S.Amdt. 767

SA 767. Ms. BALDWIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle H of title X, add the following:

SEC. __. SBIR AND STTR PILOT PROGRAM FOR UNDERPERFORMING
STATES.

Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(vv) Department of Defense Pilot Program for
Underperforming States.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this section:
``(A) Department.--The term `Department' means the
Department of Defense.
``(B) Underperforming state.--The term `underperforming
State' means any State participating in the SBIR or STTR
program that is in the bottom 68 percent of all States
historically receiving SBIR or STTR program funding.
``(2) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense shall
establish a pilot program to provide small business concerns
located in underperforming States an increased level of
assistance under the SBIR and STTR programs of the
Department.
``(3) Activities.--Under the pilot program, the Department,
and any component agency thereof, may--
``(A) in any case in which the Department seeks to make a
Phase II SBIR or STTR award to a small business concern
located in an underperforming State based on the results of a
Phase I award made to the small business concern by another
agency, establish a streamlined transfer and fast track
approval process for that Phase II award;
``(B) provide not more than 4 Phase II SBIR or STTR awards
to a small business concern located in an underperforming
State that received a single Phase I SBIR or STTR award;
``(C) allocate additional amounts to make awards under the
SBIR and STTR programs of the Department to small business
concerns located in underperforming States; and
``(D) establish a program to make Phase 1.5 SBIR or STTR
awards to small business concerns located in underperforming
States in order to provide funding for 12 to 24 months to
continue the development of technology; and
``(E) carry out subparagraph (D) along with other
mentorship programs, including the Regional SBIR State
Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program.
``(4) Duration.--The pilot program established under this
subsection shall terminate 5 years after the date on which
the pilot program is established.
``(5) Report.--The Department shall submit to Congress an
annual report on the status of the pilot program established
under this subsection, including the improvement in funding
under the SBIR and STTR programs of the Department provided
to small business concerns located in underperforming
States.''.
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