HB3109 amends the Illinois SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). The program provides state grants to eligible Illinois-based for-profit businesses to help match federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, with the goal of encouraging innovation, job creation, and economic development in Illinois. The bill keeps the basic structure of the program but updates several funding and eligibility provisions.
Under the bill, a business must still be Illinois-based, meet federal SBIR/STTR requirements, avoid duplicative funding, and certify that at least 51% of the Phase II research will be conducted in Illinois. The bill lowers the maximum Phase I matching grant from $75,000 to $50,000 and adds a new Phase II matching grant category of up to $250,000, subject to appropriation. It also sets payment schedules for each grant type, limits the number of awards a business may receive, and requires applicants to provide specified information under oath to DCEO.
Impact
The bill would amend Section 605-1055 of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Law in the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Its main legal effect is to revise the state’s SBIR/STTR matching grant framework by reducing the Phase I cap, creating a separate Phase II matching grant program, and tightening the administrative rules governing award timing, eligibility, and lifetime award limits. The changes affect DCEO’s grant administration and Illinois small businesses seeking federal research commercialization funding.
Sentiment
The available record suggests a generally supportive, pro-business, and pro-innovation posture toward the bill, consistent with the existing SBIR/STTR program’s purpose of helping Illinois firms compete for federal research dollars. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided materials, so there is no documented opposition or debate to indicate broader controversy. The bill appears to be a technical and policy update aimed at refining an existing economic development tool rather than creating a new or highly contested program.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials because there are no committee transcripts or vote records. Based on the text alone, the most likely areas of policy interest would be the reduction in the Phase I cap from $75,000 to $50,000, the creation of a new Phase II grant up to $250,000, and the requirement that 51% of Phase II research be conducted in Illinois. Those provisions could matter to small businesses, research startups, and economic development advocates, but no explicit disagreement is shown in the record provided.