[House Report 119-223]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
119th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 119-223
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SBA IT MODERNIZATION REPORTING ACT
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August 15, 2025.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Williams of Texas, from the Committee on Small Business,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 4491]
The Committee on Small Business, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 4491) to require the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration to implement certain recommendations
relating to information technology modernization, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Bill Summary........................................2
II. Need for Legislation............................................2
III. Hearings........................................................2
IV. Committee Consideration.........................................2
V. Committee Votes.................................................2
VI. Section-by-Section of H.R. 4491.................................4
VII. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate.......................4
VIII. New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditure4
IX. Oversight Findings & Recommendations............................4
X. Performance Goals and Objectives................................4
XI. Statement of Duplication of Federal Programs....................5
XII. Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits........................................................5
XIII. Federal Mandates Statement......................................5
XIV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement............................5
XV. Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................5
XVI. Statement of Constitutional Authority...........................5
XVII. Minority Views..................................................6
I. PURPOSE AND BILL SUMMARY
On July 22, 2025, Rep. Cisneros, along with Rep. Jack,
introduced H.R. 4491, the SBA IT Modernization Reporting Act.
H.R. 4491 requires the SBA Administrator to implement certain
recommendations from a Government Accountability Office (GAO)
report that identified deficiencies in the SBA's current
information technology (IT) systems.
II. NEED FOR LEGISLATION
On July 11, 2024, Chairman Williams sent a letter to former
SBA Administrator Guzman raising concerns about the
Administration's planned overhaul of the SBA's contracting
certification system and the lack of internal safeguards that
could have prevented these issues. On November 6, 2024, the GAO
issued a report entitled ``IT Modernization: SBA Urgently Needs
to Address Risks on Newly Deployed System.''\1\ The report
highlighted the SBA's failure to properly manage risks and
implement sufficient oversight during the rollout of its new
certification system.
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\1\Gov't Accountability Office, GAO-25-106963, IT Modernization:
SBA Urgently Needs to Address Risks on Newly Deployed System (2024).
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H.R. 4491, the SBA IT Modernization Reporting Act, is
necessary to ensure the Small Business Administration addresses
serious deficiencies in its IT policies and systems, as
identified by a GAO report.
In response to the GAO's findings, this legislation
requires the SBA to develop and submit a detailed
implementation plan that strengthens its IT modernization
efforts by improving risk management, cybersecurity
protections, project scheduling, and cost estimation practices.
By mandating the adoption of GAO-recommended best practices,
this bill will help ensure a more secure, accountable, and
efficient SBA IT infrastructure moving forward.
III. HEARINGS
On February 5, 2025, the Committee on Small Business held a
hearing examining matters relating to H.R. 4491 entitled ``Hope
on the Horizon: Prioritizing Small Business Growth in the 119th
Congress.''
IV. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee on Small Business met in open session, with a
quorum being present, on July 22, 2025, and ordered H.R. 4491,
to be reported favorably to the House of Representatives by a
roll call vote of 23 ayes and 0 nos. During the markup no
amendments were offered on this bill.
V. COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded
votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments
thereto. The Committee voted to favorably report H.R. 4491 to
the House of Representatives at 11:03 AM
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
VI. SECTION-BY-SECTION OF H.R. 4491
Section 1--Short title
This act may be cited as the ``SBA IT Modernization
Reporting Act''.
Section 2--Implementation of recommendations relating to information
technology modernization for the Small Business Administration.
This section requires the SBA Administrator, through the
Chief Information Officer, to implement the recommendations
outlined in the November 2024 GAO report titled, ``IT
Modernization: SBA Urgently Needs to Address Risks on Newly
Deployed System.''
Within 180 days, the Administrator must submit a report on
the implementation plan to Congress. The plan must include
steps to improve risk identification, cybersecurity, contractor
oversight, project scheduling, and cost estimation using GAO
best practice guidelines. Within 30 days of submitting the plan
to Congress, the Administrator must provide a briefing to
Congress on the plan.
VII. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its own the cost
estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974. At the time this report was filed, the Committee has
requested but not received a cost estimate from the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office.
VIII. NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY,
AND TAX EXPENDITURES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives and section 308(a)(I) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the
following opinion and estimate with respect to new budget
authority, entitlement authority, and tax expenditures. While
the Committee has not received an estimate of new budget
authority contained in the cost estimate prepared by the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee does
not believe that there will be any new or increased costs
attributable to this legislation.
IX. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS
In accordance with clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause
3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the oversight findings and recommendations of
the Committee on Small Business with respect to the subject
matter contained in H.R. 4491 are incorporated into the
descriptive portions of this report.
X. PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the goal of
H.R. 4491 is to implement certain recommendations from the
GAO's report entitled ``IT Modernization: SBA Urgently Needs to
Address Risks on Newly Deployed System.''
XI. STATEMENT OF DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, no provision of H.R. 4491 is known to
be duplicative of another Federal program, including any
program that was included in a report to Congress pursuant to
section 21 of Public Law 111-139 or the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
XII. CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS,
AND LIMITED TARIFF BENEFITS
With respect to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the bill
does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax
benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e),
9(f), or 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
XIII. FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act.
XIV. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this
legislation.
XV. APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
XVI. STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY
Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII of the Rules of the House,
the Committee finds that the authority for this legislation in
Art. I, Sec. 8, cl. 1 of the Constitution of the United States.
XVII. MINORITY VIEWS
The Small Business Administration (SBA) administers four
small business contracting programs that seek to help the
government recruit and retain small business contractors and to
level the playing field for them to compete in the federal
marketplace. The programs' requirements and authorities differ,
but all four provide contracting opportunities to small firms
that meet the eligibility requirements in certain socioeconomic
categories. Once SBA certifies a firm's eligibility, it may bid
on contracts set aside for small business competitions and
direct, sole source awards.
Prior to the fall of 2024, each contracting program had its
own online certification platform and designated staff in SBA's
Office of Government Contracting & Business Development (GCBD).
The processes and use of multiple portals were cumbersome and
burdensome for both the SBA and many small business applicants.
Since 2011, SBA has initiated several unsuccessful projects
to modernize the contracting programs' IT platforms, portals,
and/or systems.\1\ In 2015, the SBA began developing a platform
(Certify.SBA.gov) that would bring each of the programs'
certifications systems together in one place, with the intent
of streamlining the certification processes for GCBD and all
small businesses, including and especially the small businesses
seeking more than one certification.
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\1\U.S. Small Bus. Admin. Off. of Inspector Gen., the SBA Did Not
Follow Federal Regulations and Guidance in the Acquisition of the
Onetrack System (Feb. 12, 2014).
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In November 2022, after the multiple unsuccessful attempts
by SBA to deploy a unified platform,\2\ Ranking Member
Velazquez requested that the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) conduct an evaluation. Then, in 2023, the SBA began work
on the Unified Certification Platform (UCP), the most recent
attempt to unify the certification platforms. Because the UCP's
development and deployment fell within the scope of the inquiry
driving the GAO report, rather than look retroactively, GAO
evaluated the UCP as it was being developed and deployed.
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\2\U.S. Small Bus. Admin. Off. of Inspector Gen., Evaluation of
Certify.SBA.Gov (Jul. 30, 2020).
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SBA opened the UCP for initial certification applications
in late October 2024 and GAO published their report in
November. In it, GAO raised serious concerns regarding UCP's
development and SBA's process for IT modernization projects.
The report made 14 recommendations. Three focused specifically
on UCP. Eleven others listed changes to SBA's risk management,
cybersecurity, and schedule and cost estimation procedures
applicable to any SBA IT modernization project.\3\ All 14
recommendations remain open.
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\3\Gov't Accountability Off., IT Modernization: SBA Urgently Needs
to Address Risks on Newly Deployed System (Nov. 6, 2024).
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Failing to use best practices to manage risk, costs, and
security, wastes taxpayer dollars and puts the information
small businesses have provided to SBA at risk. The SBA IT
Modernization Report Act will address the underlying issues
that GAO highlighted in its report by requiring the SBA to put
in place policies, procedures and best practices for developing
and deploying IT modernization projects.
Nydia M. Velazquez,
Ranking Member.
[all]