I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3918 
To amend sections 25 and 27 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation 
Act of 1980 to improve the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 
and regional innovation programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 16, 2014 
Mr. KILMER (for himself, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 
PETERS of California, Ms. ESTY, and Mr. BERA of California) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology 
A BILL 
To amend sections 25 and 27 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech-
nology Innovation Act of 1980 to improve the Office 
of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and regional innova-
tion programs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regional Innovation 
and Entrepreneurship Enhancement Act of 2014’’. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP. 
Section 25 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno-
vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3720) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 25. OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEUR-
SHIP. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an 
Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship with a Director 
and full-time staff to foster innovation and the commer-
cialization of new technologies, products, processes, and 
services with the goal of promoting productivity and eco-
nomic growth in the United States. 
‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Office of Innovation and Entre-
preneurship shall be responsible for— 
‘‘(1) developing policies to accelerate innovation 
and advance the commercialization of research and 
development, including federally funded research and 
development; 
‘‘(2) identifying existing barriers to innovation 
and commercialization, including access to capital 
and other resources, and ways to overcome those 
barriers, particularly in States participating in the 
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Re-
search; 
‘‘(3) providing access to relevant data, research, 
and technical assistance on innovation and commer-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
cialization, including best practices for university- 
based incubators and accelerators; 
‘‘(4) overseeing the implementation of the loan 
guarantee programs and the Regional Innovation 
Program established under sections 26 and 27, re-
spectively; 
‘‘(5) developing, within 180 days after the date 
of enactment of the Regional Innovation and Entre-
preneurship Enhancement Act of 2014, and updat-
ing at least every 5 years, a strategic plan to guide 
the activities of the Office of Innovation and Entre-
preneurship that shall— 
‘‘(A) specify and prioritize near-term and 
long-term goals, objectives, and policies to ac-
celerate innovation and advance the commer-
cialization of research and development, includ-
ing federally funded research and development, 
set forth the anticipated time for achieving the 
objectives, and identify metrics for use in as-
sessing progress toward such objectives; 
‘‘(B) describe how the Department of 
Commerce is working in conjunction with other 
Federal agencies to foster innovation and com-
mercialization across the United States; and 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(C) provide a summary of the activities, 
including the development of metrics to evalu-
ate regional innovation strategies undertaken 
through the Regional Innovation Research and 
Information Program established under section 
27(c); 
‘‘(6) strengthening collaboration on and coordi-
nation of policies relating to innovation and commer-
cialization, including those focused on the needs of 
small businesses and rural communities, within the 
Department of Commerce, between the Department 
of Commerce and other Federal agencies, and be-
tween the Department of Commerce and appropriate 
State government agencies and institutions, as ap-
propriate; and 
‘‘(7) any other duties as determined by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(c) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish or designate an advisory committee, which 
shall meet at least twice each fiscal year, to provide 
advice to the Secretary on carrying out the duties 
and responsibilities of the Office of Innovation and 
Entrepreneurship. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—The advisory 
committee shall prepare a report, to be submitted to 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen-
ate every 3 years. The first report shall be submitted 
not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
the Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship En-
hancement Act of 2014 and shall include— 
‘‘(A) an assessment of the strategic plan 
developed under subsection (b)(5) and the 
progress made in implementing the plan and 
the duties of the Office of Innovation and En-
trepreneurship; 
‘‘(B) an assessment of how the Office of 
Innovation and Entrepreneurship is working 
with other Federal agencies to meet the goals 
and duties of the office; and 
‘‘(C) any recommendations for how the Of-
fice of Innovation and Entrepreneurship could 
be improved. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018 
to carry out this section.’’. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 3. REGIONAL INNOVATION PROGRAM. 
Section 27 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno-
vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3722) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 27. REGIONAL INNOVATION PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish a regional innovation program to encourage and sup-
port the development of regional innovation strategies, in-
cluding regional innovation clusters. 
‘‘(b) CLUSTER GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program es-
tablished under subsection (a), the Secretary may 
award grants on a competitive basis to eligible re-
cipients for activities relating to the formation and 
development of regional innovation clusters. 
‘‘(2) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Grants award-
ed under this subsection may be used for activities 
determined appropriate by the Secretary, including 
the following: 
‘‘(A) Feasibility studies. 
‘‘(B) Planning activities. 
‘‘(C) Technical assistance. 
‘‘(D) Developing or strengthening commu-
nication and collaboration between and among 
participants of a regional innovation cluster. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(E) Attracting additional participants to 
a regional innovation cluster. 
‘‘(F) Facilitating market development of 
products and services developed by a regional 
innovation cluster, including through dem-
onstration, deployment, technology transfer, 
and commercialization activities. 
‘‘(G) Developing relationships between a 
regional innovation cluster and entities or clus-
ters in other regions. 
‘‘(H) Interacting with the public and State 
and local governments to meet the goals of the 
cluster. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘eligible recipient’ means— 
‘‘(A) a State; 
‘‘(B) an Indian tribe; 
‘‘(C) a city or other political subdivision of 
a State; 
‘‘(D) an entity that— 
‘‘(i) is a nonprofit organization, an in-
stitution of higher education, a public-pri-
vate partnership, a science or research 
park, a Federal laboratory, or an economic 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
development organization or similar entity; 
and 
‘‘(ii) has an application that is sup-
ported by a State or a political subdivision 
of a State; or 
‘‘(E) a consortium of any of the entities 
described in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 
‘‘(4) APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible recipient 
shall submit an application to the Secretary at 
such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information and assurances as the Secretary 
may require. 
‘‘(B) COMPONENTS.—The application shall 
include, at a minimum, a description of the re-
gional innovation cluster supported by the pro-
posed activity, including a description of— 
‘‘(i) whether the regional innovation 
cluster is supported by the private sector, 
State and local governments, and other rel-
evant stakeholders; 
‘‘(ii) how the existing participants in 
the regional innovation cluster will encour-
age and solicit participation by all types of 
entities that might benefit from participa-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
tion, including newly formed entities and 
those rival existing participants; 
‘‘(iii) the extent to which the regional 
innovation cluster is likely to stimulate in-
novation and have a positive impact on re-
gional economic growth and development; 
‘‘(iv) whether the participants in the 
regional innovation cluster have access to, 
or contribute to, a well-trained workforce; 
‘‘(v) whether the participants in the 
regional innovation cluster are capable of 
attracting additional funds from non-Fed-
eral sources; and 
‘‘(vi) the likelihood that the partici-
pants in the regional innovation cluster will 
be able to sustain activities once grant 
funds under this subsection have been ex-
pended. 
‘‘(C) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The Sec-
retary shall give special consideration to appli-
cations from regions that contain communities 
negatively impacted by trade. 
‘‘(5) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary 
shall give special consideration to an eligible recipi-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:00 Jan 23, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3918.IH
H3918
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS