New 'Business over Ballots Act' Bans SBA from Voter Registration Efforts, Restricting Civic Outreach

The newly introduced “Business over Ballots Act” is pretty straightforward: it tells the Small Business Administration (SBA) to keep its eyes on the prize—helping small businesses—and stay out of the voter registration game. This bill explicitly states that the SBA’s mission doesn’t include facilitating access to voter registration, and it even blocks the President from issuing an Executive Order that would force the SBA Administrator to start doing that work (Sec. 2).

The New Contract Catch-22

If you’re a small business, a non-profit, or a state agency that partners with the SBA, this bill adds a new layer of complexity to your agreements. Starting immediately, any new contract or agreement for SBA assistance must include a clause that explicitly forbids the recipient from using that assistance to help facilitate voter registration (Sec. 3). This isn't just about new deals; if you’re already receiving SBA aid, you can’t use that money for voter registration either. Essentially, if your organization relies on SBA grants or cooperative agreements—say, a local economic development center or a community organization that helps entrepreneurs—you now have a hard line drawn around how you can use those funds. This could hamstring groups that previously combined business outreach with civic engagement, forcing them to silo their activities or find entirely separate funding streams for voter drives.

Who’s In and Who’s Out of the Rules

One interesting detail is who this restriction actually applies to. The bill defines a “covered entity” as any organization or government that gets funding from the SBA to run a program. However, the bill makes a specific exception for recipients of a standard Section 7 loan or loan guarantee (Sec. 3). What this means in practice is that if a small business gets a traditional SBA loan to buy equipment, they aren't restricted from using their general funds (even if boosted by the loan) to, say, run a voter registration table in their store. But if a non-profit gets an SBA grant to provide counseling services to that same business, they are restricted from using that grant money for similar activities. This creates an uneven playing field where grantees and partners are held to a stricter standard than direct loan recipients.

The Real-World Impact on Access

For most people, the SBA isn’t the first place they think of when registering to vote. But for communities served by SBA partners—like Women’s Business Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, or local economic development agencies—these offices often act as trusted community hubs. By explicitly banning the SBA and its partners from facilitating registration, the bill removes convenient, non-partisan access points for people who might not otherwise seek out a registration drive. While the bill aims to keep the SBA focused on business, the side effect is reducing the number of places where busy citizens can easily take care of a civic duty. The core message here is clear: the federal government wants the agency focused solely on dollars and cents, not ballots, even if that means fewer opportunities for civic participation.