S. 239: Innovate America Act

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S. 239: Innovate America Act

112th Congress · introduced 2011-01-31 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

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Official title

Innovate America Act

Plain summary

Innovate America Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) revise the definition of "basic research," for purposes of the research tax credit, to remove the prohibition against such research having a specific commercial objective; and (2) provide a tax credit for charitable contributions of equipment to secondary schools and technical and community colleges. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish the the Innovation Technology Development Loan Guarantee Program to help small and medium-sized high growth technology companies operating in a business life cycle phase in which technological, market, or regulatory uncertainty constrains available capital, and unable to progress to the next phase because of such constraints. Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to state educational agencies in order to expand science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) secondary schools. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide awards to four-year degree-granting educational institutions which have: (1) dramatically increased their percentage and number of students intending to major in a STEM subject and who graduate with a degree in such subject; and (2) sustained such increase for more than five years. Directs the President to ensure that not less than 10% of all federal funds available each fiscal year for undergraduate student research opportunities are used to fund research opportunities for postsecondary students during the students' first academic year or the summer following such year. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish and maintain a website that connects federally funded researchers who have ideas for technologies they believe could be commercialized with persons expressing an interest in working with such researchers. Requires the NSF Director to administer a Technology Commercialization Awards Pilot Program through which promising technology advances derived from NSF research grants shall be eligible for funding to move the technology through the prototype and demonstration phases. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a manufacturing assistance program for small and medium-sized domestic manufacturers to promote the manufacturing of goods in the United States and enable those manufacturers to be competitive in global markets. Requires a report from the Under Secretary for International Trade of the Department of Commerce on the removal of export barriers for U.S. industries. Authorizes appropriations to the U.S. Trade Representative for resolving disputes relating to market access barriers with certain foreign countries. Requires: (1) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to devise a strategy to reduce overall government printing costs over a 10-year period; and (2) each federal department and agency to issue guidance on the appropriate use of award and incentive fees in their programs.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · 5 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] reported raising $2.5 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-112s239.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/112/s>

Record fed-us-cong112-s239 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112