Sponsor
Kelly Morrison
Representative · D-MN
Representative · D-MN
The bill extends and strengthens federal outreach and technical assistance to help more small businesses and minority‑serving institutions compete for SBIR/STTR awards and commercialize technology, at the cost of additional federal/administrative expense and risks of uneven rollout and fairness concerns.
Small businesses nationwide keep access to FAST technical assistance and SBA support for SBIR/STTR application help and technology commercialization through Sept 30, 2030, increasing their chances to secure federal R&D awards and commercialize innovations.
Researchers and students at minority-serving and Hispanic‑serving institutions will receive enhanced outreach and assistance, likely increasing their participation in federal R&D funding and improving access to research resources.
Broader, required outreach and alignment of agency STTR procedures with SBIR diversity goals should diversify the applicant pool, strengthen university–small business research partnerships, and promote innovation across more regions and institutions.
Extending the program authorization could require continued federal appropriations, increasing costs to taxpayers if funding follows authorization.
Implementing enhanced outreach and assistance will impose additional administrative costs and workload on the SBA and other agencies, potentially diverting resources from other programs or requiring new staff/funding.
Assistance could remain uneven across states and institutions — and the short 90‑day timeline for policy revisions may cause rushed, inconsistent guidance — leaving some small businesses or regions still underserved.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Extends the FAST Program to 2030 and requires SBIR/STTR policy to include application-assistance and enhanced outreach to underrepresented States and minority- and Hispanic-serving institutions.
Official title: To require the Small Business Administration to provide assistance with apply to SBIR and STTR programs to certain small business concerns, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 17, 2025 by Kelly Morrison · Last progress July 17, 2025
Extends authorization for the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) Program through September 30, 2030, and directs the Small Business Administration (SBA) to require agencies running SBIR and STTR programs to provide application-assistance and targeted outreach. The bill requires the SBA to revise policy directives within 90 days to strengthen outreach to increase participation from States with historically low SBIR/STTR awards and to expand outreach to minority-serving and Hispanic‑serving institutions and researchers.