Negotiations Continue on SBIR/STTR Programs

Mike Waring
AUTM Advocacy and Alliances Coordinator

February 4, 2026

As I write this column, we continue to await action in the United States Senate on legislation to extend the authorization for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. An authorization is the legislation that Congress must approve to set the organizing framework for any program, and is a separate issue from how much money is actually appropriated to fund the activity.
 
The SBIR program and its sister version, the STTR program, are designed to provide early-stage research and technology development support for small businesses. SBIR funds small businesses directly to develop new technologies. Meanwhile, STTR requires a formal partnership between a small business and a nonprofit institution.
 
A typical SBIR project involves funding high-risk, high-reward research and development. One example is a startup with a novel technology that needs early-stage funding to prove its feasibility or to build a prototype. STTR grants encourage technology commercialization by requiring collaboration between a business and a nonprofit research university, research institution or federal lab. In this case, the institution must perform at least 30% of the work and the business must perform at least 40%.
 
The two programs were authorized by Congress through September 30 of last year. However, due to disagreements in the Senate about how to move forward, the authorization was not extended. The House did pass a one-year clean extension of the program to allow time for more negotiations, but the Senate has yet to reciprocate. As a result, the programs are on hold and no activity can be taken until Congress acts. Negotiations continue at this time between Senate Small Business Committee Chair Joni Ernst (R-IA) and ranking member Ed Markey (D-MA) over how best to continue the program.  
 
AUTM has been working with the Association of American Universities (AAU) and Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) in urging the Senate to resolve this issue soon, so that SBIR and STTR projects can continue to move forward. AUTM supports these programs as having a positive effect on moving technology from the lab to the marketplace. All three higher education organizations also agree the current set-aside for funding these two programs at the various research agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundatoin should remain capped at 7.5% of their total research budgets.
 
In its role as overseer of federal spending, Congress has been working to ensure important research funding in the FY ’26 appropriations. Having a positive outcome for the SBIR/STTR re-authorization would also be a sign of support for these programs that help move American innovation forward.