U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), Chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee (SBC), announced positive progress in the ongoing negotiations for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017 to include his legislation to reauthorize the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The two programs ensure that small businesses are able to compete for research contracts from various federal agencies, including the Department of Defense.

“We are getting quite close to including my bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the SBIR and STTR programs in the NDAA,” said Vitter. “Reauthorizing these two impactful SBA programs will help small businesses avoid unnecessary unpredictability for dynamic competitions for federal research and development contracts. I’m grateful to my colleagues, including Senator McCain, for agreeing to work to ensure the NDAA includes language to provide much-needed long-term certainty for our nation’s small business job creators.”

Vitter and SBC Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) introduced the SBIR and STTR Reauthorization and Improvement Act in April 2016, and passed the bill out of Committee on May 11, 2016. Vitter’s bipartisan legislation would permanently reauthorize and strengthen the SBIR and STTR programs, which have helped to create thousands of new jobs by fostering innovation and stimulating the economy through public-private partnerships. Vitter chaired a full committee hearing in January 2016 on the importance of reauthorizing the SBIR and STTR programs. Click here to read more.

Vitter’s bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the SBIR and STTR programs is supported by the following organizations:

  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • Small Business Technology Council
  • Smaller Business Association on New England
  • Small Business California
  • National Small Business Association (NSBA)
  • New England Council
  • Creare of New Hampshire
  • Louisiana Technology Transfer Office
  • National Venture Capital Association
  • Precision Combustion, Inc. of Connecticut
  • Beacon Interactive Systems of Massachusetts
  • SA Photonics, Inc. of Massachusetts
  • Physical Optics Corp. of California
  • Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) of Massachusetts
  • Louisiana Department of Economic Development
  • BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting
  • University of North Dakota Center for Innovation
  • NY Small Business Development Center
  • Utah SBIR-STTR Assistance Program
  • Consultants at Christie Bell of Montana
  • Ohio Aerospace Institute
  • University of Southern Mississippi
  • Idaho Small Business Development Center
  • Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)
  • Minnesota SBIR
  • Dawnbreaker
  • Maine Technology Institute
  • South Dakota SBIR
  • High Tech Development Corp
  • Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation
  • America’s SBDC
  • Defense Alliance
  • TechLink of Montana
  • NY’s Binghamton University SBDC
  • New Orleans BioInnovation Center
  • Micro-Precision Technologies of New Hampshire
  • Triton Systems Inc.
  • Frontier Technology, Inc.
  • Powdermet Inc.
  • Frayne Consultants
  • Calabazas Creek Research, Inc.
  • Marti Elder Inc.
  • Texas Research Institute Austin, Inc.
  • Innovative Technology Applications Co.
  • Real-Time Analyzers, Inc.
  • Solid State Scientific Corporation
  • International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE)

-30-