Summary#
This bill changes how SBIR and STTR programs operate. It adds a new small Phase 1A award for first-time applicants, sets new funding and eligibility limits, and creates a "strategic breakthrough" Phase II option at the Department of Defense with larger awards. The bill requires more data reporting, tighter due diligence and reporting on foreign ties, and sets default firm-fixed-price contracts for SBIR and STTR awards. It also adjusts program funding shares and extends program authorization through 2028.
What it means for you#
- Small businesses: First-time applicants can get a Phase 1A award (up to $40,000) and then apply for Phase I or Phase II. Firms that already received large amounts from SBIR/STTR face new eligibility limits. The bill limits how many proposals a single firm can send to a solicitation and across a year.
- Defense-focused firms: The Department of Defense can use a new strategic breakthrough allocation to give larger Phase II awards (up to $30 million) to firms that meet readiness and matching-funds requirements and that have prior Phase II awards.
- Award managers and agencies: Agencies must collect new data fields, follow new fixed-price default rules, perform stronger due diligence on foreign relationships, and report on implementation to oversight committees.
- Investors and contractors: The bill asks for best practices about investor informational rights and changes how Phase III contract tracking is reported.
Expenses#
- The bill sets program funding floors and allocations but does not include a total cost estimate. Specific funding details in the bill include:
- SBIR set at not less than 3.45% of certain agency extramural budgets for fiscal year 2026 and thereafter.
- STTR set at not less than 0.20% for fiscal year 2026 and thereafter.
- Department of Defense strategic breakthrough allocation: not less than 0.25% of the DoD extramural research or R&D budget for fiscal year 2026 and thereafter.
- Agencies must allocate not less than 2.5% of their SBIR funding to Phase 1A awards.
- Phase 1A award maximum: $40,000.
- Strategic breakthrough Phase II award maximum: $30,000,000 with up to 48 months performance.
- No publicly available information on the total federal cost to implement the Act.
Proponents' View#
- The bill includes a "sense of Congress" that Phase 1A will bring many new small businesses into the SBIR program and widen access regardless of location or investigator background. It directs agencies to increase the number of Phase II awards that lead to transition into programs of record. It emphasizes stronger research security, due diligence on foreign ties, and tools to help transition technologies into acquisition and manufacturing.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.