Sponsors (5)
Creates a dedicated SBA office and funding stream to boost Tribal and Native Hawaiian small businesses and formalize consultation, at the cost of new federal spending, a limited seven-year authorization that risks future uncertainty, and potential perceptions of reduced resources for other small businesses.
Members of Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations will receive targeted SBA support — including grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, culturally tailored counseling, training, and workshops — to start or expand businesses.
Tribal communities gain a formal consultative channel with the SBA, improving program design, tailoring services to local needs, and strengthening government-to-government engagement.
Annual reporting and budget recommendations create greater congressional oversight and transparency of SBA support for Tribal businesses, which can improve accountability and program effectiveness.
Establishing and operating the Office will require additional federal resources and administrative funding, likely increasing costs borne by taxpayers.
The Office is set to sunset after seven years, creating uncertainty for Tribes and businesses that come to rely on its programs and potentially disrupting services when funding ends.
Targeted funding and programs for Tribal entities could be perceived as diverting limited SBA resources away from other small-business applicants.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates an SBA Office of Native American Affairs to coordinate culturally tailored entrepreneurship, contracting, and capital-access support for Tribal and Native Hawaiian businesses, with a seven-year sunset.
Creates an Office of Native American Affairs inside the Small Business Administration (SBA) led by an Assistant Administrator to coordinate and target SBA entrepreneurial development, contracting, and capital-access programs for businesses owned and controlled by members of Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations and to promote economic development in Indian country. The Assistant Administrator must have cultural knowledge, provide culturally tailored assistance, conduct or assist with Tribal consultation, collaborate with other federal officials, recommend an annual budget for the Office, and submit annual reports to Congress on clients served and consultations. The Office may provide grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or other financial assistance and will terminate seven years after enactment unless extended. The change is implemented by inserting a new section into the Small Business Act and redesignating the prior section accordingly.
Official title: Native American Entrepreneurial Opportunity Act
Introduced February 5, 2026 by Sharice Davids · Last progress June 24, 2026