The latest word from Washington is that getting the SBIR reauthorization passed before it expires on March 20 is about as unlikely as the Cubs winning the World Series without a shortstop. In order to keep the program alive until Congress can get around to the reauthorization, a continuing resolution (CR) is needed to temporarily extend its life. In fact, the SBIR program currently lives on via CR life-support since the last Congress did not complete the reauthorization bill.
The SBIR Program, created by the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982, periodically comes up for reauthorization every few years. It was reauthorized in 1986, 1992, and 2000 and was slated again for September 2008; but, instead, congress failed to act and the program was temporarily extended by CR to March 20, 2009.
In 2008, Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) House made a heavy-handed attempt at the reauthorization, and under pressure from the biotech lobby, a bill (H.R.5819) was strong-armed through the House Small Business Committee. A major point of contention was whether to allow companies that are majority-owned by VCs to be eligible for SBIR funding—currently they are not. In other words, the debate centered on whether to emphasize the “S” vs the “B” in the reauthorization act. To the consternation of the small business community, which was not allowed any input by the Committee, the bill passed and SBIR eligibility was extended to companies mostly owned by VCs.
Over on Harry Reid’s (D-NV) side of the Capitol, and under the leadership of Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee recommended a compromise bill (S.3362) that was supported by both the biotech and the small business lobbies. Despite this broad and bipartisan support, Reid never scheduled a vote on it and the 110th Congress adjourned without completing the SBIR reauthorization.
Both bills are now moribund and the SBIR program is on its last legs unless another CR is passed. The 111th Congress will have to start from the beginning on a new reauthorization bill, but efforts to reconsider the reauthorization bill have not yet begun. Even if Congress began work on the bill today, it is unlikely that it would make it to Obama’s desk before the end of this year, several months after the program is scheduled to expire. Hence, another CR is urgently needed in order to avoid interruption in the SBIR program.
You are encouraged to contact your congressional representatives to urge them to take action to ensure that the SBIR program does not die from neglect. Here is a template of a letter you can send to your Representative and Senators. And If you are worried about that SBIR grant application you plan to soon submit, you might consider sending a letter to those who held up the reauthorization last year, including every member of the House Small Business Committee as well as to Senate Majority Leader Reid.
Tell them what an important “stimulus” the SBIR program is for business development, job creation and the economy. That ought to get their attention.
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