SOS Act of 2025

Summary#

This bill, called the Save Our Staff Act of 2025 (SOS Act of 2025), would change the Small Business Act to stop certain offices of the Small Business Administration (SBA) from carrying out reductions in force and to require rehiring of employees removed in a specified period.

The bill defines a "covered office" as an SBA office that:

• provides counseling, training, or technical assistance to entrepreneurs or owners of small businesses (or oversees those services);
• provides oversight of any SBA lending program;
• carries out any SBA disaster relief program; or
• provides contracting certifications for small businesses.

Under the bill, no covered office may undertake a reduction in force on or after the date the bill becomes law. The SBA must re-employ each employee who was removed as part of a reduction in force carried out between January 20, 2025, and the bill's enactment date. The agency must rehire those employees within 60 days of enactment. Re-employed individuals must be returned to the same position and paid the same basic pay rate they had when removed, and must receive back pay for the period from removal until re-employment. The bill also reorganizes numbering of nearby sections of the Small Business Act.

What it means for you#

• If you are an SBA employee who was removed in a reduction in force between January 20, 2025, and the bill's enactment, the bill requires the SBA to rehire you within 60 days, put you back in the same job at the same pay, and give you back pay for the time you were separated.
• If you work in or rely on SBA offices that provide counseling, training, lending oversight, disaster relief, or contracting certifications, those specific offices could not carry out layoffs after the bill becomes law.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on costs or budgetary effects is included in the bill text or metadata provided.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.