The SBIR program is a major source of funding for academics and industry scientists. Since it's launch in 1982, it has had many near-death experiences. The ranking Republican on the Senate's small business committee has been given this year by Senator Paul.
Paul, who thinks SBIR grants are often wasteful and possibly even a threat to national security, derailed what was expected to be a routine renewal of the $4 billion-a-year program by proposing numerous changes The Department of Defense, the largest provider of SBIR grants, is pushing for a compromise that would extend the program beyond its current expiration date.
In the second of two recent letters to leaders of the small business committees in the Senate and U.S., the DOD's undersecretary for research wrote that SBIR is a vital part of the Department of Defense's research and development enterprise. The Department is worried that there will be harm to the small business community and an adverse effect on national security if there is a delay. The DOD granted over 3000 SBIR awards in the year 2011.
Lobbyists for higher education are trying to get an extension. The Association of American Universities says that it is important for Congress to reauthorize SBIR because it is very important to university commercialization efforts.
The two sides seem to have come closer together after the appeals. "I will continue working in good faith with my colleagues to reach a bipartisan compromise that will reauthorize SBIR before it expires while protecting our national security and bringing more of the programs' technologies to market," said Senator Ben Cardin. On the same day, Paul's communications director told ScienceInsider that they had seen progress and were hopeful that a solution would be found.
SBIR programs are funded through a mandated allocation of research budgets. The Small Business Technology Transfer program gets an additional 0.45% of the research budgets of the five largest agencies.
Congress has reauthorized the programs several times but never made them permanent. Legislation providing annual guidance to the DOD was the reason for the most recent extension.
Paul opposed another extension last year. He asked "whether taxpayers should continue to fund the folly of funding companies without any expectation of a return on investment." A DOD report flagged a few cases in which U.S. based scientists funded by SBIR relocated to China.
SBIR advocates don't agree with the objections. Some two dozen studies of SBIR by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have found high rates of commercialization.
Advocates have argued against the requirements. In a letter dated 2 June, Shyu warned that they could place an "undue burden" on researchers.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is still fleshing out a governmentwide directive on research security that was issued in January of 2016 by President Donald Trump. Several agencies increased their monitoring of foreign collaborations as a result of the China Initiative that the Trump administration launched in the year 2000.
The ranking Republican on the House small business committee still believes safeguards are needed to fight malign foreign influences. The government isn't doing enough to prevent countries from stealing federal-funded research SBIR grantees would have to return their money if they are found to be a threat to national security.
Over the last few weeks, Paul's position has changed. He dropped his demand for a cap on awards after he wrote that the proposed caps would reduce competition and impede innovation.
Provisions that would set commercial benchmarks for grant recipients, such as requiring that they draw a majority of their revenues from sales, are now being focused on by Paul. Critics called the measure SBIRmills.
It isn't that simple, according to Shyu. She wrote last week thatBenchmarks that go too far could affect the department's ability to meet war fighter needs. She said that a 2-year pilot should be used to understand the full consequences and impact on small businesses.
SBIR advocates are hoping that Congress will find a way to keep the program going even if it can't pass a stand-alone extension. An extension to the annual defense authorization bill is a sure bet to be passed.
The White House signaled its support for the House's SBIR extension before the vote. It is not clear if the Senate can reconcile any differences with the House before the end of the month.
The spending bill for the fiscal year that starts on October 1st is a potential vehicle. Congress is expected to pass an interim measure that will freeze spending until after the elections. There is a short-term fix called a continuing resolution.
If Congress doesn't reauthorize the SBIR program by 30 September, what will happen? The Navy component of the program dropped out of a current solicitation last month because the DOD wouldn't make any new awards after that date.
Even if there is no legislative requirement, the National Institute of Health will continue to solicit and fund SBIR andSTTR proposals. Some observers think that the agency might choose to operate SBIR-like programs with existing funds. In honor of the SBIR program's 40th birthday, the National Science Foundation sent out an email extolling its pilot project that launched the program.
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