Congress Passes Small Business Seed Fund Programs Bill
Nearly $6 billion in funding for small businesses may soon be unfrozen (Fedscoop.com and PYMNTS.com).
What’s going on: By a wide bipartisan margin, the House last week “passed the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act, which would reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs through September 2031,” PYMNTS.com reports.
- Funding for the bills has been frozen since the end of September 2025, when authorization lapsed.
- That month, a bipartisan group of four lawmakers—House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams (R-TX), Ranking Member Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Reps. Brian Babin (R-TX) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)—led an effort to extend the authorization temporarily, but it failed.
About the programs: SBIR was started in 1982 to boost innovation by small businesses, and STTR was created to facilitate partnerships between small businesses and nonprofits, “with an eye on expedited lab-to-market innovations,” according to Fedscoop.
What’s in it: This legislation would introduce a novel funding category, “Strategic Breakthrough Awards,” each worth up to $30 million and designed to help companies move from proving their products work to manufacturing those products.
Our take: “The SBIR and STTR programs are important vehicles for small manufacturers to get the capital they need to bring important innovations to market,” said NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Charles Crain.
- “The NAM strongly supports SBIR and STTR, and manufacturers appreciate Congress reauthorizing these vital programs so the U.S. can continue to dominate in cutting-edge technology and products.”