U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is among several senators to introduce legislation that would create greater opportunities for small businesses in underserved states.

Specifically, the bill, the FAST Fix Act, S. 1003, would allow these small businesses to gain access to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding awards.

The SBIR and STTR programs are competitive grant programs administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that seek to boost the research and development (R&D) capabilities of small businesses.

The Fast Fix Act would simply require the SBA to prioritize applications from states who have historically received the fewest SBIR and STTR Phase 1 awards. In addition, federal agencies that have R&D funding above a certain threshold must allocate 3.2 percent to the SBIR and 0.45 percent to the STTR.

“Small businesses are truly the backbone of West Virginia’s economy, which is why we need to do what we can to support them,” Capito said. “The FAST Fix Act would make important changes to the FAST grants program and application process to give small businesses in historically underserved states—like West Virginia—a better chance of receiving the federal funding to accelerate research and development. By doing away with the one-size-fits-all process, this bipartisan legislation will help SBA better fulfill its mission of serving community businesses and catalyzing economic growth.”

U.S. Sen. James Risch (R-ID), bill sponsor, and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) were among the other lawmakers that introduced the bipartisan legislation.