A letter from Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
Dear SBIR/STTR Advocates,
Yesterday, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it is re-opening the comment period for the Commercialization Benchmark for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs that closed on Monday, September 9th. The comment period will now be open through October 28, 2013. SBA also announced the effective date for the benchmark was moved from October 7, 2013 to November 15, 2013.
Thankfully, Acting SBA Administrator Hulit listened to the concerns of the small business community and the Members of Congress who re-authorized the SBIR and STTR programs. The extended comment period will give SBIR’s stakeholders more time to understand the proposed benchmark and give their input to ensure these programs work the way Congress intended.
Last week, I sent a letter to Acting SBA Administrator Jeanne Hulit asking SBA to re-open the comment period.
In that letter, I wrote:
“During the final negotiations of the comprehensive SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act (P.L. 112-81), Congress included a requirement of notice and comment so that the public would have a meaningful amount of time to analyze and comment on any system, standard or approval benchmarks proposed to evaluate the commercialization of SBIR and STTR firms before the benchmarks would go into effect. The Senate intended for the comment period to be at least 60 days. I appreciate that the Notice for the Commercialization Benchmark complies with the law, but would emphasize that 60 days is a minimum.”
I am proud to have successfully led the fight to include a six-year extension of both the SBIR and STTR programs in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, and I will continue to oversee the implementation of these re-authorized laws to ensure they work for small business.
Click here to see the SBA notification published in the Federal Register.
If you have any questions or feedback about this, please contact Kevin Wheeler at Kevin_Wheeler@sbc.senate.gov on my staff.
All the best
Senator Mary Landireu