SBA Hot Topic Tuesday – The House Small Business Committee is Requesting Former Associate Administrator Patrick Kelley’s Communications
July 25, 2023
Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor
SBA Hot Topic Tuesday – The House Small Business Committee is Requesting Former Associate Administrator Patrick Kelley’s Communications
Last week, Chairman Roger Williams of the House Committee on Small Business sent a letter to Administrator Isabella Guzman requesting the communications and documents related to the proposed rulemaking changes to the 7(a) loan program from former Associate Administrator Patrick Kelley.
“As noted by Republicans and Democrats on both the Senate and House Committees on Small Business, the roll-out of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) new lending rules that affect the agency’s flagship 7(a) loan program have been problematic. Aside from the policy implications of these drastic changes, official inquiries have been made regarding the Office of Capital Access’ communications with external stakeholders during the notice and comment periods during these two rulemakings. We write today to reiterate these requests for information on the problematic rules and their drafting,” writes Chairman Williams in the opening of the letter.
During a Senate Small Business Committee hearing in April, Ranking Member Ernst requested records of Patrick Kelley’s schedule, phone logs, and emails during the rulemaking periods for both rules that earned negative feedback from the congressional committees. Senator Ernst followed up with a letter in May about her request for records but has yet to receive them.
“The House Committee on Small Business shares the concerns articulated by Ranking Member Ernst and believes the requested information is vital to better understand the actions taken by Mr. Kelley and ensure nothing nefarious happened outside of the public notice and comment period to influence the outcomes of these rulemakings,” reads the letter from Chairman Williams.
Now, Chairman Williams is requesting information from the SBA and former Associate Administrator. He would like the information as soon as possible but declared the information should be supplied no later than August 2, 2023.