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Senate Passes SBIR Reauthorization; FAST Intact
Wednesday evening, the bill to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program until the end of FY 2008 passed the full Senate by unanimous consent. The Senate version of H.R. 2392 varies greatly from the original bill passed by the House of Representatives last fall; however, months of negotiations between the House and Senate have reconciled the differences with the intent of expediting House passage of the modified bill before the SBIR program sunsets September 30, 2000.
Much of the bill approved by the Senate is as SSTI reported in March (see the 3/17/00 SSTI Weekly Digest for details), including the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) Program, a five-year, $10 million per year initiative to support state assistance for small technology businesses. In addition, components of the House version of H.R. 2392, such as a National Research Council study and closed database of award applicants, have been reinstated from earlier Senate drafts. The full text of H.R. 2392 can be viewed at: http://thomas.loc.gov/
FAST program proponents now turn their attention to securing funds for the new program through the Small Business Administration appropriations bill.