Small Business Innovation Voucher Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1739 To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish an Innovation Voucher Grant Program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2023 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 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 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1739 IS (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi- 2 ness Administration. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 4 ty’’ means— 5 (A) an institution of higher education, as 6 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 7 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); or 8 (B) a nonprofit research lab, institution, or 9 other similar organization in the United States 10 associated with educational or research activi- 11 ties, including a federally funded research and 12 development center. 13 (3) HUBZONE.—The term ‘‘HUBZone’’ has the 14 meaning given the term in section 31(b) of the 15 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a(b)). 16 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 17 the Innovation Voucher Grant Program established 18 under section 3. 19 (5) RESERVIST.—The term ‘‘Reservist’’ means 20 a member of a reserve component of the Armed 21 Forces named in section 10101 of title 10, United 22 States Code. 23 (6) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 24 means any county that the Bureau of the Census 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1739 IS has defined as mostly rural or completely rural in 1 the most recent decennial census. 2 (7) SERVICE-CONNECTED.—The term ‘‘service- 3 connected’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 4 tion 101 of title 38, United States Code. 5 (8) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN; SMALL BUSI- 6 NESS CONCERN OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VET- 7 ERANS; SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND 8 CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.—The terms ‘‘small busi- 9 ness concern’’, ‘‘small business concern owned and 10 controlled by veterans’’, and ‘‘small business concern 11 owned and controlled by women’’ have the meanings 12 given those terms in section 3 of the Small Business 13 Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 14 (9) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN IN AN UNDER- 15 SERVED MARKET.—The term ‘‘small business con- 16 cern in an underserved market’’ means a small busi- 17 ness concern— 18 (A) that is located in— 19 (i) a low- to moderate-income commu- 20 nity; 21 (ii) a HUBZone; 22 (iii) a community that has been des- 23 ignated as an empowerment zone or an en- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1739 IS terprise community under section 1391 of 1 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 2 (iv) a community that has been des- 3 ignated as a Promise Zone by the Sec- 4 retary of Housing and Urban Develop- 5 ment; 6 (v) a community that has been des- 7 ignated as a qualified opportunity zone 8 under section 1400Z–1 of the Internal 9 Revenue Code of 1986; or 10 (vi) a rural area; 11 (B) for which more than 50 percent of the 12 employees reside in a low- to moderate-income 13 community; 14 (C) that has been in existence for not more 15 than 2 years; 16 (D) owned and controlled by socially and 17 economically disadvantaged individuals, includ- 18 ing minorities; 19 (E) owned and controlled by women; 20 (F) owned and controlled by veterans; 21 (G) owned and controlled by service-dis- 22 abled veterans; or 23 (H) not less than 51 percent owned and 24 controlled by 1 or more— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1739 IS (i) members of the Armed Forces par- 1 ticipating in the Transition Assistance Pro- 2 gram of the Department of Defense; 3 (ii) Reservists; 4 (iii) spouses of veterans, members of 5 the Armed Forces, or Reservists; or 6 (iv) surviving spouses of veterans who 7 died on active duty or as a result of a serv- 8 ice-connected disability. 9 (10) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND 10 CONTROLLED BY SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DIS- 11 ADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘‘small busi- 12 ness concern owned and controlled by socially and 13 economically disadvantaged individuals’’ has the 14 meaning given the term in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the 15 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)). 16 SEC. 3. INNOVATION VOUCHER GRANT PROGRAM. 17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 19 establish a program to be known as the ‘‘Innovation 20 Voucher Grant Program’’ under which the Administrator 21 shall, on a competitive basis and in accordance with sub- 22 section (g), award grants to small business concerns for 23 the Federal share of the cost of purchasing from eligible 24 entities technical assistance and services necessary to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1739 IS carry out projects to advance research, development, or 1 commercialization of new or innovative products and serv- 2 ices. 3 (b) PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.—The purposes of the 4 Program are— 5 (1) to foster collaboration between small busi- 6 ness concerns and research institutions or other 7 similar organizations; 8 (2) to facilitate access by small business con- 9 cerns to capital-intensive infrastructure and ad- 10 vanced research capabilities; 11 (3) to enable small business concerns to access 12 technical expertise and capabilities that will lead to 13 the development of innovative products; 14 (4) to promote business dynamism and competi- 15 tion; 16 (5) to stimulate United States leadership in ad- 17 vanced research, innovation, and technology; 18 (6) to accelerate the development of an ad- 19 vanced workforce; and 20 (7) to preserve and create new jobs. 21 (c) APPLICATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A small business concern de- 23 siring a grant under the Program shall submit to 24 the Administrator an application with the eligible 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1739 IS entity from which the small business concern will 1 purchase technical assistance and services using 2 funds awarded under the grant. 3 (2) SELECTION.—Not later than 180 days after 4 the deadline established by the Administrator to sub- 5 mit applications under paragraph (1), the Adminis- 6 trator shall select the recipients of the grants under 7 the Program. 8 (d) EVALUATION.—In evaluating an application for 9 a grant under the Program, the Administrator shall take 10 into consideration— 11 (1) the likelihood that funds awarded under the 12 grant will be used to create or advance a novel prod- 13 uct or service; 14 (2) the feasibility of creating or advancing a 15 novel product or service proposed to be created or 16 advanced using funds awarded under the grant; and 17 (3) whether creating or advancing a product or 18 service proposed to be created or advanced using 19 funds awarded under the grant could be accom- 20 plished without a grant awarded under the Program. 21 (e) AMOUNT.—A grant made under the Program 22 shall be made in an amount of not less than $15,000 and 23 not more than $75,000, which shall remain available to 24 the grantee until expended. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1739 IS (f) AMOUNTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except to the extent that 2 the Administrator determines otherwise, not less 3 than 40 percent of the amounts made available for 4 the Program in a fiscal year shall be set aside and 5 expended through— 6 (A) small business concerns in an under- 7 served market; or 8 (B) small business concerns in a region or 9 State that has historically been underserved by 10 Federal research and development funds. 11 (2) REMAINING AMOUNT.—Any amount that is 12 set aside under paragraph (1) in a fiscal year that 13 is not expended by the end of the fiscal year shall 14 be— 15 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 16 (B), available in the following fiscal year to 17 make grants to small business concerns de- 18 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para- 19 graph (1); and 20 (B) on and after October 1, 2026, avail- 21 able to make grants to all small business con- 22 cerns under the Program. 23 (g) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 24 of purchasing technical assistance and services described 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1739 IS in subsection (a) using funds awarded under a grant made 1 under the Program shall be— 2 (1) not more than 75 percent, if the amount of 3 the grant is less than $50,000; and 4 (2) not more than 50 percent, if the amount of 5 the grant is not less than $50,000. 6 (h) REPORTS.— 7 (1) REPORTS FROM GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Not 8 later than 180 days after the date on which a 9 project carried out under a grant awarded under the 10 Program is completed, the recipient of the grant 11 shall submit to the Administrator a report on the 12 project, including— 13 (A) whether and how the project met the 14 original expectations for the project; 15 (B) how the results of the project were in- 16 corporated in the business of the grant recipi- 17 ent; and 18 (C) whether and how the project improved 19 innovation practices of the grant recipient. 20 (2) REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Not 21 later than 2 years after the date on which the Ad- 22 ministrator establishes the Program, and every 2 23 years thereafter until the date on which the amounts 24 appropriated for the Program are expended, the Ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1739 IS ministrator shall submit to the Committee on Small 1 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and 2 the Committee on Small Business of the House of 3 Representatives a report on grants awarded under 4 the Program, including— 5 (A) a description of the grants awarded; 6 (B) the estimated number of products or 7 services created or advanced under grants 8 awarded under the Program that could have 9 been created or advanced without grants award- 10 ed under the Program; and 11 (C) a description of the impact of the Pro- 12 gram on knowledge transfer and commercializa- 13 tion. 14 (3) FINAL REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.— 15 Not later than 180 days after the date on which 16 amounts appropriated for the Program are ex- 17 pended, the Administrator shall submit to the com- 18 mittees described in paragraph (2) a final report 19 containing the information described in subpara- 20 graphs (A), (B), and (C) of that paragraph. 21 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 23 priated to the Administrator to carry out the Program 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1739 IS $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027, 1 to remain available until expended. 2 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 5 per- 3 cent of amounts appropriated under subsection (a) may 4 be used for administrative costs. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jun 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1739.IS S1739 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB