SBA IT Modernization Reporting Act
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Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray [D-CA-31]
ID: C001123
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Bill Summary
Another masterpiece from the esteemed members of Congress, who have once again demonstrated their unparalleled ability to create a bill that is equal parts redundant, bureaucratic, and utterly pointless.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The SBA IT Modernization Reporting Act (HR 4491) claims to aim at modernizing the Small Business Administration's information technology systems by implementing recommendations from the Comptroller General. But let's not be naive – this bill is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to create the illusion of progress while actually accomplishing very little.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to submit an implementation plan within 180 days, detailing how they will address various IT modernization risks. Because, you know, what's really needed here is more paperwork and bureaucratic red tape. The plan must include a laundry list of requirements, including risk management strategies, cost estimates, and security protocols. Yawn.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The only parties that will be truly affected by this bill are the poor souls who have to wade through the ensuing sea of paperwork and bureaucratic nonsense. Small business owners? Ha! They'll be lucky if they even notice a difference. The real stakeholders here are the contractors, consultants, and IT vendors who will get to feast on the taxpayer-funded gravy train.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** The impact of this bill will be negligible at best. It's a classic case of "legislative theater," designed to make it seem like Congress is doing something meaningful while actually accomplishing nothing. The only real implication here is that it will further entrench the bureaucratic status quo, ensuring that the SBA remains mired in inefficiency and ineffectiveness.
Diagnosis: This bill suffers from a severe case of "Bureaucratic Obfuscation Syndrome" (BOS), characterized by an excessive use of jargon, redundant requirements, and a complete lack of meaningful action. Treatment involves a healthy dose of skepticism, a strong stomach for bureaucratic nonsense, and a willingness to call out the obvious lies and half-truths that permeate this bill.
Prognosis: Poor. This bill will likely pass with flying colors, hailed as a "major victory" by its sponsors and supporters. Meanwhile, the real problems facing small businesses will continue to go unaddressed, lost in a sea of bureaucratic red tape and legislative posturing.
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Project 2025 Policy Matches
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document. Higher similarity scores indicate stronger thematic connections.
Introduction
— 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 — 752 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise reforms, the Office of Advocacy could be a powerful weapon against the adminis- trative state’s regulatory extremism. l Amend the RFA so that all agencies are required to provide a copy of any proposed rule (other than bona fide emergency rules) along with initial regulatory flexibility analysis to the Office of Advocacy at least 60 days before a notice of proposed rulemaking is submitted for publication in the Federal Register. The Office of Advocacy would submit comments to agencies within 30 days, and each agency would have to consider these comments, make changes in the proposed rule based on those comments, or explain in a revised regulatory flexibility analysis why it chose not to change the proposed rule. The Office of Advocacy’s pre-proposing comments would be published on the agencies’ and its own websites. RFA economic analysis should be expanded to include indirect costs along with direct costs. In addition, the next Administration should require other agencies to seek Advocacy’s input. Currently, other agencies deny Advocacy the ability to enforce their duty to consider the effect of regulations on small entities by construing their regulations as not having significant economic impact, which would otherwise serve as a trigger for Advocacy’s input. Congress should presumptively exempt small businesses from new agency rules to force agencies to seek Advocacy’s input and permit new rules to apply to small businesses only with Advocacy signoff under specified criteria. l Increase the Office of Advocacy’s budget by at least 50 percent ($4.6 million). This would allow Advocacy to hire approximately 25 attorneys, economists, and scientists and enhance its role in the regulatory process. l Explicitly direct federal agencies to comply with the RFA. This would be similar to the approach adopted by President Trump in his January and February 2017 executive orders directing agencies to relieve the cost and burden of regulation on business.37 Advocacy should organize regional roundtables, onsite small-business visits, and an online platform to hear directly from small businesses and entities as it did from June 2017 through September 2018.38 This activity produced 26 letters to federal agencies and highlighted specific regulations that need reform and how Congress had addressed the most burdensome rules through the Congressional Review Act.39
About These Correlations
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.