Returning SBA to Main Street

Summary#

This bill requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to move at least 30 percent of employees assigned to SBA headquarters to permanent duty stations outside the Washington metropolitan area. The move must be completed within one year of enactment. For each moved employee, pay will be set based on the pay locality of the new duty station and the employee will not be allowed to telework full time. Employees who already telework full time and have a documented ADA reasonable accommodation are exempt and still count toward the 30 percent requirement.

The Administrator must promote geographic diversity when choosing new duty stations, consider rural areas, and ensure regional offices are adequately staffed for in-person customer service. The bill requires a report to specified congressional committees within 180 days listing numbers of headquarters employees, those eligible for reassignment, those to be moved, ADA exceptions, and an implementation plan. After the report, employees to be moved must be notified 60–90 days later; the duty station change and pay-location change take effect 90 days after that notice. Employees who telework full time and remain in the Washington area (and are not ADA-exempt) will lose full-time telework status 180 days after the report.

The bill also requires reducing headquarters office space by at least 30%, beginning within 180 days and completed within two years. It bars payment of relocation incentives in certain situations, requires the SBA to include specific workforce numbers in its budget justification materials each year, and includes severability, supersession of other laws or agreements, and a provision saying the act does not create a private right to sue.

What it means for you#

• For SBA headquarters employees: If you are counted as a headquarters employee, you may be reassigned to a non-Washington duty station, your pay locality may change, and you may no longer be allowed to telework full time unless you have an ADA accommodation. You will receive a formal notice before any change takes effect.
• For regional and field offices: The agency must consider staffing those offices to support more in-person customer service.
• For the public and small business clients: The bill directs SBA to shift staff and office space toward locations outside the Washington area, but does not specify service changes.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on estimated costs, savings, or budgetary effects is included in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

The bill, titled the "Returning SBA to Main Street Act," directs relocation of headquarters staff and reduction of headquarters office space. Its text requires shifting staffing and physical space away from the Washington metropolitan area and reporting plans and counts to Congress.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on opposition arguments or alternate views is included in the bill text or provided metadata.