H.R. 5001 — SBIR/STTR Oversight Act

This section modifies annual reporting requirements for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs—federal initiatives that reserve a portion of agencies' R&D budgets for competitive awards to small businesses—by (1) adding the House Committee on Small Business and Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship as recipients of SBIR agency reports under subsection (g)(9) and STTR agency reports under subsection (o)(10); (2) requiring agencies to publish those reports on their websites as soon as practicable; and (3) directing agencies under subsection (gg)(6) to submit specified reports to Congress.

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the House Committee on Small Business, not later than three years after the date of enactment, a report assessing the effectiveness of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs (i.e., federal R&D grant programs for small businesses) with respect to diversification of participants and commercialization. The report must include, to the extent practicable, assessments of (1) demographics of small business concerns receiving SBIR or STTR awards, including new entrants (i.e., those without prior awards) and underrepresented groups (i.e., firms in low-award states, women-owned, or owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals); (2) participating agencies' efforts to broaden representation of new entrants and underrepresented groups; (3) agencies' development of solicitation topics and attraction of applicants; (4) agencies' efforts to support technology commercialization; (5) alignment of awards with agencies' research priorities and technology needs; and (6) other matters determined appropriate by the Comptroller General in consultation with the committees.

This section extends from 3 years to 11 years the period for which the annual report to Congress on the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs must provide data on each participating federal agency's award timeliness. It further requires that report to include, for each such agency, the average and median amount of time to review proposals and make final award decisions.

This section establishes a pilot program within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs—federal initiatives that provide R&D funding to small businesses—to reduce award times, with implementation required not later than one year after enactment. Under the program, NIH must develop simplified and standardized award procedures across relevant offices to shorten the period between award notice and funding release to approximately 90 days and may use flexible peer review procedures (deemed to satisfy specified Public Health Service Act requirements) to assess scientific merit and commercialization potential. The pilot terminates on September 30, 2030, and NIH must submit an evaluation report to the House Committees on Small Business and Science, Space, and Technology and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship not later than three years after enactment, analyzing peer review procedures and effects on award times.