H.R. 5425 would requirethe Office of Rural Affairs of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to use a competitive hiring process to select an assistant administrator who would head the office. (Under current law, the Administrator of the SBA appoints a director to head that office.) The bill also would require the agency to conduct webinars and hold regional outreach events to assist rural businesses and report annually about those activities.
Based on information from the Office of Personnel Management, CBO expects that the federal pay for people selected through competitive hiring and appointment are similar. Additionally, the SBA already collects the data necessary for the required webinars and reports, including statistics on gaps in lending programs to rural businesses and the number of outreach events. On that basis, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost less than $500,000. Any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
