The bill
Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
HR. 4549, 119th Congress — read as touching Agribusiness.
Sponsored by
Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2]
ID: G000604
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 4549, 119th Congress — read as touching Agribusiness.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
20 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 783-785 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 282.
December 1, 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, brought to you by the esteemed members of Congress. Let's dissect this farce, shall we?
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act (HR 4549) claims to "clarify" the responsibilities of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Rural Affairs. In reality, it's a thinly veiled attempt to create more bureaucratic busywork and justify additional funding for this office.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends Section 26 of the Small Business Act by:
1. Requiring the Assistant Administrator to have experience with rural affairs and small business concerns (because, apparently, that wasn't a given). 2. Expanding the Office's responsibilities to include hosting webinars and outreach events for rural small businesses. 3. Mandating annual reports on the Office's activities, which will undoubtedly be filled with meaningless statistics and self-congratulatory language.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects:
1. Rural small business owners, who will supposedly benefit from this "enhanced" support (but probably won't). 2. The SBA, which gets to justify more funding for its Office of Rural Affairs. 3. Lobbyists and special interest groups, who will use this bill as a Trojan horse to push their own agendas.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a classic example of "legislative placebo effect." It creates the illusion of action while doing nothing meaningful to address the real challenges faced by rural small businesses. The actual impact will be:
1. More bureaucratic red tape and paperwork for rural small business owners. 2. Increased funding for the SBA's Office of Rural Affairs, which may or may not trickle down to actual support for rural businesses. 3. A nice PR boost for the bill's sponsors, who can now claim they're "supporting" rural America.
In conclusion, HR 4549 is a masterclass in legislative flimflam. It's a solution in search of a problem, designed to create more bureaucratic busywork and justify additional funding for the SBA's Office of Rural Affairs. Bravo, Congress!
Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No organization contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 3 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: W000829
Top Contributors
10
ID: G000592
Top Contributors
10
ID: F000466
Top Contributors
10
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 57 nodes and 29 connections (48 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $103,370
Showing top 19 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 helped.
Section 2(e)(2)(D) mentions an analysis of lending programs serving rural small business concerns, which could benefit agribusiness in rural areas.
Section 2(e)(2)(D) discusses lending programs, which could imply increased business for commercial banks involved in rural small business loans
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2])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.
— 750 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise THE SBA IN A CONSERVATIVE ADMINISTRATION Reforming and restructuring the SBA under a conservative Administration would meet the needs of America’s small-business owners and entrepreneurs, not special interests in Washington, D.C. Entrepreneurs believe the SBA is fairly archaic in its operations and programming and must be transformed to serve small businesses in the modern economy effectively.33 Therefore, a restructured and reformed SBA would end the long-term deficiencies, practices, and problems that have prolonged the decades-long cycle of waste, fraud, and mismanagement. Moreover, the SBA Administrator and leadership can provide significant value to all small businesses by strongly advocating for their policy needs and fostering an agencywide culture that values all small-business owners and does not exclude certain groups. Under a conservative Administration, success would yield: l A highly qualified SBA Administrator and leadership team that can competently run the agency and enthusiastically advocate for the policy issues and needs of small-business owners and entrepreneurs. l A tighter, more focused SBA that concentrates on congressionally authorized programs. l An accountable SBA Administrator and staff who report regularly to Congress, respond on a timely basis to requests from individual Members of Congress, and satisfactorily implement or respond to IG and GAO recommendations. l A full accounting of and an end to waste, fraud, and abuse in all COVID-19 relief programs, including the PPP and EIDL programs, and action that follows the rule of law by ensuring that loan recipients who are not eligible for loan forgiveness or who falsified loan applications either pay back the funds or are referred to law enforcement. l An end to SBA direct lending. l An approach to small-business lending and capital programs that supports a resilient small-business supply chain (for example, by financing technological upgrades and capital expenditures). l Outreach to all small businesses and those that are eligible for program support across sectors and geographic areas. Through congressionally authorized programs and collaboration with partners and business associations, the SBA could use the latest technology and platforms to — 751 — Small Business Administration implement relevant initiatives to reach small businesses. Programs would be nonduplicative and implemented on a first-come, first-served basis. l A modern, revamped, and streamlined SBA that better utilizes current technology and platforms for operations, for reporting, and in its programs to reach, service, and engage small businesses. l An Office of Advocacy that is strengthened by a renewed mandate and additional resources to protect against overregulation along with a research agenda that includes measuring the total cost that federal regulation imposes on small businesses. Accountability and Managerial Practice. The SBA lacks accountability and managerial practices to measure the effectiveness, success, and integrity of its various programs. As a future Administration evaluates agency structure and the particulars of how the SBA is spending appropriated funds, it should immediately require actions and procedures to compel a culture of accountability and perfor- mance. Specifically: l Require performance metrics and internal procedures to safeguard taxpayer dollars and program integrity. As noted in an October 2022 IG report, failure to adopt procedures that would reliably capture data and information for various programs, coupled with significant challenges and weaknesses regarding IT investments, systems development, and security controls, presents significant risks to program integrity and increased risk of waste, fraud, and abuse.34 Addressing these shortcomings and risks should be a priority challenge and action item for the next Administration. As underscored by the Inspector General in his introduction to the report, “Pandemic response has, in many instances, magnified the challenging systemic issues in SBA’s mission-related work.”35 l Review all internal government watchdog recommendations and require that SBA management implement or address outstanding and ongoing OIG and GAO recommendations within a specified time frame (ideally within 90 days of a recommendation) and on an ongoing basis. Strengthening the Office of Advocacy. The SBA Office of Advocacy (Advo- cacy) is “an independent office” within the SBA.36 It accounts for about one one-thousandth of SBA spending and 0.75 percent of SBA personnel. Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, both under its current authority and with suggested
— 750 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise THE SBA IN A CONSERVATIVE ADMINISTRATION Reforming and restructuring the SBA under a conservative Administration would meet the needs of America’s small-business owners and entrepreneurs, not special interests in Washington, D.C. Entrepreneurs believe the SBA is fairly archaic in its operations and programming and must be transformed to serve small businesses in the modern economy effectively.33 Therefore, a restructured and reformed SBA would end the long-term deficiencies, practices, and problems that have prolonged the decades-long cycle of waste, fraud, and mismanagement. Moreover, the SBA Administrator and leadership can provide significant value to all small businesses by strongly advocating for their policy needs and fostering an agencywide culture that values all small-business owners and does not exclude certain groups. Under a conservative Administration, success would yield: l A highly qualified SBA Administrator and leadership team that can competently run the agency and enthusiastically advocate for the policy issues and needs of small-business owners and entrepreneurs. l A tighter, more focused SBA that concentrates on congressionally authorized programs. l An accountable SBA Administrator and staff who report regularly to Congress, respond on a timely basis to requests from individual Members of Congress, and satisfactorily implement or respond to IG and GAO recommendations. l A full accounting of and an end to waste, fraud, and abuse in all COVID-19 relief programs, including the PPP and EIDL programs, and action that follows the rule of law by ensuring that loan recipients who are not eligible for loan forgiveness or who falsified loan applications either pay back the funds or are referred to law enforcement. l An end to SBA direct lending. l An approach to small-business lending and capital programs that supports a resilient small-business supply chain (for example, by financing technological upgrades and capital expenditures). l Outreach to all small businesses and those that are eligible for program support across sectors and geographic areas. Through congressionally authorized programs and collaboration with partners and business associations, the SBA could use the latest technology and platforms to
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.