Dear SBIR Gateway Insider,

Just a quick "Good News" SBIR progress report for you.

Senate Passed S.1233 - SBIR/STTR REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009!

Monday afternoon, July 13, 2009 the Senate put the finishing touches on their SBIR reauthorization bill, S.1233 and passed it via unanimous consent.

There were a couple of amendments included. In a nutshell, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) issued an amendment that basically prohibits earmarking of SBIR award funds, and that SBIR funds must be competitive and merit based. His changes also include better metrics, and an 8 year reauthorization period, as has been customary for SBIR reauthorizations.

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) also had an amendment passed that reads: .."SBIR program or STTR program shall encourage the submission of applications for support of projects relating to security, energy, transportation, or improving the security and quality of the water supply of the United States to such program.��.

The next step will be a conference of House and Senate "conferees" that will attempt to hammer the two bills into one cohesive bill (lots of work and compromising to be done). Then, if they come to agreement, the final bill gets sent to the President for his signature.

If the two bodies cannot agree, we could be looking at another continuing resolution (CR).

One good thing to come out of all the SBIR controversy, is that the program is now well known on the hill, and has a reputation for being a good program. There is great motivation to "GET IT DONE" (the keystone of David Metzger's presentation at the Navy Opportunity Forum).

We will follow up with a close look at both bills with some insider views on workable compromise.

Sincerely,

Rick

Rick Shindell
SBIR Gateway
Zyn Systems
40 Alderwood Dr.
Sequim, WA 98382
360-681-4123
[email protected]
www.zyn.com/sbir

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