public or private 

24 organization or an agency of or other entity 

25 established or funded by a State that faciliVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Mar 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2419.RS S2419

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1 tates or accelerates the commercialization of 

2 technologies or assists in the creation and 

3 growth of private enterprises that are com4 mercializing technology.’’; 

5 (E) in subparagraph (D)— 

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

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

8 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the ven9 dor’’ and inserting ‘‘1 or more vendors’’; 

10 and 

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

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

13 Administrator shall establish a limit on the 

14 amount of technical and business assistance serv15 ices that may be received or purchased under 

16 subparagraph (B) by small business concerns 

17 with respect to multiple Phase II SBIR or 

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

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

20 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTING.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A small business con22 cern that receives technical or business assistance 

23 from a vendor under this subsection during a fis24 cal year shall submit to the Federal agency con25 tracting with the vendor a description of the 


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1 technical or business assistance provided and the 

2 benefits and results of the technical or business 

3 assistance provided. 

4 ‘‘(B) USE OF EXISTING REPORTING MECHA5 NISM.—The information required under subpara6 graph (A) shall be collected by a Federal agency 

7 as part of a report required to be submitted by 

8 small business concerns engaged in SBIR or 

9 STTR projects of the Federal agency for which 

10 the requirement was in effect on the date of en11 actment of this paragraph.’’. 

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

13 2019, the Administrator of the Small Business Administra14 tion shall— 

15 (1) conduct a survey of vendors providing tech16 nical or business assistance under section 9(q) of the 

17 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(q)), as amended 

18 by subsection (a), and small business concerns receiv19 ing the technical or business assistance; and 

20 (2) submit to the Committee on Small Business 

21 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Com22 mittee on Small Business of the House of Representa23 tives a report reviewing the efficacy of the provision 

24 of the technical or business assistance. 


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Calendar No. 352 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2419 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the 

the SBIR and STTR programs. technical and business assistance services under 

MARCH 19, 2018 

Reported with an amendment 


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