Task ONE:
 Encourage Members seriously to consider signing the Dear Colleague Letter to Open Up the Debate on the future of SBIR.
    The overall objective here is to enable serious consideration by all interested parties - and there are many - of what needs to be done to make full and effective use of a program of proven importance across many industry segments and in all states.
Why is this needed and how is this different?
Much of the anger and frustration generated around HR 5819 in April last year was actually less about the content of the bill - though obviously there was considerable concern about that - as it was about the tactics employed to get that bill to a Floor vote. The process was accelerated over just a few days with the involvement of only a very limited number of persons and the full awareness of almost no-one else

• Mark-up on Friday - all completed before the posted time for the session
• Any and all amendments due to the Rules Committee by 10AM Tuesday morning
  - most Members are in the District - not in DC - from late Thursday-early Friday through late Monday-early Tuesday
• Allocation to calendar by late afternoon Tuesday
• Full floor action to vote on Wednesday afternoon

Committees with jurisdiction over the agencies which make up the SBIR program - Armed Services, Science Committee, Energy and Commerce, Homeland Security, Transportation etc - including highly experienced Members with a long-time SBIR interest were effectively and efficiently entirely cut out of the entire process.
     Ironically, in previous often wide-ranging debates about SBIR - often contentious and in-depth - these committees were always to the forefront in the SBIR decision-making process.
     This time around, their expressed concerns about the exclusionary approach being put forth in HR 5819 were almost entirely discounted; alternative suggestions for how to keep the SBIR program open and diverse were simply ignored. In fact, so closed was the process of crafting the specifics of the House Bill and so tightly managed the debate on the floor that many Members being long-time SBIR supporters came into the scheduled vote on the bill  

• EITHER genuinely believing that they were voting for continued operations of the SBIR program in the form they had known it to work well for many years
• OR, knowing that HR 5819 was badly flawed,  having decided to vote in favor of the bill anyway concerned that with time running out and 2008 being a presidential election year, that this might would likely be the only opportunity for SBIR reauthorization.  It had been made clear that there would be no more time allocated to SBIR on the remaining 110th calendar.

Given these factors, be aware that the overwhelming vote for bill is deceptive - H.R. 5819 vote tally. Even where a Member is in the 'yea' column, that may not reflect their actual views on SBIR. Most are favorably disposed to SBIR and would probably support opportunity for more open discussion if given the chance.  
Task TWO
 Educating the Members:
A critical part of any SBIR Political activity MUST always be education of Members and - perhaps even MORE important - of their staffers, in DC and in the constituency.
      After every election, an important percentage of both Houses are new to the system. The November 2008 election was no exception. Even more dramatically, the turnover of staff can be substantial. In consequence, many who are making important decisions about SBIR often know remarkably little about the program; some literally don't have any idea at all about what it is, where it came from or how it works. Except for a few key players, it is safe to assume that most Members and their staffs have minimal understanding of why SBIR is so important

• to the small business community in general and to YOU in particlar
• to technology development and
• to the health of economy.

In the listing of the H.R. 5819 vote tally, all NEW members are indicated. Time spent with those Members could be particularly useful.
    Of the very highest priority is education of those Members who sit on committees which have some level of jurisdiction over the agencies which are part of the SBIR program - the Small Business Committees in the House and the Senate, but also Armed Services/ National Security; both Science Committees, and some of the Appropriation sub-committees etc. Make it YOUR job to educate your Member(s):
If you're an awardee (know one, or work with some)
for whom the program has made a difference,
begin to think about how to tell that story.

• If its appropriate, invite your elected officials to visit your facility. Most of them will come ... and when they do come, work with their Press personnel to help them to put out a press announcement. A picture is worth a thousand words so have a photographer there too.
      The local press often love this type of story and the Member's staff usually not only know who the right people are to get the story published but will often appreciate the coverage you just got them.
• Make an appointment to talk to them in their office when they're home - much easier than in DC.
• Do it just out of your fimr OR do it in collaboration with other local players - other awardees, collaborators on your projects - university personnel, large firms partners - but DO IT!