During a hearing by the House Small Business Committee, Rep. George Latimer of New York’s 16th Congressional District pressed Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), for answers to questions his small business constituents have been asking, but she avoided providing specifics.
When Latimer asked whether the SBA plans to close its office in Bridgeport, Connecticut, following the closure of its office in Manhattan, Loeffler did not answer but instead said she would supply him with a list of the offices the agency plans to close.
“Congressman, we are working on moving offices out of sanctuary cities,” Loeffler said. “The offices that we are closing had no staff. We want to optimize our field to be sure that small businesses are being served. We think that sometimes for small businesses to approach a federal building can be intimidating.”
Latimer asked Loeffler how many employees would be at SBA’s Long Island office when it assumes the functions of the Manhattan office in Federal Plaza but she did not know. When questioned, she admitted that SBA did not have specific information about President Trump’s tariffs on its website so that small businesses could determine how the tariffs might impact themand the prices they’ll need to pay for goods they carry. She did say that the website refers small businesses to other sources that might have the information they need.
When Latimer asked whether the SBA will continue to support minority-owned and women-owned businesses in view of the Trump Administration eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, Loeffler did not make a commitment.
“If I can’t get a question answered in a Congressional hearing, how is a small business expected to get clarity on all of these moving parts?,” Latimer later said. “Non-answers and obfuscation don’t work for small business owners who are worried about their bottom line and facing an uncertain economy.”
The hearing with Loeffler came after the House of Representatives gave approval to a bipartisan bill designed to help small businesses that was sponsored by Latimer and Republican Mark Alford of Missouri. It’s named the “Transparency and Predictability in Small Business Opportunities Act” and is designed to help small businesses in their efforts to obtain government contracts.
The act requires the SBA administrator to Issue regulations addressing canceled solicitations for contracts so that small businesses can find out why the solicitation was canceled and any plans to reissue the solicitation. It also requires that federal agencies help small businesses seek additional opportunities if a solicitation on which they made an offer is canceled.
