Description:
H.R. 4783 would reauthorize appropriations through 2022 for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Those programs help small businesses compete for research and development contracts. The bill also would authorize agencies to use a portion of the amounts available to them for research and development on the administrative costs of the SBIR and STTR programs. In addition, H.R. 4783 would direct each federal agency participating in the SBIR program to use a certain percentage of the amount set aside for small businesses on awards to certain participants in the program to move them towards commercialization and would direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to produce an assessment of the results of that program.
Based on information about the operation of the STTR and SBIR programs from the Small Business Association (SBA) and other participating agencies, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 4783 would cost $38 million over the 2017-2021 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to this legislation because enacting it would not affect direct spending or revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4783 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
H.R. 4783 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
