Joni Ernst

In Iowa and across the country, Main Street is in trouble.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of communities, but under former President Joe Biden’s administration, they were crushed by bureaucratic overreach.

After four years of price hikes and dismay, optimism on Main Street recently surged to its highest level since 2018 because job creators are eager for Republicans and the Trump administration to revitalize the small business economy.

That starts with fixing the broken Small Business Administration, which has become a bloated bureaucratic mess.

Change starts at the top, and we need a proven business leader as SBA administrator to gut the red tape and refocus the agency on serving Main Street.

As an accomplished businesswoman, Kelly Loeffler is the perfect person for the job.

Throughout her career, she rose through the ranks at multiple companies due to her determination and grit. She also started many businesses and knows what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

Most importantly, she knows what it means to be overrun by Washington’s bureaucratic overreach — and that the government must instead get out of the way so businesses can thrive.

I believe substantial reforms must be made to get the SBA back in shape, and that will require strong leadership.

While the SBA once may have been characterized as a smaller agency, COVID-19-era small business programs made the agency a household name, as it received $1.1 trillion in taxpayer funding to assist small businesses during the pandemic.

With that funding came big responsibilities, and I remain concerned that the SBA has too often failed to live up to its mission.

The Biden administration decided to turn a blind eye to COVID-19 fraud and delinquencies, refusing to properly collect outstanding debt and fraudulent funds, which has huge implications for the taxpayer.

Reports have indicated the SBA charged about $18.6 billion worth of economic injury disaster loans in fiscal 2024.

The agency has also been unable to provide an accounting of its loans receivable and loan guarantees, which means the Government Accountability Office hasn’t been able to even issue a financial audit of the agency since fiscal 2020.

The SBA also mismanaged and misinformed Congress last year regarding its disaster loan account, resulting in a shortfall that lasted 66 days — an unacceptable failure for the disaster victims in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida.

On top of this, it also appears the agency’s workforce continues to stay home, while its more than 246,000-square-foot Washington headquarters sits empty.

The GAO found that even if everyone did show up to work in person, the SBA’s building space would still only be 67% utilized.

That is why I introduced a bill to relocate 30% of the headquarters workforce to the SBA district offices across the country and cut 30% of office space. Not only will this save taxpayers money, but it will bring SBA employees closer to the people they serve.

As chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I will work with Loeffler to ensure that the SBA effectively utilizes its personnel and that small businesses across the country can access resources if they need them.

Small businesses will drive America into the Golden Age, but only if we get Washington out of the way.

Loeffler will get the job done, and I encourage my Senate colleagues to confirm her, so we can unleash the small business economy.

——

Joni Ernst, a native of Red Oak and a combat veteran, represents Iowa in the United States Senate.