Misunderstanding Earmarks at the SBIR conference
I was attending a panel yesterday at the National SBIR conference in Hartford, when I heard one of the speakers say that the House had all but “done away with Congressional plus-ups.” Since many SBIR Phase II companies use Congressional earmarks as a way of transitioning their technologies to Phase III, this is an important issue for the national SBIR community.
However, the speaker’s comments miss the mark. Earmarks are not dead, but the landscape is certainly changing. True, the House Appropriations Committee has announced it will not accept earmark requests on behalf of for profit entities—a category that obviously includes SBIR companies. However, the Senate has made it clear that it will not follow the House’s actions. One result is that many members of the House, both Democrat and Republican, are trying to influence their home state Senators in support of earmark projects. Some companies are still pursuing earmarks in the House, despite the ban, by working with non-profit entities. And some members have targeted their requests to specific agency budgets, sidestepping the issue.
Another issue that was brought up during the panel is that the House may create a separate DoD program that would be carved out for companies that previously would have sought earmarks. No one really knows at this point what such a program would look like, since work has not yet begun on the FY2011 defense bill. However, those companies who understand the changes coming down the pike and what they mean, will definitely have an advantage. In chaos, there is often opportunity.
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