1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “FAST Fix Act of 2019”.
FAST Fix Act of 2019
A BILL
To modify the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
2. Federal and State Technology Partnership Program
Section 34 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657d) is amended—
in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
“(11) Underperforming State—The term underperforming State means a State participating in the SBIR or STTR program that has been calculated by the Administrator to be one of 18 States receiving the fewest SBIR and STTR Phase I awards.”
in subsection (c)—
in paragraph (1)—
in subparagraph (E)—
in clause (iii), by striking “and” at the end;
in clause (iv), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(v) to prioritize applicants located in an underperforming State;”
in paragraph (2)—
in subparagraph (B)(vi), by amending subclause (III) to read as follows:
“(III) located in an underperforming State;”
in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(D) shall give first priority and special consideration to an applicant that is located in an underperforming State.”
in paragraph (3), by striking “Not more than one proposal” and inserting “There is no limit on the number of proposals that”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(6) Additional assistance for underperforming States—Upon application by a recipient that is located in an underperforming State, the Administrator may—
“(A) provide additional assistance to the recipient; and
“(B) waive the matching requirements under subsection (e)(2).”
in subsection (e)—
in paragraph (2)—
in subparagraph (A)—
by inserting “and STTR” before “first phase” each place that term appears;
in clause (i), by striking “50” and inserting “25”; and
in clause (iii), by striking “75” and inserting “50”; and
in subparagraph (D), by striking “, beginning with fiscal year 2001” and inserting “and make publicly available on the website of the Administration, beginning with fiscal year 2020”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(4) Amount of award—In carrying out the FAST program under this section, the Administrator shall—
“(A) make and enter into not less than 12 awards or cooperative agreements;
“(B) each award or cooperative agreement shall be for not more than $500,000, which shall be provided over 2 fiscal years; and
“(C) any amounts left unused in the third quarter of the second fiscal year may be retained by the Administrator for future FAST program awards.
“(5) Reporting—Not later than 6 months after receiving an award or entering into a cooperative agreement under this section, a recipient shall report to the Administrator—
“(A) the number of awards made under the SBIR or STTR program;
“(B) the number of applications submitted for the SBIR or STTR program;
“(C) the number of consulting hours spent;
“(D) the number of training events conducted; and
“(E) any issues encountered in the management and application of the FAST program.”
in subsection (f)—
in paragraph (1)—
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—
by striking “Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of the Small Business Innovation Research Program Reauthorization Act of 2000” and inserting “April 30, 2020”; and
by inserting “and Entrepreneurship” before “of the Senate”;
in subparagraph (B), by striking “and” at the end;
in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(D) a description of the process used to ensure that underperforming States are given priority application status under the FAST program.”
in paragraph (2)—
in the paragraph heading, by striking “Annual” and inserting “Biennial”;
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “annual” and inserting “biennial”;
in subparagraph (B), by striking “and” at the end;
in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(D) the proportion of awards provided to and cooperative agreements entered into with underperforming States; and
“(E) a list of the States that were determined by the Administrator to be underperforming States, and a description of any changes in the list compared to previously submitted reports.”
in subsection (g)(2)—
by striking “2004” and inserting “2020”; and
by inserting “and Entrepreneurship” before “of the Senate”; and
in subsection (h)(1), by striking “$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005” and inserting “$20,000,000 for every 2 fiscal years between fiscal years 2020 through 2024, to be obligated before the end of the second fiscal year”.