Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
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- Crpt 119Hrpt225
Summary
House Report 119-225, submitted August 15, 2025 by the Committee on Small Business to accompany H.R. 4549, the Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act, together with minority views. The Committee reports the bill favorably without amendment and records that it was ordered reported on July 22, 2025 by a roll call vote of 23 ayes to 0 nos, with no amendments offered. The report states that the bill would establish an Assistant Administrator to head the Small Business Administration's Office of Rural Affairs, set qualification requirements, require webinars and outreach events, and require a report to the House and Senate small business committees within 180 days of enactment and annually thereafter. It notes that a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate had been requested but not received, and prints the changes the bill would make to section 26 of the Small Business Act.
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“Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act.”
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119TH CONGRESS REPORT
" HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES !
1st Session 119–225
OFFICE OF RURAL AFFAIRS ENHANCEMENT ACT
AUGUST 15, 2025.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State
of the Union and ordered to be printed
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas, from the Committee on Small Business,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 4549]
The Committee on Small Business, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 4549) to amend the Small Business Act to clarify the respon-
sibilities of the Office of Rural Affairs of the Small Business Ad-
ministration, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends
that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Bill Summary ........................................................................ 2
II. Need for Legislation .................................................................................... 2
III. Hearings ....................................................................................................... 2
IV. Committee Consideration ........................................................................... 2
V. Committee Votes ......................................................................................... 2
VI. Section-by-Section of H.R. 4549 ................................................................. 4
VII. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ............................................. 4
VIII. New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures 4
IX. Oversight Findings & Recommendations .................................................. 5
X. Performance Goals and Objectives ............................................................ 5
XI. Statement of Duplication of Federal Programs ........................................ 5
XII. Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits ..................................................................................................... 5
XIII. Federal Mandates Statement ..................................................................... 5
XIV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement ................................................... 5
XV. Applicability to Legislative Branch ........................................................... 5
XVI. Statement of Constitutional Authority ...................................................... 5
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XVII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................ 6
XVIII. Minority Views ............................................................................................ 9
59–006
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2
I. PURPOSE AND BILL SUMMARY
On July 21, 2025, Rep. Goodlander, along with Rep. Wied and
Rep. Golden, introduced H.R. 4549, the Office of Rural Affairs En-
hancement Act. H.R. 4549 codifies the role of the Assistant Admin-
istrator to serve as the head of the Office of Rural Affairs.
II. NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 4549 codifies the SBA Office of Rural Affairs and is crucial
to ensuring consistent and targeted support for rural entre-
preneurs, who often face unique challenges such as limited access
to capital. By setting clear qualification standards for leadership in
the Office, the bill strengthens accountability and focus in address-
ing rural economic development.
The Office’s mandate to promote favorable policies, conduct out-
reach events, and collaborate with SBA Resource Partners, such as
Small Business Development Centers, ensures a proactive ap-
proach to reaching rural small businesses. Furthermore, regular re-
porting to Congress on activities and service gaps provides trans-
parency and enables data-driven improvements. This will ulti-
mately help to close the opportunity gap between urban and rural
small businesses.
III. HEARINGS
On February 5, 2025, the Committee on Small Business held a
hearing examining matters related to H.R. 4549 entitled ‘‘Hope on
the Horizon: Prioritizing Small Business Growth in the 119th Con-
gress.’’
IV. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee on Small Business met in open session, with a
quorum being present, on July 22, 2025, and ordered H.R. 4549 to
be reported favorably to the House of Representatives by a roll call
vote of 23 ayes to 0 nos. During the markup no amendments were
offered on this bill.
V. COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives requires the Committee to list the recorded votes on the mo-
tion to report legislation and amendments thereto. The Committee
voted to favorably report H.R. 4549 to the House of Representatives
at 11:05 AM ET.
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VI. SECTION-BY-SECTION OF H.R. 4549
Section 1—Short title
This act may be cited as the ‘‘Office of Rural Affairs Enhance-
ment Act.’’
Section 2—Office of Rural Affairs of the Small Business Adminis-
tration
This section establishes an Assistant Administrator to oversee
the Office of Rural Affairs. The Assistant Administrator will pro-
mote policies and programs of the SBA and other federal agencies
to assist rural small businesses.
The section is changed to have the Office of Rural Affairs coordi-
nate with the successor of the now-defunct United States Tourism
and Travel Administration, the National Travel and Tourism Office
of the Department of Commerce.
The Office will be responsible for hosting webinars and outreach
events for rural small businesses and inviting various stakeholders,
including district offices, resource partners, and state and local gov-
ernments to participate.
A report is due within 180 days of enactment and annually
thereafter on the activities of the Office and will include the name
of the Assistant Administrator, the budget of the Office, the num-
ber of full-time employees of the Office, a summary of outreach ac-
tivities, analysis of lending programs in serving rural small busi-
nesses, and information gathered from webinars and outreach
events.
Additionally, this section defines key terms mentioned through-
out the bill.
VII. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives, the Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursu-
ant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. At the
time this report was filed, the Committee has requested but not re-
ceived a cost estimate from the Director of the Congressional Budg-
et Office.
VIII. NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY,
AND TAX EXPENDITURES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives and section 308(a)(I) of the Congressional Budg-
et Act of 1974, the Committee provides the following opinion and
estimate with respect to new budget authority, entitlement author-
ity, and tax expenditures. While the Committee has not received an
estimate of new budget authority contained in the cost estimate
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursu-
ant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
Committee does not believe that there will be any new or increased
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costs attributable to this legislation.
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IX. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS
In accordance with clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the over-
sight findings and recommendations of the Committee on Small
Business with respect to the subject matter contained in H.R. 4549
are incorporated into the descriptive portions of this report.
X. PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of
the Rules of the House of Representatives, the goal of H.R. 4549
is to codify the Assistant Administrator role in the SBA Office of
Rural Affairs and provide qualification requirements.
XI. STATEMENT OF DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, no provision of H.R. 4549 is known to be dupli-
cative of another Federal program, including any program that was
included in a report to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public
Law 111–139 or the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic As-
sistance.
XII. CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS, AND
LIMITED TARIFF BENEFITS
With respect to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, the Committee finds that the bill does not con-
tain any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited
tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of rule XXI of
the Rules of the House of Representatives.
XIII. FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal man-
dates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
XIV. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this legislation.
XV. APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to the
terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or
accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the Con-
gressional Accountability Act.
XVI. STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY
Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII of the Rules of the House, the
Committee finds that the authority for this legislation in Art. I, § 8,
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cl. 1 of the Constitution of the United States.
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XVII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill,
as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omit-
ted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics,
and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in
roman):
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill,
as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omit-
ted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics,
and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in
roman):
SMALL BUSINESS ACT
* * * * * * *
SEC. 26. OFFICE OF RURAL AFFAIRS.
(a) There is hereby established in the Small Business Adminis-
tration an Office of Rural Affairs (hereafter in this section referred
to as the ‘‘Office’’).
ø(b) The Office shall be headed by a director who shall be ap-
pointed by the Administrator not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this section.¿
(b) APPOINTMENT OF ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be administered by an As-
sistant Administrator, who shall be an employee in the competi-
tive service.
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Assistant Administrator shall—
(A) have education or professional experience with, or
knowledge of, rural affairs and issues relating to small
business concerns; and
(B) have experience providing development assistance to
rural small business concerns.
(c) The Office shall—
(1) strive to achieve an equitable distribution of the financial
assistance available from the Administration for øsmall busi-
ness concerns located in rural areas¿ rural small business con-
cerns;
(2) to the extent practicable, compile annual statistics on
rural areas, including statistics concerning the population, pov-
erty, job creation and retention, unemployment, business fail-
ures, and business startups;
(3) øprovide information¿ promote to industries, organiza-
tions, and State and local governments øconcerning the assist-
ance available to rural small business concerns through the
Administration and through other Federal departments and
agencies;¿ on the policies and programs of the Administration
and of other Federal departments and agencies for assisting
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rural small business concerns;
(4) provide information to industries, organizations, edu-
cational institutions, and State and local governments con-
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cerning programs administered by private organizations, edu-
cational institutions, and Federal, State, and local govern-
ments which improve the economic opportunities of rural
citizensø; and¿;
(5) work with øthe United States Tourism and Travel Ad-
ministration¿ the National Travel and Tourism Office of the
Department of Commerce to assist øsmall businesses in rural
areas¿ rural small business concerns with tourism promotion
and developmentø.¿; and
(6) host webinars and outreach events for rural small busi-
ness concerns as described in subsection (d).
(d) OUTREACH.—The Assistant Administrator shall—
(1) host webinars and outreach events in various regions of
the United States for rural small business concerns; and
(2) invite representatives from district offices of the Adminis-
tration, resource partners, Federal and State agencies, and
other interested persons to participate in such webinars and
outreach events.
(e) REPORT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the
Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small Busi-
ness of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, and make
publicly available on a website of the Administration, a report
on the activities of the Office during the one-year period imme-
diately preceding the date of submission of the report.
(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required under paragraph (1)
shall include the following:
(A) The operational details of the Office, including the
name of the Assistant Administrator, the budget of the Of-
fice, and the number of full-time employees employed by or
detailed to the Office.
(B) A summary of the activities conducted under sub-
section (c).
(C) The number of webinars and outreach events con-
ducted by the Administration to promote policies and pro-
grams described in paragraph (3) of subsection (c) and to
provide information described in paragraph (4) of such
subsection.
(D) An analysis of the lending programs of the Adminis-
tration in serving the needs of rural small business con-
cerns.
(E) Information gathered from any webinars and out-
reach events conducted by the Administration during the
period covered by the report.
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Assistant Admin-
istrator’’ means the Assistant Administrator of the Office of
Rural Affairs appointed under subsection (b).
(2) RESOURCE PARTNERS.—The term ‘‘resource partners’’
means—
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(A) small business development centers;
(B) women’s business centers (described under section
29);
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(C) chapters of the Service Corps of Retired Executives
(established under section 8(b)(1)(B)); and
(D) Veteran Business Outreach Centers (described under
section 32).
(3) RURAL SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘‘rural small
business concern’’ means a small business concern located in a
rural area (as defined in section 7(b)(16) of this Act).
* * * * * * *
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XVIII. MINORITY VIEWS
Small businesses are powerful drivers of economic growth across
the United States. From the first quarter of 2021 to the second
quarter of 2024, small businesses were responsible for 52.8 percent
of the total net job creation in the United States.1 Small businesses
are the primary source of jobs in America’s rural communities, and
they have a higher percentage of self-employed individuals relative
to urban areas.2 However, small rural businesses face greater chal-
lenges, including access to affordable capital, unreliable internet
access, and access to talent.3
The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Rural Affairs
(the Office) can play a key role in helping small rural businesses
overcome these challenges. The Office was created in 1990 to pro-
vide information and assistance to small rural businesses. The re-
sponsibilities of the Office include compiling statistics on rural
areas and small business concerns, distributing SBA financial as-
sistance programs equitably, providing information to stakeholders,
and working with the National Travel and Tourism Office to assist
small businesses in rural areas.
Unfortunately, the Office has either been dormant or the collat-
eral duty of a Regional Administrator for a vast majority of the
time since its establishment. In early 2020, an acting director was
named, and additional staff was hired with funding from the
CARES Act. In 2021, the SBA appointed a permanent, full-time ca-
reer deputy director to stand up the Office.
It is important for the Office to actively help small rural busi-
nesses deal with the challenges facing them today. With clear lines
of communication and the additional outreach that will come from
the Office, small businesses will be able to better access resources
that should readily be available to them. Furthermore, the Office
will play a role in being able to receive feedback from the small
business community that will allow the federal government insight
into how to best use resources to support small businesses.
NYDIA M. VELÁZQUEZ,
Ranking Member.
Æ
1 Small Businesses Continue to Outpace Large Businesses in Job Creation, U.S. BUREAU OF
LAB. STATS. (Jun. 23, 2025), https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/small-businesses-continue-to-
outpace-large-businesses-in-job-creation.htm.
2 Joe Thiel, The Challenges of Rural Entrepreneurship and Some Solutions, STARTUPNATION
(Jul. 2, 2024), https://startupnation.com/start-your-business/challenges-rural-entrepreneurship-
solutions-thiel.
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3 Id.
(9)
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