Small Business Innovation Voucher Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5348 To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish an Innovation Voucher Grant Program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 6, 2019 Mr. CROW (for himself and Mr. BURCHETT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business A BILL To require the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis- tration to establish an Innovation Voucher Grant Pro- gram. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Inno- 4 vation Voucher Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi- 9 ness Administration. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5348.IH H5348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5348 IH (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means— 2 (A) an institution of higher education, as 3 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); or 5 (B) a nonprofit research lab, institution, or 6 other similar organization in the United States 7 associated with educational or research activi- 8 ties. 9 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 10 the Innovation Voucher Grant Program established 11 under section 3. 12 (4) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN; SMALL BUSI- 13 NESS CONCERN OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VET- 14 ERANS; SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND 15 CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.—The terms ‘‘small busi- 16 ness concern’’, ‘‘small business concern owned and 17 controlled by veterans’’, and ‘‘small business concern 18 owned and controlled by women’’ have the meanings 19 given those terms in section 3 of the Small Business 20 Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 21 (5) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND 22 CONTROLLED BY SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DIS- 23 ADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘‘small busi- 24 ness concern owned and controlled by socially and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5348.IH H5348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5348 IH economically disadvantaged individuals’’ has the 1 meaning given the term in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the 2 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)). 3 SEC. 3. INNOVATION VOUCHER GRANT PROGRAM. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 6 establish a program to be known as the ‘‘Innovation 7 Voucher Grant Program’’ under which the Administrator 8 shall, on a competitive basis and in accordance with sub- 9 section (f), award to small business concerns grants for 10 the Federal share of the cost of purchasing from eligible 11 entities technical assistance and services necessary to 12 carry out projects to advance research, development, or 13 commercialization of new or innovative products and serv- 14 ices. 15 (b) APPLICATION.—A small business concern desiring 16 a grant under the Program shall submit to the Adminis- 17 trator an application with the eligible entity from which 18 the small business concern will purchase technical assist- 19 ance and services using funds awarded under the grant. 20 (c) EVALUATION.—In evaluating an application for 21 a grant under the Program, the Administrator shall take 22 into consideration— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5348.IH H5348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5348 IH (1) the likelihood that funds awarded under the 1 grant will be used to create or advance a novel prod- 2 uct or service; 3 (2) the feasibility of creating or advancing a 4 novel product or service proposed to be created or 5 advanced using funds awarded under the grant; and 6 (3) whether creating or advancing a product or 7 service proposed to be created or advanced using 8 funds awarded under the grant could be accom- 9 plished without a grant awarded under the Program. 10 (d) PRIORITY.—In making grants under the Pro- 11 gram, the Administrator shall give priority to an applica- 12 tion submitted by— 13 (1) a small business concern owned and con- 14 trolled by socially and economically disadvantaged 15 individuals, including minorities; 16 (2) a small business concern owned and con- 17 trolled by women; 18 (3) a small business concern owned and con- 19 trolled by veterans; 20 (4) a small business concern that is located in 21 a rural area; or 22 (5) a small business concern located in a region 23 or State that has historically been underserved by 24 Federal research and development funds. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5348.IH H5348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5348 IH (e) AMOUNT.—A grant made under the Program 1 shall be made in an amount of not less than $25,000 and 2 not more than $100,000. 3 (f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 4 of purchasing technical assistance and services described 5 in subsection (a) using funds awarded under a grant made 6 under the Program shall be not more than 75 percent. 7 (g) REPORTS.— 8 (1) REPORTS FROM GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Not 9 later than 180 days after the date on which a 10 project carried out under a grant awarded under the 11 Program is completed, the recipient of the grant 12 shall submit to the Administrator a report on the 13 project, including— 14 (A) whether and how the project met the 15 original expectations for the project; 16 (B) how the results of the project were in- 17 corporated in the business of the grant recipi- 18 ent; and 19 (C) whether and how the project improved 20 innovation practices of the grant recipient. 21 (2) REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Not 22 later than 3 years after the date on which the Ad- 23 ministrator establishes the Program, and every 2 24 years thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5348.IH H5348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5348 IH the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre- 1 neurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 2 Business of the House of Representatives a report 3 on grants awarded under the Program, including— 4 (A) a description of the grants awarded; 5 (B) the estimated number of products or 6 services created or advanced under grants 7 awarded under the Program that could have 8 been created or advanced without grants award- 9 ed under the Program; and 10 (C) a description of the impact of the Pro- 11 gram on knowledge transfer and commercializa- 12 tion. 13 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 14 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin- 15 istrator to carry out the Program $10,000,000 for each 16 of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, to remain available 17 until expended. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5348.IH H5348 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS