Congress funds and formalizes SCORE mentoring for small business owners
H.R. 10785 — SCORE for Small Business Act of 2026 · Filed by Analilia Mejia (D-NJ) · Introduced Oct 9, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill reauthorizes and strengthens the SCORE program (a volunteer mentoring service for small business owners) by establishing a formal cooperative agreement between the Small Business Administration and SCORE, setting clear operational standards, requiring financial oversight and compliance monitoring, and authorizing $17 million annually for fiscal years 2027–2028. The bill mandates that SCORE expand online counseling services, maintain transparent accounting, protect client privacy, and report annually to Congress on program outcomes including the number of businesses started, jobs created, and clients served.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to reauthorize, formalize, and strengthen the SCORE volunteer mentoring program through a structured cooperative agreement with the SBA, enhanced oversight, and expanded online services. It is routine legislative reauthorization with added accountability provisions.
What the text implies
- Salary cap (Senior Executive Service maximum) may limit SCORE's ability to recruit and retain specialized talent in competitive labor markets.
- Requirement for SBA approval of SCORE contracts above a threshold amount creates potential bottleneck in SCORE's operational flexibility and responsiveness.
- Privacy standards to be established by SBA rule (after notice-and-comment) introduce regulatory uncertainty; final standards could narrow or broaden client data protections.
- Performance metrics in annual reporting (job creation, business formation, ROI) may incentivize SCORE to focus on higher-potential clients, potentially reducing service to underserved or lower-income entrepreneurs.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs gain access to expanded, federally-funded volunteer mentoring and online counseling services at no cost. The bill's accountability mechanisms (financial audits, compliance oversight, privacy protections, whistleblower safeguards) protect both program integrity and client confidentiality, reducing risk of misuse of federal funds.
Who stands to gain
- SCORE (nonprofit organization receiving $17M/year in federal funding)
- Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs (free mentoring and counseling services)
Named in the bill
SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), Small Business Administration (SBA), Small Business Act, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, Office of the Inspector General (SBA), Committee on Small Business (House), Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Senate)
Where it stands
- Oct 9, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 9, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Small Business · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Small Business”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (15,916 characters) on Oct 16, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress funds and formalizes SCORE mentoring for small business owners” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr10785 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.