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• The Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act® would require federal agencies to perform more thorough RFA economic analysis and provide a rationale for proposed regulations. It also would waive fines for certain first-time paperwork violations.

• The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act”? (SBREFA) panel process allows small businesses to provide input on agency rulemakings, gives participating small businesses greater procedural rights, and allows for judicial review of agency violations of the SBREFA panel process. SBREFA panel requirements should be extended to all federal agencies.

• The Fair and Open Competition Act” would disallow the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) in federal contracting as required in President Biden’s Executive Order 14063,” which puts small businesses at a competitive disadvantage and works against the SBA’s governmentwide contracting goal for small businesses.

• The JOBS Act 4.0% would advance regulatory improvements and modernization of various Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules to enhance capital formation and access.

ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES AND BUDGET

Administrator and Key Staff. The position of Administrator should not be considered asymbolic or messaging-related position as some past Administrations have viewed it. Rather, the Administrator should have the requisite experience, skills, and knowledge to ensure that the SBA fulfills its statutory authorities.

Because much of the SBA’s statutory authority relates to financing and regulatory policy, and in order to make the SBA a more effective agency within the Administration, the Administrator and his or her key staff should have experience in small-business finance and investment and/or administrative law. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the SBA was often forced to outsource key decisions and administrative follow-through to the Department of the Treasury. The SBA Administrator and leadership team must share the President’s mission and vision and execute the Administration’s policies effectively.

Budget

The next Administration should undertake a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of its various loan and grant programs and provide a report to Congress within six months. The report should rank programs by cost-effectiveness. In the interim, the roughly $1 billion overall agency budget should be held constant until the report is considered, after which Congress should terminate