The bill
ThinkDIFFERENTLY About Disability Employment Act
HR. 1634, 119th Congress — read as touching Private Equity & Hedge Funds.
Sponsored by
Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8]
ID: S001212
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 1634, 119th Congress — read as touching Private Equity & Hedge Funds.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
26 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
This bill's text tracks the "Federal Reserve" section, p. 776-779 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
June 3, 2025
📍 Current Status
Next: Both chambers must agree on the same version of the bill.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Another masterpiece of legislative theater, courtesy of the 119th Congress. Let's dissect this farce and expose the real disease beneath.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The ThinkDIFFERENTLY About Disability Employment Act (HR 1634) claims to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities by creating a memorandum of understanding between the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the National Council on Disability. How noble. In reality, this bill is a classic case of "feel-good" legislation, designed to make politicians look compassionate while doing nothing substantial.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill requires the SBA Administrator to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities who want to become entrepreneurs or find employment at small businesses. It also mandates outreach and education about these activities. Wow, a whole lot of nothing new here. The most significant "change" is the creation of another bureaucratic agreement that will likely gather dust on some shelf.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects are involved: politicians seeking to boost their image, disability advocacy groups looking for a symbolic victory, and small business owners who might get some token benefits from this charade. The real stakeholders – individuals with disabilities – will likely see no tangible improvements in their employment prospects.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a prime example of "legislative placebo effect." It's designed to make people feel good, but it won't actually address the underlying issues facing individuals with disabilities in the workforce. The lack of additional funding (Section 3) ensures that this initiative will be nothing more than a hollow promise.
Diagnosis: This bill suffers from a severe case of " Politician-itis," characterized by grandiose language, empty promises, and a complete disregard for actual problem-solving. The symptoms include:
* Overuse of buzzwords like "increase employment opportunities" without any concrete plans to achieve this goal. * Creation of another bureaucratic agreement that will likely be ignored or underfunded. * A blatant attempt to pander to disability advocacy groups without providing meaningful support.
Treatment: This bill needs a healthy dose of skepticism, followed by a strong injection of reality. Politicians should focus on creating tangible solutions rather than feel-good legislation. Until then, this bill will remain a prime example of the " Emperor's New Clothes" – all show and no substance.
Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No committee contributions found
This bill has 4 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: S001231
Top Contributors
25
ID: A000379
Top Contributors
23
ID: P000614
Top Contributors
25
ID: G000604
Top Contributors
20
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 40 nodes and 43 connections
Total contributions: $43
Showing top 24 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 5 helped.
Section 2(a)(1) provides assistance to individuals with disabilities who desire to become entrepreneurs or to be self-employed, which could lead to increased investment opportunities for private equity and hedge funds in disability-owned businesses.
Section 2(a)(2) helps individuals with disabilities find employment at small business concerns, which could lead to increased banking activity and potential loans for these businesses, benefiting commercial banks.
Section 2(c) mentions outreach and education, which could involve online platforms and digital tools, potentially benefiting big tech companies that provide these services.
Section 2(a)(1) provides assistance to individuals with disabilities who desire to become entrepreneurs or to be self-employed, which could lead to increased demand for educational resources and training programs, potentially benefiting for-profit education providers.
Section 2(a)(2) helps individuals with disabilities find employment at small business concerns, which could lead to increased union membership and organizing efforts in these businesses, benefiting labor unions.
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.
AI Analysis:
"The bill directs the SBA to assist individuals with disabilities in entrepreneurship and employment, directly supporting the SBA's core mission to aid, counsel, and assist small business concerns and promote entrepreneurship."
— 745 — 25 SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Karen Kerrigan MISSION STATEMENT The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) supports U.S. entrepreneurship and small business growth by strengthening free enterprise through policy advo- cacy and facilitating programs that help entrepreneurs to launch and grow their businesses and compete effectively in the global marketplace. OVERVIEW Created almost 70 years ago, the SBA was launched under the Small Business Act with a mission to “aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns.”1 According to its current mission statement: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) helps Americans start, grow, and build resilient businesses. SBA was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns; preserve free competitive enterprise; and maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation.2 The SBA’s founding mission has evolved over time as programs have been expanded or implemented, subject to the philosophical grounding of each Admin- istration as well as assorted economic challenges and the occurrence of natural disasters. Because of its distinct role in the federal government, the SBA became — 746 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise the default agency for providing disaster loans to small businesses, homeowners, renters, and organizations. As a result, hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars have been funneled through the agency to businesses and individuals over the years. Some SBA programs are effective; others are not. The largest program in SBA’s history, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), has been credited with saving millions of jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.3 A conservative Administration would rightly focus on saving small businesses during such a crisis. At the same time, however, various SBA programs have generated waste, fraud, and misman- agement of taxpayer dollars. For example, and more recently, more than $1 trillion in COVID-19 relief was distributed through the SBA.4 The SBA’s EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan) Advance program in particular shows the dangers that can come with direct government lending. EIDL Advance provided direct cash grants and loans to small businesses. The SBA Office of Inspector General “identified $78.1 billion in potentially fraudulent EIDL loans and grants paid to ineligible entities,”5 which represented more than half of all funds spent through the program. Although PPP worked through private lenders and as a result experienced relatively less fraud than EIDL experienced, it is estimated “that at least 70,000 [PPP] loans were potentially fraudulent.”6 ORIGIN, HISTORY, AND CORE FUNCTIONS In 1954, the agency began to execute such core functions as “making and guaranteeing loans for small businesses,” “ensuring that small businesses earn a ‘fair proportion’ of government contracts and sales of surplus property,” and “provid[ing] business owners with management and business training.”7 In 1970, President Richard Nixon’s Executive Order 11518 enhanced the agen- cy’s advocacy role by providing for the “increased representation of the interests of small business concerns before departments and agencies of the United States Government.”8 This advocacy role was strengthened with the adoption of the Small Business Amendments of 1974,9 which established the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, and was then reinforced and expanded in 1976 with the creation of the Office of Advocacy, providing additional resources to ensure that small businesses had a voice in the regulatory process. In 1980, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)10 further strengthened the Office of Advocacy’s role, providing accountability across federal agencies to ensure that they considered the impact of their rulemakings on small businesses. The RFA requires federal agencies “to consider the effects of their regulations on small businesses and other small entities,”11 and the Office of Advocacy is charged with ensuring that federal agencies abide by the law and is required to provide an annual report to the President and the Senate and House Committees on Small Business.12 In addition, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) of 201613
AI Analysis:
"The bill focuses on expanding SBA programs to support disability employment and entrepreneurship, while Project 2025 criticizes SBA for expanding programs without documenting effectiveness and calls for consolidating or reducing ineffective initiatives. The bill's approach contrasts with Project 2025's preference for streamlining SBA efforts and reallocating resources to proven programs like the Office of Advocacy."
— 759 — Small Business Administration ineffective programs, consolidate duplicative functions, and reallocate resources to more effective programs (such as the Office of Advocacy) or consider reducing the SBA budget. Personnel Challenges The SBA continues to expand programs and initiatives without first document- ing the effectiveness of existing programs or whether they involve areas in which the agency lacks staff expertise. For example, the SBA wants to expand the number of licensed Small Business Lending Companies (SBLCs), implement a new “Mis- sion-Based SBLC,” and remove a requirement for loan authorization within the 7(a) and 504 Loan programs and rely solely on a lender’s documents. Various IG reports have noted that the lack of skilled employees within the SBA has fueled fraud and mismanagement in COVID-19 lending programs, and congressional leaders have expressed alarm about these “changes that haphazardly overextend the SBA’s responsibilities at a time when they are devastated by fraud and underperforming on their core mission of serving the nation’s 33 million small businesses.”74 A conservative Administration should rein in these idealistic and impractical efforts, get current programs under control and properly staffed with people who can manage and perform competently, and outsource efforts where private-sector expertise is appropriate and more efficient. AUTHOR’S NOTE: The preparation of this chapter was a collective enterprise of individuals involved in the 2025 Presidential Transition Project. All contributors to this chapter are listed at the front of this volume, but David Burton and Caleb Orr deserve special mention. The author alone assumes responsibility for the content of this chapter, and no views expressed herein should be attributed to any other individual. — 760 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise ENDNOTES 1. H.R. 7953, Small Business Act, Public Law 85-536, 85th Congress, July 18, 1958, § 2, https://uscode.ecfr.io/ statutes/pl/85/536.pdf (accessed February 17, 2023), amended by H.R. 4877, One Stop Shop for Small Business Compliance Act of 2021, Public Law 117-188, 117th Congress, October 20, 2022, https://www.congress. gov/117/plaws/publ188/PLAW-117publ188.pdf (accessed February 17, 2023). 2. U.S. Small Business Administration, “About SBA: Organization: Mission,” https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/ organization (accessed February 19, 2023). 3. Michael Faulkender, Robert Jackman, and Stephen I. Miran, “The Job-Preservation Effects of Paycheck Protection Program Loans,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Economic Policy, Working Paper No. 2020-01, December 2020, p. 9, https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/226/Job-Preservation-Effects- Paycheck-Protection-Program-Loans.pdf (accessed February 16, 2023). 4. Kate Rogers, Scott Zamost, Karina Hernandez, and Jennifer Schlesinger, “As Pandemic Aid Was Rushed to Main Street, Criminals Seized on Covid Relief Programs,” CNBC, April 15, 2021, https://www.cnbc. com/2021/04/15/as-pandemic-aid-was-rushed-to-main-street-criminals-seized-on-ppp-eidl-.html (accessed February 16, 2023). 5. Kevin Brewer, “Bills Extend Statute of Limitation for Prosecuting PPP, EIDL Fraud,” Journal of Accountancy, August 10, 2022, https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2022/aug/bills-extend-statute-limitation- prosecuting-ppp-eidl-fraud.html (accessed February 16, 2023). 6. Sacha Pfeiffer, “Virtually All PPP Loans Have Been Forgiven with Limited Scrutiny,” NPR, October 12, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/10/12/1128207464/ppp-loans-loan-forgiveness-small-business#:~:text=As%20 COVID-19%20shutdowns%20threatened,early%20days%20of%20the%20pandemic (accessed February 16, 2023). 7. U.S. Small Business Administration, “About SBA: Organization: SBA History,” https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/ organization (accessed February 19, 2023). 8. President Richard Nixon, Executive Order 11518, “Providing for the Increased Representation of the Interests of Small Business Concerns Before Departments and Agencies of the United States Government,” March 20, 1970, in Federal Register, Vol. 35, No. 56 (March 21, 1970), pp. 4939–4940, https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/ service/ll/fedreg/fr035/fr035056/fr035056.pdf (accessed February 18, 2023). 9. S. 3331, Small Business Amendments of 1974, Public Law 93-386, 93rd Congress, August 23, 1974, https://www. congress.gov/93/statute/STATUTE-88/STATUTE-88-Pg742.pdf (accessed February 19, 2023). 10. S. 299, Regulatory Flexibility Act, Public Law No. 96-354, 96th Congress, September 19, 1980, https://www. congress.gov/96/statute/STATUTE-94/STATUTE-94-Pg1164.pdf (accessed February 19, 2023). 11. Maeve P. Carey, “The Regulatory Flex Act: An Overview,” Congressional Research Service In Focus No. IF11900, August 16, 2021, https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11900 (accessed February 18, 2023). 12. U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, “The Regulatory Flexibility Act,” https://advocacy.sba. gov/resources/the-regulatory-flexibility-act/ (accessed February 18, 2023). 13. H.R. 644, Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, Public Law No. 114-125, 114th Congress, February 24, 2026, https://www.congress.gov/114/statute/STATUTE-130/STATUTE-130-Pg122.pdf (accessed March 21, 2023). 14. U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, “Advocacy Releases Trade Report,” December 21, 2018, https://advocacy.sba.gov/2018/12/21/advocacy-releases-trade-report/ (accessed March 21, 2023). 15. Associated Press, “Reagan Offers $994-Billion ‘Hard-Choices’ 1987 Budget,” Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1986, http://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-05-mn-4369-story.html (accessed February 18, 2023). 16. Testimony of Hon. Hector V. Barreto, Administrator, Small Business Administration, in hearing, The President’s FY 2006 Budget Request for the Small Business Administration, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, U.S. Senate, 109th Congress, 1st Session, February 17, 2005, p. 8, https://books.google.com/ books?id=UwD-2ICa8k8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed February 18, 2023). See also Report No. 109-49, Summary of Legislative and Oversight Activities During the 108th Congress, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, U.S. Senate, 109th Congress, 1st Session, March 30, 2005, p. 21, https://www.congress.gov/109/crpt/srpt49/CRPT-109srpt49.pdf (accessed February 18, 2023).
AI Analysis:
"The bill focuses on disability employment and entrepreneurship support through SBA-NCD collaboration, while the Project 2025 SBA section emphasizes reforming venture capital duplication, modernizing size standards, and improving regulatory efficiency—there is minimal thematic overlap."
— 757 — Small Business Administration largely duplicates private-sector venture capital to the extent that the sector receiving much of its support is software and information technology, which already receive the lion’s share of venture capital investment.65 In addition, Congress should reform the SBIC program to make its financing more favorable to capital-intense investments and small manufacturers. The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act, introduced in 2020,66 and American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, introduced in 2021,67 would allow SBIC to offer longer-term financing to manufacturers and make the program more fiscally sustainable. Small-Business Size Standard Modernization. Many small-business pro- grams both inside and outside the SBA use the SBA’s definition of “small business.” Under the Small Business Act, the SBA is tasked with defining what counts as a small business and ensuring that the definition varies from industry to industry to reflect differences in regular size by industry. However, the SBA’s small-business size standards reflect a one-size-fits-all approach under which all businesses within its size standard are considered small businesses for all eligible purposes, from gov- ernment contracting preferences to eligibility for SBA loans through private banks. At the same time, the SBA is an outlier among competing economies in not considering medium-sized enterprises along with small businesses, often referred to collectively as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Medium-sized and regional businesses are increasingly critical to maintaining competition. The next Administration should: l Encourage Congress to create a “medium-sized business” classification with its eligibility for programs confined to access to capital programs from projects for which credit elsewhere does not exist. SBA POLICY PRIORITIES FOR 2025 AND BEYOND Legislation. The new Administration can support SBA reform legislation pro- posed in Congress that aligns with key measures outlined in this chapter. It also can support legislative initiatives that would help SBA to focus on its core statutory activities such as capital access, federal contracting opportunities, and regulatory advocacy. For example: l The IMPROVE the SBA Act68 would strengthen accountability, transparency, and oversight of the SBA and aligns with many of the reforms outlined in this chapter. — 758 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l The Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act69 would require federal agencies to perform more thorough RFA economic analysis and provide a rationale for proposed regulations. It also would waive fines for certain first-time paperwork violations. l The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act70 (SBREFA) panel process allows small businesses to provide input on agency rulemakings, gives participating small businesses greater procedural rights, and allows for judicial review of agency violations of the SBREFA panel process. SBREFA panel requirements should be extended to all federal agencies. l The Fair and Open Competition Act71 would disallow the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) in federal contracting as required in President Biden’s Executive Order 14063,72 which puts small businesses at a competitive disadvantage and works against the SBA’s governmentwide contracting goal for small businesses. l The JOBS Act 4.073 would advance regulatory improvements and modernization of various Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules to enhance capital formation and access. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES AND BUDGET Administrator and Key Staff. The position of Administrator should not be considered a symbolic or messaging-related position as some past Administrations have viewed it. Rather, the Administrator should have the requisite experience, skills, and knowledge to ensure that the SBA fulfills its statutory authorities. Because much of the SBA’s statutory authority relates to financing and reg- ulatory policy, and in order to make the SBA a more effective agency within the Administration, the Administrator and his or her key staff should have experience in small-business finance and investment and/or administrative law. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the SBA was often forced to outsource key deci- sions and administrative follow-through to the Department of the Treasury. The SBA Administrator and leadership team must share the President’s mission and vision and execute the Administration’s policies effectively. Budget The next Administration should undertake a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of its various loan and grant programs and provide a report to Congress within six months. The report should rank programs by cost-effective- ness. In the interim, the roughly $1 billion overall agency budget should be held constant until the report is considered, after which Congress should terminate
Showing 3 of 5 policy matches
Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.