SBA Must Keep Small Business Licensing Guide Free and Online, Mandates New Act

If you’ve ever tried to start a small business, you know the licensing process is a confusing, expensive maze. You need to figure out what the federal government wants, what your state wants, and what your city wants—and those lists rarely match up. That’s why the Small Business Administration (SBA) maintains a website that attempts to centralize this information.

The One Stop Shop for Small Business Licensing Act of 2025 (SEC. 1) is short, sweet, and focused on one thing: making sure that specific SBA website stays free, public, and accessible forever. The bill mandates that the SBA Administrator must ensure the current website (and any future version that provides “basically the same information”) remains available to the public and cannot be put behind a paywall or have its access restricted (SEC. 2).

The Bureaucracy Lifeline: What This Really Means

Think of this bill as a guarantee that the SBA won't suddenly decide to charge $50 a month for the most basic information you need to legally open your doors. For a busy person trying to launch a side hustle or scale up their main gig, this website is a crucial roadmap. It’s where a new food truck owner in Austin can check federal health regulations alongside Texas state liquor licensing rules, all without hiring a $500-an-hour consultant.

By codifying this requirement into law, the bill ensures that this essential public resource is protected. If the SBA decided to, say, move all that information to a dusty PDF archive or only make it available to members of a paid service, they would be breaking the law. The act specifically defines the current website address and makes it clear that any future iteration must offer the same core licensing and permitting information.

The Fine Print: Where the Wiggle Room Is

While this is a clear win for small business owners—guaranteeing free access to critical information—there is a small detail that introduces some potential vagueness. The law says the requirement applies to the existing site and any future version that offers “basically the same information.”

“Basically the same” isn't exactly a high bar. This could potentially allow the SBA to redesign the site in a way that makes it harder to use, less comprehensive, or less searchable, while still technically complying with the law. For example, they could strip out local-level data or make the user interface terrible, claiming they are still providing “basically” the same content. Since the bill is focused on access, not quality, we’ll have to watch how the SBA interprets that flexibility if they decide to overhaul the platform down the line. For now, though, this act locks in one important thing: the cost of entry for this crucial information remains zero.