Committee Urges Responsible SBA Budget for 2014

Press Release

The House Small Business Committee, led by Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), today urged responsible reductions for the Small Business Administration's FY 2014 budget.

The Committee conducted a markup of its Views and Estimates that, unlike prior years, do not comment directly on the SBA's budget request, since the President has ignored his statutorily obligated deadline to submit one. Instead, this process lays out the Committee's recommendations to allocate scarce resources to improve the performance of the SBA and services to small businesses.

"Like any major bureaucracy, the SBA can do better, and we have some ideas to help," said Chairman Graves. "These common sense steps can save taxpayers money and enhance services to small businesses. After four years of trillion-dollar deficits, the SBA must do its part to restrain federal spending, reduce duplication and refocus on its core mission to meet small business needs. A good first step would be to prioritize and strengthen the SBA programs that have a proven track record of success and cut unnecessary, unauthorized, and unproven programs. We await a responsible budget request from the SBA that takes into account these priorities."

The Committee advises the SBA to explore the numerous options available to consolidate services and limit duplication in their entrepreneurial development for savings that do not limit services.

The Committee also recommends the SBA complete the modernization of its loan management system to ensure good stewardship of a $90 billion loan portfolio. In particular, efforts should be stepped up to secure repayment of loans. Recovery of a much higher percentage of those losses should be a priority that would improve the government's financial outlook.

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