# 119-hr-4549: Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act

119-hr-4549, Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2] (D-NH); status passed_house; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-19).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4549
- As of: 2026-07-19
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-4549
- Congress: 119
- Title: Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-07-21
- Sponsor: Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2] (D-NH)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Commerce
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-19

## Summary

**This bill would strengthen the SBA Office of Rural Affairs** by reorganizing its leadership, expanding outreach, and requiring public reporting and clearer definitions to better support rural small business concerns. - Rural small businesses: Defines “rural small business concern” using existing SBA rules and directs the Office to promote SBA and other federal programs through webinars and outreach events targeted to rural communities. - Leadership and resource partners: Creates a dedicated Assistant Administrator in the competitive service with required education or experience in rural affairs and development assistance, and names resource partners such as Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, SCORE chapters, and Veteran Business Outreach Centers. - Transparency and program oversight: Requires a public report not less than 180 days after enactment and annually that lists the Assistant Administrator, budget, full-time staff, the number of webinars and outreach events, a summary of activities, information gathered from outreach, and an analysis of SBA lending programs serving rural small business concerns.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Wied, Tony [R-WI-8] (R-WI), 2025-07-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Golden, Jared F. [D-ME-2] (D-ME), 2025-07-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-08-08T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Rural webinars and yearly SBA reports: benefit, low. This bill would require webinars and outreach events for rural small businesses across regions. The Assistant Administrator would invite SBA district offices, resource partners, and federal and state agencies. The SBA would post a public report within 180 days of enactment and every year after. Rep…
- Stronger SBA office for rural businesses: benefit, low. This bill would set a new Assistant Administrator to lead the SBA Office of Rural Affairs. The person would be a competitive service employee with rural small-business experience. It would shift the office from only giving information to actively promoting SBA and other federal help. If enacted, th…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250
- 119-hr-5401: Pay Our Troops Act of 2026
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-4549 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4549)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-9250: Great American Outdoors Act 250](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9250)
- [119-hr-5401: Pay Our Troops Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5401)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4549 (as of 2026-07-19).