II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5501 

To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to relocate 

30 percent of the employees assigned to headquarters to duty stations 

outside the Washington metropolitan area, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2024 

Ms. ERNST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to relocate 30 percent of the employees assigned 

to headquarters to duty stations outside the Washington 

metropolitan area, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Returning SBA to 

5 Main Street Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATION; ADMINISTRATOR.—The 

2 terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Administrator’’ mean 

3 the Small Business Administration and the Adminis4 trator thereof, respectively. 

5 (2) BUDGET JUSTIFICATION MATERIALS.—The 

6 term ‘‘budget justification materials’’ has the mean7 ing given that term in section 3(b)(2)(A) of the Fed8 eral Funding Accountability and Transparency Act 

9 of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 

10 (3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

11 meaning given that term in section 2105 of title 5, 

12 United States Code. 

13 (4) HEADQUARTERS EMPLOYEE OF THE ADMIN14 ISTRATION.—The term ‘‘headquarters employee of 

15 the Administration’’ means— 

16 (A) an employee of the Administration 

17 whose permanent duty station is at the head18 quarters of the Administration; or 

19 (B) an employee of the Administration— 

20 (i) who teleworks on a full-time basis; 

21 and 

22 (ii) whose rate of pay is calculated 

23 based on the Washington metropolitan 

24 area rate of pay. 


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1 (5) HEADQUARTERS OF THE ADMINISTRA2 TION.—The term ‘‘headquarters of the Administra3 tion’’ means the building serving as the principal 

4 managerial and administrative center of the Admin5 istration, in accordance with section 4(a) of the 

6 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 633(a)). 

7 (6) PAY LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘pay locality’’ 

8 has the meaning given that term in section 5302 of 

9 title 5, United States Code. 

10 (7) RURAL.—The term ‘‘rural’’ means any area 

11 that is not designated as an urban area, based on 

12 the most recent data available from the Bureau of 

13 the Census. 

14 (8) TELEWORK.—The term ‘‘telework’’ has the 

15 meaning given that term in section 6501 of title 5, 

16 United States Code. 

17 (9) TELEWORK ON A FULL-TIME BASIS.—The 

18 term ‘‘telework on a full-time basis’’ means that an 

19 employee is authorized to telework for 100 percent 

20 of the work days of the employee per pay period. 

21 (10) WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA.—The 

22 term ‘‘Washington metropolitan area’’ means the ge23 ographic area to which the Washington metropolitan 

24 area rate of pay applies. 


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1 (11) WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA RATE

2 OF PAY.—The term ‘‘Washington metropolitan area 

3 rate of pay’’ means the rate of pay in effect for the 

4 pay locality designated as ‘‘Washington-Baltimore5 Arlington, DC–MD–VA–WV–PA’’. 

6 SEC. 3. RELOCATION OF EMPLOYEES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sions of law, and not later than 1 year after the date of 

9 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall— 

10 (1) change the permanent duty station of not 

11 less than 30 percent of the headquarters employees 

12 of the Administration, as of the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, to be at an office of the Administration 

14 at a location outside the Washington metropolitan 

15 area, which shall be at locations throughout the re16 gions of the Administration; and 

17 (2) for each employee of the Administration 

18 whose permanent duty station is changed under 

19 paragraph (1), ensure that— 

20 (A) the rate of pay of the employee is cal21 culated based on the pay locality for the perma22 nent duty station of the employee; and 

23 (B) the employee is not authorized to 

24 telework on a full-time basis. 


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1 (b) DETERMINATION OF NEW DUTY STATIONS.—In 

2 determining the permanent duty stations of headquarters 

3 employees of the Administration under subsection (a), the 

4 Administrator shall— 

5 (1) promote geographic diversity, including con6 sideration of rural markets; and 

7 (2) ensure adequate staffing throughout the re8 gions of the Administration, to promote in-person 

9 customer service. 

10 (c) DETERMINATION OF EMPLOYEES ELIGIBLE FOR

11 A CHANGE IN DUTY STATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), the Administrator shall include each 

14 headquarters employee of the Administration as eli15 gible for a change in permanent duty station under 

16 subsection (a). 

17 (2) EXCEPTION.—A headquarters employee of 

18 the Administration who is a qualified individual who 

19 receives an accommodation to telework on a full-time 

20 basis as a reasonable accommodation under title I of 

21 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

22 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.)— 

23 (A) shall not be determined to be eligible 

24 for a change in permanent duty station under 

25 subsection (a); and 


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1 (B) shall be counted as a headquarters em2 ployee of the Administration for purposes of 

3 complying with subsection (a)(1). 

4 (3) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION OF ELIGI5 BILITY.—Not later than the day before the date on 

6 which the Administrator submits the report required 

7 under subsection (d), the Administrator shall notify 

8 each headquarters employee of the Administration 

9 who the Administrator determines is eligible for a 

10 change in permanent duty station under subsection 

11 (a) of that determination. 

12 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

14 to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneur15 ship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business 

16 of the House of Representatives a report that provides— 

17 (1) the number of headquarters employees of 

18 the Administration, as of the date of enactment of 

19 this Act; 

20 (2) the number of headquarters employees of 

21 the Administration identified as eligible for a change 

22 in permanent duty station, in accordance with sub23 section (c); 

24 (3) the number of headquarters employees of 

25 the Administration whose permanent duty station 


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1 will be changed to be at an office of the Administra2 tion at a location outside the Washington metropoli3 tan area under subsection (a); 

4 (4) the number of headquarters employees of 

5 the Administration subject to an exception under 

6 subsection (c)(2); and 

7 (5) the plan of the Administrator to implement 

8 subsection (a). 

9 (e) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 60 days, 

11 and not later than 90 days, after the date on which 

12 the Administrator submits the report required under 

13 subsection (d), the Administrator shall notify each 

14 headquarters employee of the Administration whose 

15 permanent duty station will be changed to be at an 

16 office of the Administration located outside the 

17 Washington metropolitan area under subsection 

18 (a)— 

19 (A) that, effective 90 days after the date 

20 of the notification— 

21 (i) the permanent duty station of the 

22 employee shall be changed; 

23 (ii) the rate of pay of the employee 

24 shall be calculated based on the pay local25 ity for such permanent duty station; and 


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1 (iii) the employee shall not be author2 ized to telework on a full-time basis; and 

3 (B) of the location of such permanent duty 

4 station. 

5 (2) FULL-TIME TELEWORKERS REMAINING IN

6 THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—For any employee de8 scribed in subparagraph (B), effective on the 

9 date that is 180 days after the date on which 

10 the Administrator submits the report required 

11 under subsection (d), the employee shall not be 

12 authorized to telework on a full-time basis. 

13 (B) EMPLOYEES COVERED.—An employee 

14 described in this subparagraph is a head15 quarters employee of the Administration— 

16 (i) who teleworks on a full-time basis, 

17 as of the date of enactment of this Act; 

18 (ii) who is not subject to an exception 

19 under subsection (c)(2); and 

20 (iii) whose permanent duty station is 

21 not changed to be an office of the Adminis22 tration at a location outside the Wash23 ington metropolitan area under subsection 

24 (a). 


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1 (3) NO RELOCATION INCENTIVES.—If, pursuant 

2 to this Act, the official worksite (as defined in sec3 tion 531.605 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, 

4 or any successor regulation) of an employee changes 

5 from the residence of the employee to the head6 quarters of the Administration, notwithstanding any 

7 other provision of law, the employee shall not be 

8 paid any relocation incentive. 

9 SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN HEADQUARTERS OFFICE SPACE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall reduce 

11 the amount of office space for the headquarters of the Ad12 ministration by not less than 30 percent. 

13 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator shall— 

14 (1) begin reducing office space under subsection 

15 (a) not later than 180 days after the date of enact16 ment of this Act; and 

17 (2) complete the reduction of office space re18 quired under subsection (a) not later than 2 years 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 5. INFORMATION INCLUDED IN BUDGET JUSTIFICA21 TION MATERIALS PROVIDED TO CONGRESS. 

22 The Administrator shall include in the budget jus23 tification materials of the Administration for fiscal year 

24 2026, and each fiscal year thereafter— 


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1 (1) the number of headquarters employees of 

2 the Administration; 

3 (2) the number of employees of the Administra4 tion assigned to a permanent duty station in— 

5 (A) a field office of the Administration; 

6 (B) a district office of the Administration; 

7 or 

8 (C) a regional office of the Administration; 

9 (3) the number of employees of the Administra10 tion who telework on a full-time basis; and 

11 (4) the number of employees of the Administra12 tion who are a qualified individual who receives an 

13 accommodation to telework on a full-time basis as a 

14 reasonable accommodation under title I of the Amer15 icans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

16 12111 et seq.). 

17 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

18 If any provision of this Act or the application of such 

19 provision to any person or circumstance is held to be un20 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applica21 tion of the provision to any other person or circumstance 

22 shall not be affected thereby. 


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1 SEC. 7. SUPERSESSION. 

2 This Act shall supersede any other provision of law 

3 and any provision of a collective bargaining agreement or 

4 master labor agreement. 

5 SEC. 8. NO PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION. 

6 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to establish 

7 a private cause of action, equitable or otherwise, to chal8 lenge any selection, change, or decision made, or action 

9 taken, under this Act. 

Æ 


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