Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB3239 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 3239
5	5	To improve commercialization activities in the SBIR and STTR programs,
6	6	and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MAY7, 2025
9	9	Ms. H
10	10	OULAHAN(for herself and Mr. BALDERSON) introduced the following
11	11	bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addi-
12	12	tion to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, and the Judi-
13	13	ciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
14	14	case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
15	15	the committee concerned
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To improve commercialization activities in the SBIR and
18	18	STTR programs, and for other purposes.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Research Advancing 4
23	23	to Market Production for Innovators Act’’. 5
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26	26	•HR 3239 IH
27	27	SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO COMMERCIALIZATION SELEC-1
28	28	TION. 2
29	29	(a) I
30	30	NGENERAL.—Section 9 of the Small Business 3
31	31	Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended— 4
32	32	(1) in subsection (g)— 5
33	33	(A) in paragraph (4)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘1 6
34	34	year’’ and inserting ‘‘180 days’’; 7
35	35	(B) in paragraph (16), by striking ‘‘and’’ 8
36	36	at the end; 9
37	37	(C) in paragraph (17), by striking the pe-10
38	38	riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 11
39	39	(D) by adding at the end the following: 12
40	40	‘‘(18) with respect to peer review carried out 13
41	41	under the SBIR program, to the extent practicable, 14
42	42	include in the peer review— 15
43	43	‘‘(A) the likelihood of commercialization in 16
44	44	addition to scientific and technical merit and 17
45	45	feasibility; and 18
46	46	‘‘(B) not less than 1 reviewer with com-19
47	47	mercialization expertise who is capable of as-20
48	48	sessing the likelihood of commercialization.’’; 21
49	49	and 22
50	50	(2) in subsection (o)— 23
51	51	(A) in paragraph (4)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘1 24
52	52	year’’ and inserting ‘‘180 days’’; 25
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55	55	•HR 3239 IH
56	56	(B) in paragraph (20), by striking ‘‘and’’ 1
57	57	at the end; 2
58	58	(C) in paragraph (21), by striking the pe-3
59	59	riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4
60	60	(D) by adding at the end the following: 5
61	61	‘‘(22) with respect to peer review carried out 6
62	62	under the STTR program, to the extent practicable, 7
63	63	include in the peer review— 8
64	64	‘‘(A) the likelihood of commercialization in 9
65	65	addition to scientific and technical merit and 10
66	66	feasibility; and 11
67	67	‘‘(B) not less than 1 reviewer with com-12
68	68	mercialization expertise who is capable of as-13
69	69	sessing the likelihood of commercialization.’’. 14
70	70	SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO PHASE FLEXIBILITY. 15
71	71	(a) I
72	72	NGENERAL.—Section 9(cc) of the Small Busi-16
73	73	ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(cc)) is amended— 17
74	74	(1) by striking ‘‘During fiscal years 2012 18
75	75	through 2025, the National Institutes of Health, the 19
76	76	Department of Defense, and the Department of 20
77	77	Education may each’’ and inserting the following: 21
78	78	‘‘(1) I
79	79	N GENERAL.—During fiscal years 2025, 22
80	80	2026, and 2027, each Federal agency with an SBIR 23
81	81	or STTR program may’’; and 24
82	82	(2) by adding at the end the following: 25
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85	85	•HR 3239 IH
86	86	‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The total value of awards 1
87	87	provided by a Federal agency under this subsection 2
88	88	in a fiscal year shall be— 3
89	89	‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 4
90	90	(B) and (C), not more than 10 percent of the 5
91	91	total funds allocated to the SBIR and STTR 6
92	92	programs of the Federal agency during that fis-7
93	93	cal year; 8
94	94	‘‘(B) with respect to the National Insti-9
95	95	tutes of Health, not more than 30 percent of 10
96	96	the total funds allocated to the SBIR and 11
97	97	STTR programs of the National Institutes of 12
98	98	Health during that fiscal year; and 13
99	99	‘‘(C) The limitation under subparagraph 14
100	100	(A) shall not apply with respect to the Depart-15
101	101	ment of Defense.’’. 16
102	102	(b) R
103	103	EPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 17
104	104	of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small 18
105	105	Business Administration shall provide a briefing to the 19
106	106	Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 20
107	107	the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the 21
108	108	House of Representatives regarding the authority provided 22
109	109	under section 9(cc) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 23
110	110	638(cc)), as amended by paragraph (1). 24
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113	113	•HR 3239 IH
114	114	SEC. 4. TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION OFFICIAL. 1
115	115	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 2
116	116	is amended by adding at the end the following: 3
117	117	‘‘(aaa) T
118	118	ECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION OFFI-4
119	119	CIAL.—Each Federal agency participating in the SBIR or 5
120	120	STTR program shall— 6
121	121	‘‘(1) designate an existing official within the 7
122	122	Federal agency as the Technology Commercialization 8
123	123	Official of the Federal agency, who shall— 9
124	124	‘‘(A) have sufficient commercialization ex-10
125	125	perience; 11
126	126	‘‘(B) provide guidance to SBIR and STTR 12
127	127	program awardees in commercializing and 13
128	128	transitioning technologies; 14
129	129	‘‘(C) identify and advocate for SBIR and 15
130	130	STTR program technologies with sufficient 16
131	131	technology and commercialization readiness to 17
132	132	advance to Phase III awards or other non- 18
133	133	SBIR or STTR program contracts; 19
134	134	‘‘(D) coordinate with the Administration 20
135	135	and Technology Commercialization Officials of 21
136	136	other Federal agencies to identify additional 22
137	137	markets and commercialization pathways for 23
138	138	promising SBIR and STTR program tech-24
139	139	nologies; 25
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142	142	•HR 3239 IH
143	143	‘‘(E) submit to the Administration an an-1
144	144	nual report on the number of technologies from 2
145	145	the SBIR or STTR program that have ad-3
146	146	vanced commercialization activities, including 4
147	147	information required in the commercialization 5
148	148	impact assessment under subsection (ccc); 6
149	149	‘‘(F) submit to the Administration an an-7
150	150	nual report on actions taken by the Federal 8
151	151	agency, and the results of those actions, to sim-9
152	152	plify, standardize, and expedite the application 10
153	153	process and requirements, procedures, and con-11
154	154	tracts as required under subsection (hh); and 12
155	155	‘‘(G) carry out such other duties as the 13
156	156	Federal agency determines necessary; or 14
157	157	‘‘(2) identify an official carrying out substan-15
158	158	tially similar responsibilities as those described in 16
159	159	paragraph (1).’’. 17
160	160	SEC. 5. IMPROVEMENTS TO TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS AS-18
161	161	SISTANCE. 19
162	162	Section 9(q) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 20
163	163	638(q)) is amended— 21
164	164	(1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 22
165	165	subparagraph (A)— 23
166	166	(A) by striking ‘‘may enter into an agree-24
167	167	ment with 1 or more vendors selected under 25
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170	170	•HR 3239 IH
171	171	paragraph (2)(A) to provide small business con-1
172	172	cerns engaged in SBIR or STTR projects with 2
173	173	technical and business assistance services’’ and 3
174	174	inserting ‘‘shall authorize recipients of awards 4
175	175	under the SBIR or STTR program to select, if 5
176	176	desired, technical and business assistance pro-6
177	177	vided under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of 7
178	178	paragraph (2) with respect to SBIR or STTR 8
179	179	projects’’; 9
180	180	(B) by inserting ‘‘cybersecurity assist-10
181	181	ance,’’ after ‘‘intellectual property protections,’’; 11
182	182	and 12
183	183	(C) by striking ‘‘such concerns’’ and in-13
184	184	serting ‘‘such recipients’’; 14
185	185	(2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 15
186	186	following: 16
187	187	‘‘(C) S
188	188	TAFF.—A small business concern 17
189	189	may, by contract or otherwise, use funding pro-18
190	190	vided under this section to hire new staff, aug-19
191	191	ment staff, or direct staff to conduct or partici-20
192	192	pate in training activities consistent with the 21
193	193	goals listed in paragraph (1).’’; 22
194	194	(3) in paragraph (3), by striking subparagraphs 23
195	195	(A) and (B) and inserting the following: 24
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198	198	•HR 3239 IH
199	199	‘‘(A) PHASE I.—A Federal agency de-1
200	200	scribed in paragraph (1) shall authorize a re-2
201	201	cipient of a Phase I SBIR or STTR award to 3
202	202	utilize not more than $6,500 per project, in-4
203	203	cluded as part of the award of the recipient or 5
204	204	in addition to the amount of the award of the 6
205	205	recipient as determined appropriate by the head 7
206	206	of the Federal agency, for the services described 8
207	207	in paragraph (1)— 9
208	208	‘‘(i) provided through a vendor se-10
209	209	lected under paragraph (2)(A); 11
210	210	‘‘(ii) provided through a vendor other 12
211	211	than a vendor selected under paragraph 13
212	212	(2)(A); 14
213	213	‘‘(iii) achieved through the activities 15
214	214	described in paragraph (2)(C); or 16
215	215	‘‘(iv) provided or achieved through 17
216	216	any combination of clauses (i), (ii), and 18
217	217	(iii). 19
218	218	‘‘(B) P
219	219	HASE II.—A Federal agency de-20
220	220	scribed in paragraph (1) shall authorize a re-21
221	221	cipient of a Phase II SBIR or STTR award to 22
222	222	utilize not more than $50,000 per project, in-23
223	223	cluded as part of the award of the recipient or 24
224	224	in addition to the amount of the award of the 25
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227	227	•HR 3239 IH
228	228	recipient as determined appropriate by the head 1
229	229	of the Federal agency, for the services described 2
230	230	in paragraph (1)— 3
231	231	‘‘(i) provided through a vendor se-4
232	232	lected under paragraph (2)(A); 5
233	233	‘‘(ii) provided through a vendor other 6
234	234	than a vendor selected under paragraph 7
235	235	(2)(A); 8
236	236	‘‘(iii) achieved through the activities 9
237	237	described in paragraph (2)(C); or 10
238	238	‘‘(iv) provided or achieved through 11
239	239	any combination of clauses (i), (ii), and 12
240	240	(iii).’’; and 13
241	241	(4) by adding at the end the following: 14
242	242	‘‘(5) T
243	243	ARGETED REVIEW .—A Federal agency 15
244	244	may perform targeted reviews of technical and busi-16
245	245	ness assistance funding as described in subsection 17
246	246	(mm)(1)(F).’’. 18
247	247	SEC. 6. I-CORPS PARTICIPATION. 19
248	248	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 20
249	249	as amended by section 4, is amended by adding at the 21
250	250	end the following: 22
251	251	‘‘(bbb) I-C
252	252	ORPSPARTICIPATION.— 23
253	253	‘‘(1) I
254	254	N GENERAL.—Each Federal agency that 24
255	255	is required to conduct an SBIR or STTR program 25
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258	258	•HR 3239 IH
259	259	with an Innovation Corps (commonly known as ‘I- 1
260	260	Corps’) program shall— 2
261	261	‘‘(A) provide an option for participation in 3
262	262	an I-Corps teams course by recipients of an 4
263	263	award under the SBIR or STTR program; and 5
264	264	‘‘(B) authorize the recipients described in 6
265	265	subparagraph (A) to use an award provided 7
266	266	under subsection (q) to provide additional tech-8
267	267	nical assistance for participation in the I-Corps 9
268	268	teams course. 10
269	269	‘‘(2) C
270	270	OST OF PARTICIPATION .—The cost of 11
271	271	participation by a recipient described in paragraph 12
272	272	(1)(A) in an I-Corps course may be provided by— 13
273	273	‘‘(A) an I-Corps team grant; 14
274	274	‘‘(B) funds awarded to the recipient under 15
275	275	subsection (q); 16
276	276	‘‘(C) the participating teams or other 17
277	277	sources as appropriate; or 18
278	278	‘‘(D) any combination of sources described 19
279	279	in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).’’. 20
280	280	SEC. 7. COMMERCIALIZATION IMPACT ASSESSMENT. 21
281	281	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 22
282	282	as amended by sections 4 and 6, is amended by adding 23
283	283	at the end the following: 24
284	284	‘‘(ccc) C
285	285	OMMERCIALIZATION IMPACTASSESSMENT.— 25
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288	288	•HR 3239 IH
289	289	‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall co-1
290	290	ordinate with each Federal agency with an SBIR or 2
291	291	STTR program to develop an annual commercializa-3
292	292	tion impact assessment report, which shall measure, 4
293	293	for each small business concern that has received 5
294	294	not less than 50 Phase II awards on or after Octo-6
295	295	ber 1 of the ninth fiscal year before the fiscal year 7
296	296	in which the report is submitted— 8
297	297	‘‘(A) total dollar value of Federal awards, 9
298	298	contracts, and subcontracts, other than SBIR 10
299	299	or STTR awards, received by the small business 11
300	300	concern over the preceding 9 fiscal years; 12
301	301	‘‘(B) the total dollar value of all SBIR and 13
302	302	STTR Phase I and Phase II awards received by 14
303	303	the small business concern over the preceding 9 15
304	304	fiscal years; 16
305	305	‘‘(C) the average annual gross revenue of 17
306	306	the small business concern over the preceding 9 18
307	307	fiscal years; 19
308	308	‘‘(D) total revenue from the sale or licens-20
309	309	ing of new products and services resulting from 21
310	310	the research conducted under the awards re-22
311	311	ceived in the preceding 9 fiscal years; 23
312	312	‘‘(E) additional investment from any 24
313	313	source other than Phase I or Phase II SBIR or 25
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316	316	•HR 3239 IH
317	317	STTR awards, to further the research and de-1
318	318	velopment conducted under the awards received 2
319	319	in the preceding 9 fiscal years; 3
320	320	‘‘(F) mergers and acquisitions of award re-4
321	321	cipients during or after the completion of a 5
322	322	Phase II award; 6
323	323	‘‘(G) new, unique spin-out companies re-7
324	324	sulting from research conducted under the 8
325	325	awards received in the preceding 9 fiscal years; 9
326	326	‘‘(H) patents acquired as a result of re-10
327	327	search conducted under the awards received in 11
328	328	the preceding 9 fiscal years; 12
329	329	‘‘(I) the year of first Phase II award and 13
330	330	the total number of employees at the time of 14
331	331	first Phase II award; 15
332	332	‘‘(J) the number of employees, as of the 16
333	333	end of the most recent fiscal year; and 17
334	334	‘‘(K) the total number and value of Phase 18
335	335	III awards received. 19
336	336	‘‘(2) P
337	337	UBLICATION.—The commercialization im-20
338	338	pact assessment report described in paragraph (1) 21
339	339	shall be— 22
340	340	‘‘(A) included in the annual report sub-23
341	341	mitted under subsection (b)(7); and 24
342	342	‘‘(B) submitted to— 25
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345	345	•HR 3239 IH
346	346	‘‘(i) the Committee on Small Business 1
347	347	and Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and 2
348	348	‘‘(ii) the Committee on Science, 3
349	349	Space, and Technology and the Committee 4
350	350	on Small Business of the House of Rep-5
351	351	resentatives.’’. 6
352	352	SEC. 8. PATENT ASSISTANCE. 7
353	353	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 8
354	354	as amended by sections 4, 6, and 7, is amended by adding 9
355	355	at the end the following: 10
356	356	‘‘(ddd) P
357	357	ATENTASSISTANCE.— 11
358	358	‘‘(1) D
359	359	EFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 12
360	360	‘‘(A) the term ‘Director’ means the Under 13
361	361	Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property 14
362	362	and Director of the USPTO; and 15
363	363	‘‘(B) the term ‘USPTO’ means the United 16
364	364	States Patent and Trademark Office. 17
365	365	‘‘(2) A
366	366	SSISTANCE.—The Administrator shall 18
367	367	enter into an interagency agreement with the Direc-19
368	368	tor under which the Director shall assist recipients 20
369	369	of an award under the SBIR or STTR program (in 21
370	370	this paragraph referred to as ‘SBIR and STTR re-22
371	371	cipients’) relating to intellectual property protection 23
372	372	by establishing a prioritized patent examination pro-24
373	373	gram for SBIR and STTR recipients. 25
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376	376	•HR 3239 IH
377	377	‘‘(3) OUTREACH.—The Administrator shall co-1
378	378	ordinate with the Director to provide outreach re-2
379	379	garding the Pro Se Assistance Program of, and 3
380	380	scam prevention services provided by, the USPTO.’’. 4
381	381	Æ
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