Returning SBA to Main Street Act of 2025

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Bill ID: 119/hr/2027
Last Updated: December 4, 2025

Sponsored by

Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4]

ID: A000379

Follow the money

The bill

Returning SBA to Main Street Act of 2025

HR. 2027, 119th Congress — read as touching Commercial Banks.

The sponsor

Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$72,400 raised

23 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

The alignment

70% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Small Business Administration" section, p. 780-782 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 80.

May 20, 2025

Introduced

📍 Current Status

Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.

🏛️

Committee Review

🗳️

Floor Action

✅

Passed House

🏛️

Senate Review

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

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!

Bill Summary

Another brilliant example of legislative theater, courtesy of our esteemed Congress. Let's dissect this farce, shall we?

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The "Returning SBA to Main Street Act of 2025" (HR 2027) claims to aim at relocating 30% of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) headquarters employees outside the Washington metropolitan area. The alleged goal is to reduce costs and promote geographic diversity, including rural markets. How quaint.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill requires the SBA Administrator to:

1. Relocate at least 30% of headquarters employees to offices outside the Washington metropolitan area within a year. 2. Ensure that relocated employees' pay is based on their new location's pay locality, rather than the Washington metropolitan area rate. 3. Prohibit full-time telework for relocated employees.

The bill also defines various terms, including "headquarters employee," "pay locality," and "rural." Because, of course, Congress needs to clarify what these words mean. It's not like they're trying to obfuscate anything.

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The SBA, its employees, and the communities where they'll be relocated are the obvious affected parties. But let's not forget the real stakeholders: the politicians who sponsored this bill, the lobbyists who pushed for it, and the special interest groups that will benefit from this "cost-saving" measure.

**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a masterclass in bureaucratic doublespeak. The claimed objective of reducing costs is laughable, as relocating employees will likely result in increased expenses for the SBA, including new office space, equipment, and training. Not to mention the disruption to employees' lives and the potential loss of institutional knowledge.

The real motivation behind this bill? To appease rural constituents and create the illusion of "bringing government closer to the people." Meanwhile, the actual impact will be minimal, as the SBA's core functions will remain unchanged. It's a classic case of "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic."

In conclusion, HR 2027 is a farcical exercise in legislative posturing, designed to pacify rural voters and create a false narrative about government efficiency. The actual effects will be negligible, but the politicians involved will get to claim victory and bask in the glory of their own self-importance.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than analyze this drivel further. Next patient, please!

Related Topics

Housing & Urban DevelopmentSmall Business & Entrepreneurship
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$72,400
18 donors
PACs
$0
Organizations
$6,400
Committees
$0
Individuals
$66,000

No PAC contributions found

1
OTOE-MISSOURIA TRIBE OF INDIANS
1 transaction
$3,300
2
CM DUBOIS STRATEGIES LLC
1 transaction
$2,000
3
WAYPOINT CONSULTING LLC
1 transaction
$1,100

No committee contributions found

1
CHERRY, DERON
2 transactions
$6,600
2
JONES, CLAYTON A
2 transactions
$6,600
3
MCCARTHY, JOHN
2 transactions
$6,600
4
MCCARTHY, NANCY
2 transactions
$6,600
5
PROCHNOW, JENNI
2 transactions
$6,600
6
REDFORD, STAN
1 transaction
$3,300
7
THOMPSON, CRAIG
1 transaction
$3,300
8
COOPER, SHANNON
1 transaction
$3,300
9
GRAY, CHARLES M
1 transaction
$3,300
10
GUTHRIE, JASON
1 transaction
$3,300
11
HILTY, JOHN
1 transaction
$3,300
12
KUECKER, STANLEY
1 transaction
$3,300
13
LOWE, DAVID
1 transaction
$3,300
14
WETZEL, JACK S
1 transaction
$3,300
15
WORTH, GAIL
1 transaction
$3,300

Donor Network - Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4]

PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

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Showing 29 nodes and 23 connections (35 secondary connections hidden)

Total contributions: $72,400

Top Donors - Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4]

Showing top 18 donors by contribution amount

3 Orgs15 Individuals

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 3 harmed.

  • −Commercial Banksconfidence 0.80

    Section 3(a) may lead to reduced demand for commercial banking services in the Washington metropolitan area due to relocation of SBA employees, potentially harming local banks.

  • −Real Estateconfidence 0.70

    Section 4(a) reduces office space for SBA headquarters by at least 30%, which could negatively impact the commercial real estate market in the Washington metropolitan area.

  • −Telecommunicationsconfidence 0.50

    Section 3(e)(2) restricts full-time telework for some employees, potentially reducing demand for telecommunications services in the Washington metropolitan area.

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.

Small Business Administration

Moderate
Vector: 69%
Pages: 780-782AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"Both the bill and the Project 2025 SBA section aim to improve the agency's efficiency and effectiveness in serving small businesses, though the bill focuses on geographic relocation and cost savings while Project 2025 emphasizes advocacy, core functions, and budget flexibility."

Key themes:SBA reformcost efficiencysmall business support

— 747 — Small Business Administration established a new role for the Office of Advocacy: “to facilitate greater consider- ation of small business economic issues during international trade negotiations.”14 This small office has been relatively effective over the years—and more produc- tive during periods when a strong Chief Counsel for Advocacy has been installed to utilize the Office of Advocacy’s authority aggressively to provide a check on regulatory overreach. The office is one of the bright spots within the SBA that a conservative Administration could supercharge to dismantle extreme regulatory policies and advance limited-government reforms that promote economic freedom and opportunity. Currently, the SBA’s four core functions include: l Access to capital. SBA maintains assorted financing and lending programs for small businesses, from microlending to debt and equity investment capital. l Entrepreneurial development programs. SBA provides “free” or low- cost training at more than 1,800 locations and through online platforms and webinars. l Government contracting support programs. Through goals established by the SBA for federal departments and agencies, the broader goal is to ensure that small businesses win 23 percent of prime contracts. l Advocacy. This independent office within the SBA works to ensure that federal agencies consider small businesses’ concerns and impact in rulemakings. The office also conducts small-business research. BUDGETARY FLUCTUATION SBA’s budget and programs have expanded significantly under some Admin- istrations and have been scaled back under others. President Ronald Reagan cut the SBA’s budget by more than 30 percent, and his annual budgets regularly pro- posed to eliminate the agency altogether.15 Under President George W. Bush, SBA Administrator Hector Barreto said that SBA’s goal was “to do more with less,”16 but this changed because of Hurricane Katrina and a surge in disaster funding. In 2016, President Barack Obama considered streamlining and combining SBA programs and other business-related agencies and programs under one entity at the U.S. Department of Commerce, but opposition within the small-business lobby in Washington scuttled the effort.17 In general, SBA budget fluctuations have been driven by several factors such as efforts by Administrations either to cut or to greatly expand programs, the need to boost disaster assistance because of economic or weather-related events, business

Small Business Administration

Moderate
Vector: 69%
Pages: 780-782AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill's focus on relocating SBA headquarters to promote geographic diversity and improve service access aligns with Project 2025's emphasis on strengthening the SBA's core functions, particularly entrepreneurial development and government contracting support, by increasing local presence. However, the bill does not directly address the Office of Advocacy's role in trade negotiations or regulatory reform, which is a central focus of the Project 2025 SBA policy."

Key themes:geographic diversitysmall business supportentrepreneurial developmentgovernment contractingregional office expansion

— 747 — Small Business Administration established a new role for the Office of Advocacy: “to facilitate greater consider- ation of small business economic issues during international trade negotiations.”14 This small office has been relatively effective over the years—and more produc- tive during periods when a strong Chief Counsel for Advocacy has been installed to utilize the Office of Advocacy’s authority aggressively to provide a check on regulatory overreach. The office is one of the bright spots within the SBA that a conservative Administration could supercharge to dismantle extreme regulatory policies and advance limited-government reforms that promote economic freedom and opportunity. Currently, the SBA’s four core functions include: l Access to capital. SBA maintains assorted financing and lending programs for small businesses, from microlending to debt and equity investment capital. l Entrepreneurial development programs. SBA provides “free” or low- cost training at more than 1,800 locations and through online platforms and webinars. l Government contracting support programs. Through goals established by the SBA for federal departments and agencies, the broader goal is to ensure that small businesses win 23 percent of prime contracts. l Advocacy. This independent office within the SBA works to ensure that federal agencies consider small businesses’ concerns and impact in rulemakings. The office also conducts small-business research. BUDGETARY FLUCTUATION SBA’s budget and programs have expanded significantly under some Admin- istrations and have been scaled back under others. President Ronald Reagan cut the SBA’s budget by more than 30 percent, and his annual budgets regularly pro- posed to eliminate the agency altogether.15 Under President George W. Bush, SBA Administrator Hector Barreto said that SBA’s goal was “to do more with less,”16 but this changed because of Hurricane Katrina and a surge in disaster funding. In 2016, President Barack Obama considered streamlining and combining SBA programs and other business-related agencies and programs under one entity at the U.S. Department of Commerce, but opposition within the small-business lobby in Washington scuttled the effort.17 In general, SBA budget fluctuations have been driven by several factors such as efforts by Administrations either to cut or to greatly expand programs, the need to boost disaster assistance because of economic or weather-related events, business — 748 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise loan credit subsidy costs, and miscellaneous program “enhancements” to support small businesses through economic challenges or circumstances. As noted by the Congressional Research Service: Overall, the SBA’s appropriations have ranged from a high of over $761.9 billion in FY2020 to a low of $571.8 million in FY2007. Much of this volatility is due to significant variation in supplemental appropriations for disaster assistance to address economic damages caused by major hurricanes and for SBA lending program enhancements to help small businesses access capital during and immediately following recessions. For example, in FY2020, the SBA received over $760.9 billion in supplemental appropriations to assist small businesses adversely affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID- 19) pandemic.18 The CRS further notes that “[o]verall, since FY2000, appropriations for SBA’s other programs, excluding supplemental appropriations, have increased at a pace that exceeds inflation.”19 In terms of current loan volume, the SBA “reached nearly $43 billion in fund- ing to small businesses, providing more than 62,000 traditional loans through its 7(a), 504, and Microloan lending partners and over 1,200 investments through SBA licensed Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022.”20 The agency’s total budgetary resources for FY 2022 amount to $44.25 billion, which represents 0.4 percent of the FY 2022 U.S. federal budget.21 HISTORY OF MISMANAGEMENT Throughout its history, various SBA programs and practices have generated negative news headlines and scathing Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Inspector General (IG) reports that have centered on mismanagement, lack of competent personnel and/or systems, and waste, fraud and abuse.22 From the 8a program23 to Hurricane Katrina24 to the more current COVID-19 (EIDL) program and PPP lending program,25 the SBA has managed to maintain its lending role even when repeated system failures have affected its distribution of funds. Congress has been somewhat responsive, pressuring the SBA to clean up fraud-related matters within its COVID-19 lending and grant programs.26 Repub- licans in the U.S. House of Representatives have gone farther, specifying that the SBA needs to improve transparency and accountability and deal with mission creep, the expansion of unauthorized programs, and structural and reporting deficiencies that have allowed mismanagement and fraud to reoccur, largely through massive supplemental appropriations.27 The SBA is led by an Administrator (currently a member of the President’s Cabinet) and a Deputy Administrator. Senate-confirmed appointees include

Small Business Administration

Moderate
Vector: 69%
Pages: 792-794AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The bill aligns with Project 2025's goal of improving SBA efficiency and resource allocation by relocating headquarters staff to reduce costs and enhance service delivery, though it does not directly address program consolidation, effectiveness reviews, or budget reductions emphasized in the policy."

Key themes:SBA reformcost savingsgeographic diversitypersonnel efficiencyservice improvement

— 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).

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About These Correlations

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.

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