Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
Latest action · Dec 2, 2025 Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 282.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 21, 2025
- Passed HouseDec 1, 2025
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
This bill requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to use a competitive hiring process to select an assistant administrator for the Office of Rural Affairs. The assistant administrator must have experience (1) with rural affairs and issues relating to small businesses, and (2) providing development assistance to rural small businesses.
Additionally, the bill requires the office to host webinars and regional outreach events for rural small businesses.
The SBA must report annually about the office's activities.
Cosponsors 3
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jul 21, 2025 to Aug 8, 2025; 2 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-ME | Jared F. Golden | Original | Jul 21, 2025 |
| R-WI | Tony Wied | Original | Jul 21, 2025 |
| R-PA | Brian K. Fitzpatrick | Aug 8, 2025 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Small Business Committee | Referred Jul 21, 2025Markup Jul 22, 2025Reported Aug 15, 2025 |
Actions 12
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 2, 2025Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 282.
- Dec 1, 2025Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H4916-4917)
- Dec 1, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4916-4917)
- Dec 1, 2025Mr. Williams (TX) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- Dec 1, 2025DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4549.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H4916–H4917Text printed H4916 | Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. D-CA, Maggie Goodlander D-NH, Roger Williams R-TX | Dec 1, 2025 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Aug 15, 2025H.R. 4549, Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on Small Business on July 22, 2025
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 124, July 21, 2025, page H3527.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 119-016 | MARKUP OF: H.R. 2066, INVESTING IN ALL AMERICA ACT OF 2025; H.R. 4549, OFFICE OF RURAL AFFAIRS ENHANCEMENT ACT; H.R. 4495, SBA FRAUD ENFORCEMENT EXTENSION ACT; H.R. 4491, SBA IT MODERNIZATION REPORTING ACT; H.R. 3174, MADE IN AMERICA MANUFACTURING FINANCE ACT OF 202578 pages | Small Business Committee | Jul 22, 2025 |
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| IF12639 | SBA’s Rural Activities | Resource | Dec 15, 2025 |
Titles 6
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Small Business Act to clarify the responsibilities of the Office of Rural Affairs of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
- Short Title(s) as Reported to House
- Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
- Short Title(s) as Passed House
- Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
- Short Title(s) from PCS (Placed on Senate Calendar) bill text
- Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
- Official Title from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
- To amend the Small Business Act to clarify the responsibilities of the Office of Rural Affairs of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 2, 2025Placed on Calendar Senate
- Dec 1, 2025Engrossed in House
- Aug 15, 2025Reported in House
- Jul 21, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
