Congress·In Committee·H.R. 3169

SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2025

Congress Proposes Doubling Research Grants for Small Businesses to Boost Innovation and Security

May 1, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Part of: Congress Proposes Extending and Reforming SBIR/STTR Programs Through 2030

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

StalledNext up: A house committeeNo action in 14 months

This bill is currently sitting in the House Committee on Small Business and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. It has not moved since April 2025, and no action has been taken on it for 14 months. The bill is considered stalled because the committees have not scheduled any votes or hearings.

Legislative Progress

House

No action since May 2025

Senate

President

Law

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 10407 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 10407 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill extends two major programs that give federal grants to small businesses for scientific research and high-tech development. It ensures these programs keep running through at least 2030, providing steady support for American startups working on new inventions.
The plan would gradually double the amount of money large federal agencies must set aside for small business research. By 2032, agencies like the Department of Defense and NASA would have to spend 7% of their research budgets on these small business grants, up from the current 3.2%.
To help the next generation of scientists, the bill creates new internship and fellowship opportunities. Small businesses that win these grants could hire students from college through the doctoral level, with a special focus on recruiting women and people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The bill adds new security rules to protect American technology. It would ban any small business from receiving these grants if they are mostly owned or controlled by certain foreign governments or entities, such as those from China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran.
Federal agencies would be required to do more outreach to minority-serving colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions. This is intended to help more diverse researchers partner with small businesses and win a larger share of the available grant money.
Small businesses would get more help turning their inventions into real products. The bill increases funding for business and cybersecurity advice and requires agencies to appoint a specific official to help guide companies through the process of selling their tech to the government or the public.

Economy FinanceTechnology DigitalNational Security Foreign Policy

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works

The bill's foreign ownership restrictions could affect small businesses with significant foreign investor involvement, which sometimes includes visa holders who have founded or co-founded tech startups. Companies majority-owned by entities connected to designated foreign countries of concern would be barred from SBIR awards. This could limit opportunities for some visa-holding entrepreneurs while also protecting the integrity of the program.

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

May 1, 2025House

Referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

May 1, 2025

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

4 articles

MeriTalk·May 1, 2025

Expiring SBIR/STTR Programs Get Lifelines From Congress

Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Nydia Velázquez introduced the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2025 to make the programs permanent and increase research funding. The bill would double agency set-asides to 7% for SBIR and 1% for STTR over seven years to provide long-term certainty for small innovators.

Center

Politico·Sep 9, 2025

House Small Business advances innovation and tech funding legislation

The House Small Business Committee unanimously advanced a one-year extension of the SBIR/STTR programs. However, Senate Small Business Chair Joni Ernst opposes the 'clean' extension, pushing instead for the INNOVATE Act to reform 'SBIR mills' and strengthen foreign influence safeguards.

Center Left

BioWorld·Sep 25, 2025

More US federal layoffs, future of SBIR on the table

Biotech and medtech startups face a 'valley of death' as Congress debates competing SBIR reauthorization bills. The Markey-Velázquez bill seeks to expand the program to 7% of R&D budgets, while the Ernst bill focuses on structural reforms and cutting STTR funding to prioritize first-time winners.

Center

No votes recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2025

Bill NumberHR 3169

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.