---
title: SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Signed into Law - DoW Topics Pre-Released
description: The Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act (S. 3971) is signed into law by President Trump on April 13. DoW PRe-Releases topics on same day.
image: https://www.reliascent.com/hubfs/Picture2.png
---

![SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Signed into Law](https://www.reliascent.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Picture2.png?width=1000&name=Picture2.png)

# SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Signed into Law - DoW Topics Pre-Released

[ Tyler Link ](https://www.reliascent.com/blog/author/tyler-link)  April 14, 2026

After Congress let the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs lapse for more than 6 months, the programs were finally reauthorized yesterday, April 13th, when the  [****Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act (S. 3971)****](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3971) was signed into law by President Trump (just one day before it<https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3971>would've gone into effect due to the "10-day Rule").

Beyond reauthorizing the programs through September 30, 2031, a number of important reforms were also included in the Act:

- It created "Strategic Breakthrough Awards," a new Phase II funding tier that provides up to $30 million over 48 months for scaling critical technologies.
- To better ensure program transparency and more equitable access, it requires federal agencies to establish annual proposal submission limits per small business to discourage high-volume, low-quality applications from "SBIR mills". 
- It significantly expands security due diligence requirements, mandating in-depth evaluations of foreign ownership, investment ties, and technology licensing agreements to prevent foreign influence from countries of concern.

Following the signing of the Act, the [Department of War (DoW)—formerly the DoD—immediately initiated the FY-2026 Release 1 SBIR and STTR solicitations into Pre-Release.](https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/?baa=DOD_SBIR_2026_P1_CBZ&release=1) The BAA is open for submission starting May 5, and closes on June 3. 

As these important programs come back spring back to life, small businesses should be prepared to act quickly. Here at ReliAscent, we've already seen a surge in requests from the government to small businesses (that had their awards delayed) to do things like complete the SF1408 Pre-Award Survey Checklist, push to quickly setup[ DCAA compliant accounting systems](https://www.reliascent.com/dcaa-compliant-accounting-systems) and schedule Pre-Award Audits, or to schedule [CAP Reviews ](https://www.reliascent.com/nsf)(for NSF Ph II awardees).

If your business needs support with any of these tasks, or you are looking to submit proposals in upcoming solicitations and need help reviewing your indirect rates and proposal budgets,[ contact us today](https://www.reliascent.com/contact-reliascent). 

And finally: congratulations again to the [National Small Business Association (NSBA),](https://www.nsbaadvocate.org/) the [Small Business Technology Council (SBTC)](https://sbtc.org/), and all of the small businesses that pushed Congress to do the right thing and get these programs back! 

#### Topics:

[2026 DoW SBIR/STTR Topics](https://www.reliascent.com/blog/tag/2026-dow-sbir-sttr-topics) , [SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Signed into Law](https://www.reliascent.com/blog/tag/sbir-sttr-reauthorization-signed-into-law)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Tyler Link",
    "url" : "https://www.reliascent.com/blog/author/tyler-link"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-04-14T15:45:42.822Z",
  "datePublished" : "2026-04-14T15:45:42.000Z",
  "headline" : "SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Signed into Law - DoW Topics Pre-Released",
  "image" : [ "https://www.reliascent.com/hubfs/Picture2.png" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://www.reliascent.com/blog/sbir/sttr-reauthorization-signed-into-law-dow-topics-pre-released",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://www.reliascent.com/hubfs/ReliAscent_Logo_larger%20for%20social%20media.jpg"
    },
    "name" : "Reliascent"
  }
}
```