Small Business Innovation Research

Overview
In 1982, the Small Business Innovation Development Act (Pub. L. No. 97-219) established Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs within the major federal research and development (R&D) agencies designed to increase participation of small innovative companies in federally funded R&D. Government agencies with R&D budgets of $100 million or more are required to set aside a portion of these funds to finance the SBIR activity. Through FY2009, over 112,500 awards have been made totaling more than $26.9 billion.

Reauthorized several times over the years, the SBIR program was scheduled to terminate on September 30, 2008. To date, the program has not been specifically reauthorized, but instead temporarily extended by several bills, including Pub. L. No. 110-235, which extended the activity through March 20, 2009. Pub. L. No. 111-10 provided an additional extension through July 31, 2009; Pub. L. No. 111-43 through September 30, 2009; and Pub. L. No. 111-66 through October 31, 2009. Pub. L. No. 111-89 once again extended the program through April 30, 2010; Pub. L. No. 111-214 through September 30, 2010; and Pub. L. No. 111-251 through January 31, 2011. Pub. L. No. 112-1 provides an additional extension through May 31, 2011.

Several bills have been introduced in the 112th Congress that would reauthorize and make changes to the SBIR program (and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program) including H.R. 447, H.R. 448 (introduced January 26, 2011), H.R. 449, S. 493 (reported March 9, 2011, from the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship), and H.R. 1425 (introduced April 7, 2011).