Today, U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), Chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee (SBC), announced that the Committee favorably reported six bills, including Vitter and SBC Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-N.H.) legislation to reauthorize the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Since January 2015, Chairman Vitter has successfully passed 30 legislative items out of the Committee.

“In passing these six bills through the Small Business Committee, we took a major step forward to make sure Louisiana small businesses have the resources they need to innovate and grow,” said Vitter. “Reauthorizing the very successful SBIR and STTR programs will continue to help Louisiana’s growing technology industry and make it easier for entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and create more jobs.”

The Vitter-Shaheen SBIR and STTR Reauthorization and Improvement Act 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.

In today’s markup, the Committee also unanimously passed the Small Business Transforming America’s Regions Act, which Vitter introduced to provide more certainty to businesses who relocate in order to take advantage of the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program.

The Committee also passed Senator Joni Ernst’s bill, the Prove It Act, which would give the SBA authority to request a formal review of any proposed rule that its sponsoring agency claims will not have a significant economic impact on small businesses, as was the case when the Environmental Protection Agency certified that the Waters of the United States rule would not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small businesses.

Today, the SBC Committee favorably reported the following bills:

  • S. 2812, SBIR and STTR Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2016
  • S. 2831, A bill to amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to provide priority for applicants for a license to operate as a small business investment company that are located in a disaster area
  • S. 2838, Small Business Transforming America’s Regions Act of 2016
  • S. 2846, Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2016
  • S. 2850, Microloan Program Modernization Act of 2016
  • S. 2847, Prove It Act of 2016

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