A gaggle of 24 Home Democrats blasted the Small Enterprise Administration (SBA) and is asking the company for extra solutions over plans to relocate six of its regional places of work out of “sanctuary cities,” contending the switch would hamper tens of millions of small companies.
The Democrats within the decrease chamber stated SBA’s Administrator Kelly Loeffler’s plan to maneuver the sphere officers from six cities — Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York Metropolis and Seattle — “is a blatant weaponization of the SBA for political gain.”
“To be clear, we firmly believe that our cities should be safe, all acts of violence should be taken seriously, and violent crimes should not be tolerated. But the targeting of these cities is clearly punitive, unjust and counterproductive,” the 24 Home lawmakers stated in a Friday letter to Loeffler that was shared with The Hill.
“Moreover, your decision will unduly harm millions of small businesses across the country who have been suffering through the chaotic, confusing, and unpredictable economic policies of the Trump administration,” the legislators wrote.
Loeffler introduced the company’s intention to maneuver the places of work earlier this month, stating that the six cities aren’t complying with immigration legislation and are detrimental to small companies.
The SBA administrator didn’t share within the March 6 announcement the place the brand new places of work might be, however stated they are going to be “moved to less costly, more accessible locations that better serve the small business community and comply with federal immigration law.”
Within the 5-page letter, spearheaded by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), the rating member on the Home Small Enterprise Committee, the 24 Democrats stated they’re involved the SBA “has no clear plans to relocate the offices or prevent any disruption to the small business owners who rely on them.”
“In fact, few, if any, of the leading practices of effective agency reorganizations identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) – an independent, non-partisan agency that examines how tax dollars are spent – seem to have been followed in your rush to penalize these cities,” the lawmakers wrote.
The 24 lawmakers stated they weren’t instructed in regards to the resolution to relocate the regional officers “nor any other policy to reform the agency. In fact, we read about your reforms and staff terminations in the news.”
The Home Democrats requested Loeffler to reply 13 questions by March 31, together with the abstract of the factors used to decide to relocate the places of work, how the choice will “better serve small businesses,” and a listing of SBA’s district places of work that “may be impacted by this reorganization.”
The group of legislators additionally requested the SBA head if the areas for the brand new regional officers had been recognized and what can be timeline for the relocations. Additionally they requested what number of SBA employees might be affected by the areas and the way the transfer aligns with the company’s “mission to aid, counsel, assist, and protect the interests of small business concerns; preserve free competitive enterprise; and maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the nation?”
Other than Velázquez, the Friday letter was signed by Democratic Reps. Morgan McGarvey (Ky.). Hillary Scholten (Mich), LaMonica McIver (N.J.), Gil Cisneros (Calif.), Kelly Morrison (Minn.), George Latimer (N.Y.), Derek Tran (Calif.), Lateefah Simon (Calif.), Johnny Olszewski (Md.), Herb Conaway (N.J.), Maggie Goodlander (N.H.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), Nikema Williams (Ga.), Jerry Nadler (N.Y.), Delia Ramirez (In poor health.), Diana DeGette (Colo.), Yvette Clarke (N.Y.), Chuy Garcia (In poor health.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Jan Schakowsky (In poor health.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Dan Goldman (N.Y.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.).
The Hill has reached out to SBA’s spokesperson for remark.
