House, Senate At Odds on Research Funding House and Senate supporters of the Small Business Innovation Research Program have not settled their differences over whether to allow SBIR grants to companies controlled by venture capital investors. The House and Senate Small Business Committees are moving ahead with conflicting bills to reauthorize the SBIR program. The House panel is considering legislation that would allow full VC participation, while the Senate committee’s bill offers VC-controlled companies considerably less than half a loaf. The Senate bill, S. 1233, would allow VC-controlled companies to receive up to 8% of SBIR grant money in most agencies, and up to 18% at the National Institutes of Health. Biotechnology firms, which seek NIH funding, are often controlled by venture capital investors. The issue of participation by VC-controlled businesses has stalled reauthorization of the SBIR program for several years. The program will sunset on July 31 unless Congress acts. Some small business advocates have argued that giving SBIR money to VC-controlled firms violates the purpose of the program, which is designed to support research and development by small companies. They say VC investors such as banks and other large corporations would receive funds that were intended to help independent small businesses. One opponent of VC participation, the National Small Business Association, endorsed the Senate committee’s compromise bill. Jere Glover, executive director of NSBA’s Small Business Technology Council, said the bill is “the best way to move forward on reauthorizing this critical program.” Legislation drafted by the House committee would allow VC-controlled companies to compete for SBIR grants on equal footing with independently owned firms. “It’s no secret that capital is scarce these days, which is why all options should be on the table,” said committee chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-NY. “This bill gives entrepreneurs—not Washington bureaucrats—the final say in how their firms are financed.” The House passed similar legislation last year, but the Senate never acted. The Senate bill would also increase the maximum Phase I SBIR grant to $150,000, from the current $100,000, and would raise the limit for Phase II grants to $1 million, from $250,000. It would increase the SBIR share of federal R&D funding to 3.5% by 2020, from 2.5% today.