119-hr5001

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5001 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5001

To amend the reporting requirements for the SBIR and STTR programs, and 
 for other purpose.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 August 19, 2025

 Mr. McGarvey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently 
 determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend the reporting requirements for the SBIR and STTR programs, and 
 for other purpose.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``SBIR/STTR Oversight Act''.

SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

 

Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (g)

    (9) --
        (A) by inserting ``the House Committee on Small 
 Business, Senate Committee on Small Business and 
 Entrepreneurship,'' after ``SBIR program to'';
        (B) by inserting a comma after ``Administration''; 
 and
            (C) by inserting after ``Technology Policy'' the 
 following: ``and publish such report on the website of 
 such Federal agency as soon as practicable'';

    (2) in subsection

    (o)

    (10) --
        (A) by inserting ``House Committee on Small 
 Business, Senate Committee on Small Business and 
 Entrepreneurship,'' after ``STTR program to'';
        (B) by inserting a comma after ``Administration''; 
 and
            (C) by inserting after ``Technology Policy'' the 
 following: ``and publish such report on the website of 
 such Federal agency as soon as practicable''; and

    (3) in subsection

    (gg)

    (6) , by inserting ``Congress and'' 
 after ``agency to''.

SEC. 3. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON DIVERSIFICATION AND 
 COMMERCIALIZATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than three years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 
the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
Representatives a report on the effectiveness of the SBIR and STTR 
programs with respect to diversification of participants and 
commercialization.

    (b) Contents.--The report shall include, to the extent practicable, 
an assessment of--

    (1) the demographics of small business concerns receiving 
 SBIR or STTR awards, including new entrants and 
 underrepresented groups;

    (2) the efforts of participating agencies to broaden 
 representation and participation of new entrants and 
 underrepresented groups in the SBIR and STTR programs;

    (3) how participating agencies develop solicitation topics 
 and attract applicants;

    (4) the efforts of participating agencies to support 
 technology commercialization;

    (5) the extent to which the SBIR and STTR awards made by 
 each participating agency align with the research priorities 
 and technology needs of that participating agency; and

    (6) such other matters as the Comptroller General, in 
 consultation with the Committee on Small Business and 
 Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 
 Business of the House of Representatives, determines 
 appropriate.
            (c) === Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Federal agency; sbir; sttr.--The terms ``Federal 
 agency'', ``SBIR'', and ``STTR'' have the meanings given such 
 terms in 

section 9

    (e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
 638

    (e) ).

    (2) New entrant.--The term ``new entrant'' means a small 
 business concern that has not previously received an SBIR or 
 STTR award.

    (3) Underrepresented groups.--The term ``underrepresented 
 groups'' means small business concerns located in States with 
 respect to which a low level of SBIR and STTR awards have 
 historically been awarded, small business concerns owned and 
 controlled by women, and small business concerns owned and 
 controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged 
 individuals.

    (4) Participating agency.--The term ``participating 
 agency'' means a Federal agency carrying out an SBIR or STTR 
 program under 

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

    (5) Small business concern.--The term ``small business 
 concern'' has the meaning given such term under 

section 3 of 
 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).

    (6) Small business concern owned and controlled by socially 
 and economically disadvantaged individuals; small business 
 concern owned and controlled by women.--The terms ``small 
 business concern owned and controlled by socially and 
 economically disadvantaged individuals'' and ``small business 
 concern owned and controlled by women'' have the meanings given 
 such terms in 

section 8
            (d) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
 637
            (d) ).

SEC. 4. EXTEND THE REPORT ON AWARD TIMELINESS.

 

Section 9
            (ii) (2)
        (A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638
            (ii) (2)
        (A) ) is amended--

    (1) in the matter preceding clause
            (i) , by striking ``3 
 years'' and inserting ``11 years'';

    (2) in clause
            (i) , by striking ``and'' at the end;

    (3) by redesignating clause
            (ii) as clause
            (iii) ; and

    (4) by inserting after clause
            (i) the following new clause:
 ``
            (ii) provides the average and median 
 amount of time that each Federal agency with an 
 SBIR or STTR program takes to review and make a 
 final decision on proposals submitted under the 
 program; and''.

SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM TO ACCELERATE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 
 EVALUATION PROCESS.

    (a) In General.--

Section 9

    (hh) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638

    (hh) ) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
 ``

    (3) Pilot program to accelerate the national institutes 
 of health sbir and sttr awards.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
 date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Director 
 of the National Institutes of Health shall establish a 
 pilot program to reduce the time for awards under the 
 SBIR and STTR programs of the National Institutes of 
 Health.
 ``
        (B) Award procedures.--In carrying out the pilot 
 program under subparagraph
        (A) , the Director shall 
 develop simplified and standardized procedures across 
 all relevant awarding offices at the National 
 Institutes of Health and reduce the amount of time 
 between the provision of notice of such awards and the 
 subsequent release of funding with respect to the 
 awards to be as close to 90 days as possible.
 ``
            (C) Merit review.--
 ``
            (i) In general.--Under the pilot program 
 under subparagraph
        (A) , the Director of the 
 National Institutes of Health may, with respect 
 to awards under the SBIR and STTR programs of 
 the National Institute of Health, use such peer 
 review procedures (including consultation with 
 appropriate scientific experts) as the Director 
 determines to be appropriate to obtain 
 assessments of scientific and technical merit 
 and potential for commercialization.
 ``
            (ii) Deemed.--The use of peer review 
 procedures under clause
            (i) shall be deemed to 
 fulfill any requirements applicable to the 
 award under the SBIR or STTR program of the 
 National Institute of Health under sections 
 406

    (a)

    (3)
        (A) and 492 of the Public Health 
 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284a

    (a)

    (3)
        (A) ; 289a).
 ``
            (D) Termination.--The pilot program under 
 subparagraph
        (A) shall terminate on September 30, 
 2030.''.

    (b) Evaluation Report.--Not later than three years after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institutes of 
Health shall submit to the Committees on Small Business and Science, 
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate an evaluation of 
the pilot program established under paragraph

    (3) of 

section 9

    (hh) of 
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638

    (hh) ), as added by subsection

    (a) , 
including an analysis of the peer review procedures used under 
subparagraph
            (C) of such paragraph and the effects on award times.
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