Locals made the case for Senate Bill 792<\/a>, which would expand the state\u2019s research and development (R&D) tax credit program, and SB 811<\/a>, which would create a state-funded match for federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a unique time where we have legislators in both parties at the local, state and federal level who are supportive of this sector,\u201d Megan Shaw, president and CEO of Pittsburgh\u2019s Life Sciences Alliance (PLSA), told Technical.ly. \u201cNow is the time we really need to make sure we see action with that level of support.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, state reps have a chance to advance these bills during the June session.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2023, Southwest PA\u2019s life sciences industry generated some $3.4 billion in economic output and accounted for more than 15,000 jobs, according to a 2024 report<\/a> by the economic development research firm Teconomy Partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Pittsburgh matched the national rate of converting R&D into economic output, the region would see a fourfold increase in life sciences economic activity and a threefold increase in jobs, according to Shaw\u2019s testimony.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe come with over $1.2 billion in life sciences R&D coming out of these R1 universities, but we have not translated that into economic output at the same rate as other regions,\u201d Shaw said at the May hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n A 2x increase on R&D<\/p>\n SB 792, a bipartisan bill, would double funding for Pennsylvania\u2019s R&D tax credit program from $60 million to $120 million, with the small-business set-aside also doubling from $12 million to $24 million.<\/p>\n These tax credits, which are technically industry agnostic, have been used by startups like Abridge and Krystal Biotech, as well as big employers like Bayer and Zoll, according to Shaw.\u00a0<\/p>\n The rates would also shift, meaning companies that spend on R&D get a larger discount on their taxes.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bill would increase it from 10% to 14% for standard businesses and from 20% to 25% for small businesses. More businesses would qualify for the small-business credits, since the bill raises the asset cap for what counts as a \u201csmall business,\u201d from $5 million to $10 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou only benefit if you are increasing [or] expanding your R&D spend in Pennsylvania,\u201d Brian Kennedy, senior vice president of operations and government affairs at the Pittsburgh Tech Council, said, \u201cand the credit only applies to the increase amount, not what you\u2019ve just done in the past.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The existing tax credit program is consistently oversubscribed, Mark Balistrieri, the director of Pittsburgh-based accounting firm Schneider Downs, said at the hearing, which means businesses that apply often only get a fraction of the credit they\u2019re eligible for.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Applicants currently receive on average 10% to 30% of their requested amount. Increasing that range to 20% to 60% would give businesses more of an incentive in the commonwealth, making needed changes to a program that\u2019s currently \u201ctoo constrained, too complex and too diluted to consistently achieve its intended impact,\u201d Balistrieri said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bill is currently on the Senate floor after successfully passing its first consideration on June 9. Its next step is to be called up for a second consideration later this month<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The argument for matching federal funds<\/p>\n SB 811, another bipartisan effort, would allow companies to receive a modest amount of money from the state if approved for SBIR or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) federal grants.<\/p>\n The bill would direct the Department of Community and Economic Development to match a business\u2019s Phase I award, up to $50,000, with 75% paid out once the business gets its federal award and the remaining 25% paid once the business actually applies for Phase II.<\/p>\n Businesses would only be able to collect one grant from the state per year and five awards total under the program, placing a lifetime cap of $250,000 per company.<\/p>\n The bill establishes the framework for the program but doesn\u2019t appropriate funds. That would be handled separately by the General Assembly through the budget process. The bill hasn\u2019t progressed since 2025 and is currently awaiting approval from the Senate Appropriations Committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pennsylvania is one of only 15 states that does not currently offer a matching program<\/a>, Shaw said in her testimony.\u00a0<\/p>\n SBIR and STTR grants were recently authorized<\/a> after a six-month lapse and have historically been a significant source of funding<\/a> for Pittsburgh-based companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat [this bill] does is allow Pennsylvania to piggyback on the robust federal infrastructure,\u201d Shaw said, \u201cand subject matter expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two bills moving through the Pennsylvania Legislature could reshape how the state supports its life sciences sector.\u00a0 Executives…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[676,25707,73,75,74,18154],"class_list":["post-221289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-funding","tag-life-sciences","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-state-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Panel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PA-life-sciences-hearing5-scaled.jpg\")
The Senate Institutional Sustainability and Innovation Committee hearing in Pittsburgh (Courtesy PLSA) <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PA-life-sciences-hearing4-scaled.jpg\")
Megan Shaw, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Alliance, testifies before the Senate Institutional Sustainability and Innovation Committee (Courtesy PLSA)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PA-life-sciences-hearing3-scaled.jpg\")
Sen. Frank Farry, the prime sponsor of SB 792 and SB 811 (Courtesy PLSA)<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PA-life-sciences-hearing2-scaled.jpg\")
Mark Balistrieri, the director of Pittsburgh-based accounting firm Schneider Downs (left) and Brian Kennedy, senior vice president of operations and government affairs at the Pittsburgh Tech Council (Courtesy PLSA)<\/p>\n