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Regulatory Rundown: Dec. 16-30
SBA announces new SBLC licenses. On Dec. 23, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the agency has granted Small Business Lending Company (SBLC) licenses to four lending institutions: Cooperative Business Services, A10 Capital, Lafayette Square, and Stonehenge Capital. The awarding of the new SBLCs marks the program’s second expansion not only during the Biden administration, but also in 40 years.
Biden signs bill funding for SBA Disaster Loan Program into law. On Dec. 21, President Biden signed the American Relief Act of 2025 into law, providing funding for SBA’s Disaster Loan Program. The funding allows SBA to resume processing urgently needed financial relief for those impacted by Hurricanes Milton, Helene, and other natural disasters nationwide.
SBA announces upcoming launch of ’25 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. On Dec. 19, SBA announced the launch of the 2025 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) for entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) “focused on innovation-driven startups and entrepreneurs in underserved regions, industries, and communities to launch, grow, and scale.”
The 2025 competition offers $75,000 to $150,000 in awards to organizations “to accelerate the growth and maturity of innovation ecosystems in two stages,” the first of which opens Jan. 8, 2025.
Federal judge sets aside DOL expanded overtime pay rule. On Dec. 30, a federal judge in Texas became the second to strike down a Biden administration rule that sought to expand overtime pay to salaried workers. In the latest blow to the Biden-era rule, U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings issued a brief order agreeing with the reasoning laid out by another federal judge in Texas, who permanently blocked the rule in Nov. 2024. More information is available here.
DOL announces final rule reinstating original Dual Jobs reg. On Dec. 17, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued a final rule removing the 2021 Dual Jobs Rule from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and reinstating regulatory text as it existed in the CFR prior to the 2021 rule’s effective date. The action by DOL is consistent with an Oct. 2024 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decision vacating portions of the 2021 rule, effectively reinstating DOL’s original Dual Jobs regulation.
The original regulation that has now been reinstated recognizes that an employee may be employed in both a tipped occupation as well as in a non-tipped occupation, and that an employer may take a tip credit against its minimum wage obligations only for the time the employee works in the tipped occupation. The 2021 rule sought to update the original rule by addressing the circumstances under which an employer can take a partial credit against its minimum wage obligations based on the tips received by employees. More information is available here.
FTC announces second action against no-hire agreements. On Jan. 6, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered a building services contractor and its affiliated companies to cease enforcement of their no-hire agreements “that limit the ability of residential and commercial building owners from hiring building service workers” employed by the contractor. This order marks the second action the FTC has taken against no-hire agreements, the first of which was taken in Dec. 2024 against a different building services contractor.
EDA reauthorized by Congress. In Dec., Congress reauthorized the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) for the first time in 20 years, allowing EDA “to continue meeting its mission of ensuring communities across the country have the resources they need to expand economic opportunity, invest in innovation, and recover from disasters.”
During the Biden administration, EDA was responsible for directing nearly $6 billion in investments in over 3,000 awards nationwide.
White House releases Quadrennial Supply Chain Review. On Dec. 19, the White House released the first-ever Quadrennial Supply Chain Review, an assessment of the Biden administration’s work towards strengthening U.S. supply chains. The White House, as part of the announcement of the review, announced additional actions to support U.S. businesses, more information on which can be found here.
