On Tuesday, March 3, 2026, the Senate Unanimously Passed the Senate Bill 3971, the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act, that would extend the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs through Sept. 30, 2031. The measure now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives for final approval.
The legislation includes a number of updates including:
- Strengthening due diligence standards and closing loopholes to ensure awardees safeguard tech against Chinese espionage
- Holding recipients accountable to producing cutting-edge technologies and capabilities for the warfighter
- Requiring for the first time all SBIR offices to place an annual limit on applications to prioritize truly small businesses over large, entrenched companies that know how to game the system
- Establishing the first-of-its-kind Strategic Breakthrough awards to enable agencies to scale the most promising technologies while ensuring businesses have skin in the game by requiring matching dollars and buy-in from the agency
- Creating transparency of the use of tax dollars by improving data collection and reporting