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STTR Reauthorization Introduced
Calling for the program to more than triple in size by 2007, Senator John F Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and several other Senators introduced legislation last week to reauthorize and expand the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR). STTR currently requires five federal agencies -- the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the departments of Defense, Health & Human Services, and Energy -- to award 0.15 percent of their extramural R&D budgets to research partnerships between small businesses and research institutions. If passed, the new bill would gradually increase the set-aside requirement to 0.5 percent by fiscal year 2007.
S. 856 also calls for reauthorizing STTR through fiscal year 2010 and increasing the size of Phase II awards from $500,000 to $750,000, the same level as awards in the much larger Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
After its introduction, S. 856 was referred to the Senate Small Business Committee for consideration.
Joining Senator Kerry as original sponsors of the bill were senators Kit Bond (R-MO), Max Cleland (D-GA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Robert F. Bennett (R-UT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Michael Enzi (R-WY) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). All but Senator Bingaman are members of the Senate Small Business Committee.
The text of the bill can be found online at: http://thomas.loc.gov