S. 298, Returning SBA to Main Street Act (119th Congress)
Summary
S. 298, the Returning SBA to Main Street Act, was introduced in the Senate on January 29, 2025 by Ms. Ernst (for herself, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Scott of South Carolina) and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Not later than 1 year after enactment, the Administrator would change the permanent duty station of not less than 30 percent of headquarters employees to an office outside the Washington metropolitan area, with no full-time telework. A headquarters employee who receives an accommodation to telework under title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is excepted. The Administrator would also reduce headquarters office space by not less than 30 percent.
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“S. 298, Returning SBA to Main Street Act (119th Congress).”
Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/s-298-returning-sba-to-main-street-act-2-2c78ee61d8/
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II
119TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 298
To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to relocate
30 percent of the employees assigned to headquarters to duty stations
outside the Washington metropolitan area, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY 29, 2025
Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
A BILL
To require the Administrator of the Small Business Adminis-
tration to relocate 30 percent of the employees assigned
to headquarters to duty stations outside the Washington
metropolitan area, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Returning SBA to
5 Main Street Act’’.
6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
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7 In this Act:
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1 (1) ADMINISTRATION; ADMINISTRATOR.—The
2 terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Administrator’’ mean
3 the Small Business Administration and the Adminis-
4 trator thereof, respectively.
5 (2) BUDGET JUSTIFICATION MATERIALS.—The
6 term ‘‘budget justification materials’’ has the mean-
7 ing given that term in section 3(b)(2)(A) of the Fed-
8 eral Funding Accountability and Transparency Act
9 of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).
10 (3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the
11 meaning given that term in section 2105 of title 5,
12 United States Code.
13 (4) HEADQUARTERS EMPLOYEE OF THE ADMIN-
14 ISTRATION.—The term ‘‘headquarters employee of
15 the Administration’’ means—
16 (A) an employee of the Administration
17 whose permanent duty station is at the head-
18 quarters of the Administration; or
19 (B) an employee of the Administration—
20 (i) who teleworks on a full-time basis;
21 and
22 (ii) whose rate of pay is calculated
23 based on the Washington metropolitan
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24 area rate of pay.
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1 (5) HEADQUARTERS OF THE ADMINISTRA-
2 TION.—The term ‘‘headquarters of the Administra-
3 tion’’ means the building serving as the principal
4 managerial and administrative center of the Admin-
5 istration, in accordance with section 4(a) of the
6 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 633(a)).
7 (6) PAY LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘pay locality’’
8 has the meaning given that term in section 5302 of
9 title 5, United States Code.
10 (7) RURAL.—The term ‘‘rural’’ means any area
11 that is not designated as an urban area, based on
12 the most recent data available from the Bureau of
13 the Census.
14 (8) TELEWORK.—The term ‘‘telework’’ has the
15 meaning given that term in section 6501 of title 5,
16 United States Code.
17 (9) TELEWORK ON A FULL-TIME BASIS.—The
18 term ‘‘telework on a full-time basis’’ means that an
19 employee is authorized to telework for 100 percent
20 of the work days of the employee per pay period.
21 (10) WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA.—The
22 term ‘‘Washington metropolitan area’’ means the ge-
23 ographic area to which the Washington metropolitan
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24 area rate of pay applies.
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1 (11) WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA RATE
2 OF PAY.—The term ‘‘Washington metropolitan area
3 rate of pay’’ means the rate of pay in effect for the
4 pay locality designated as ‘‘Washington-Baltimore-
5 Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA’’.
6 SEC. 3. RELOCATION OF EMPLOYEES.
7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
8 sions of law, and not later than 1 year after the date of
9 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall—
10 (1) change the permanent duty station of not
11 less than 30 percent of the headquarters employees
12 of the Administration, as of the date of enactment
13 of this Act, to be at an office of the Administration
14 at a location outside the Washington metropolitan
15 area, which shall be at locations throughout the re-
16 gions of the Administration; and
17 (2) for each employee of the Administration
18 whose permanent duty station is changed under
19 paragraph (1), ensure that—
20 (A) the rate of pay of the employee is cal-
21 culated based on the pay locality for the perma-
22 nent duty station of the employee; and
23 (B) the employee is not authorized to
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24 telework on a full-time basis.
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1 (b) DETERMINATION OF NEW DUTY STATIONS.—In
2 determining the permanent duty stations of headquarters
3 employees of the Administration under subsection (a), the
4 Administrator shall—
5 (1) promote geographic diversity, including con-
6 sideration of rural markets; and
7 (2) ensure adequate staffing throughout the re-
8 gions of the Administration, to promote in-person
9 customer service.
10 (c) DETERMINATION OF EMPLOYEES ELIGIBLE FOR
11 A CHANGE IN DUTY STATION.—
12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
13 graph (2), the Administrator shall include each
14 headquarters employee of the Administration as eli-
15 gible for a change in permanent duty station under
16 subsection (a).
17 (2) EXCEPTION.—A headquarters employee of
18 the Administration who is a qualified individual who
19 receives an accommodation to telework on a full-time
20 basis as a reasonable accommodation under title I of
21 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42
22 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.)—
23 (A) shall not be determined to be eligible
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24 for a change in permanent duty station under
25 subsection (a); and
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1 (B) shall be counted as a headquarters em-
2 ployee of the Administration for purposes of
3 complying with subsection (a)(1).
4 (3) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION OF ELIGI-
5 BILITY.—Not later than the day before the date on
6 which the Administrator submits the report required
7 under subsection (d), the Administrator shall notify
8 each headquarters employee of the Administration
9 who the Administrator determines is eligible for a
10 change in permanent duty station under subsection
11 (a) of that determination.
12 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date
13 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit
14 to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneur-
15 ship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business
16 of the House of Representatives a report that provides—
17 (1) the number of headquarters employees of
18 the Administration, as of the date of enactment of
19 this Act;
20 (2) the number of headquarters employees of
21 the Administration identified as eligible for a change
22 in permanent duty station, in accordance with sub-
23 section (c);
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24 (3) the number of headquarters employees of
25 the Administration whose permanent duty station
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1 will be changed to be at an office of the Administra-
2 tion at a location outside the Washington metropoli-
3 tan area under subsection (a);
4 (4) the number of headquarters employees of
5 the Administration subject to an exception under
6 subsection (c)(2); and
7 (5) the plan of the Administrator to implement
8 subsection (a).
9 (e) IMPLEMENTATION.—
10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 60 days,
11 and not later than 90 days, after the date on which
12 the Administrator submits the report required under
13 subsection (d), the Administrator shall notify each
14 headquarters employee of the Administration whose
15 permanent duty station will be changed to be at an
16 office of the Administration located outside the
17 Washington metropolitan area under subsection
18 (a)—
19 (A) that, effective 90 days after the date
20 of the notification—
21 (i) the permanent duty station of the
22 employee shall be changed;
23 (ii) the rate of pay of the employee
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24 shall be calculated based on the pay local-
25 ity for such permanent duty station; and
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1 (iii) the employee shall not be author-
2 ized to telework on a full-time basis; and
3 (B) of the location of such permanent duty
4 station.
5 (2) FULL-TIME TELEWORKERS REMAINING IN
6 THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA.—
7 (A) IN GENERAL.—For any employee de-
8 scribed in subparagraph (B), effective on the
9 date that is 180 days after the date on which
10 the Administrator submits the report required
11 under subsection (d), the employee shall not be
12 authorized to telework on a full-time basis.
13 (B) EMPLOYEES COVERED.—An employee
14 described in this subparagraph is a head-
15 quarters employee of the Administration—
16 (i) who teleworks on a full-time basis,
17 as of the date of enactment of this Act;
18 (ii) who is not subject to an exception
19 under subsection (c)(2); and
20 (iii) whose permanent duty station is
21 not changed to be an office of the Adminis-
22 tration at a location outside the Wash-
23 ington metropolitan area under subsection
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24 (a).
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1 (3) NO RELOCATION INCENTIVES.—If, pursuant
2 to this Act, the official worksite (as defined in sec-
3 tion 531.605 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations,
4 or any successor regulation) of an employee changes
5 from the residence of the employee to the head-
6 quarters of the Administration, notwithstanding any
7 other provision of law, the employee shall not be
8 paid any relocation incentive.
9 SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN HEADQUARTERS OFFICE SPACE.
10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall reduce
11 the amount of office space for the headquarters of the Ad-
12 ministration by not less than 30 percent.
13 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator shall—
14 (1) begin reducing office space under subsection
15 (a) not later than 180 days after the date of enact-
16 ment of this Act; and
17 (2) complete the reduction of office space re-
18 quired under subsection (a) not later than 2 years
19 after the date of enactment of this Act.
20 SEC. 5. INFORMATION INCLUDED IN BUDGET JUSTIFICA-
21 TION MATERIALS PROVIDED TO CONGRESS.
22 The Administrator shall include in the first budget
23 justification materials of the Administration submitted
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24 after the date of enactment of this Act, and the budget
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1 justification materials of the Administration for each fiscal
2 year thereafter—
3 (1) the number of headquarters employees of
4 the Administration;
5 (2) the number of employees of the Administra-
6 tion assigned to a permanent duty station in—
7 (A) a field office of the Administration;
8 (B) a district office of the Administration;
9 or
10 (C) a regional office of the Administration;
11 (3) the number of employees of the Administra-
12 tion who telework on a full-time basis; and
13 (4) the number of employees of the Administra-
14 tion who are a qualified individual who receives an
15 accommodation to telework on a full-time basis as a
16 reasonable accommodation under title I of the Amer-
17 icans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
18 12111 et seq.).
19 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY.
20 If any provision of this Act or the application of such
21 provision to any person or circumstance is held to be un-
22 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applica-
23 tion of the provision to any other person or circumstance
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24 shall not be affected thereby.
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1 SEC. 7. SUPERSESSION.
2 This Act shall supersede any other provision of law
3 and any provision of a collective bargaining agreement or
4 master labor agreement.
5 SEC. 8. NO PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION.
6 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to establish
7 a private cause of action, equitable or otherwise, to chal-
8 lenge any selection, change, or decision made, or action
9 taken, under this Act.
Æ
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