Small Biz Bill Budget Boost May Be Revived
Before passing 368-43 a bill to reauthorize a pair of federal small business assistance programs, the House Wednesday removed provisions that would have diverted $650 million per year from the research budgets of the Defense and Energy departments, National Institutes of Health and other agencies, according to CongressDaily's AM edition.
The change, accomplished by Small Business Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez’ acceptance of an amendment from Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., to strike those increases from the bill, addressed White House objections to taking funds from other departments. A Statement of Administration Policy said the administration strongly opposed the bill, which it said goes too far in relaxing constraints on venture capital ownership of firms receiving SBIR and STTR monies.
The adoption of Ehlers' amendment happened quickly and without much fanfare, which made me wonder why supporters of the funding boost seemed to roll over so quickly. An aide for a lawmaker who supported the bill indicated that members wanted to pick their battles and pass a meaningful measure by a large margin during National Small Business Week. Some are holding out hope that language could be reinserted in a Senate version, which has not been introduced.
"The bill that goes through the House isn’t our last chance to get something through," the aide said. "There could be opportunities down the road to resolve that." The reauthorization has a two-year timeline so champions of the SBIR/STTR budget boost could revisit the issue a couple of years from now -- under a new administration, the aide said.
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