H.R. 10785 — SCORE for Small Business Act of 2026

This section requires the Administrator to enter into a cooperative agreement with SCORE to operate the volunteer mentoring program for small business owners and imposes requirements including biennial financial examinations of SCORE, review of contracts above an Administrator-determined threshold, centralized accounting with a compliance officer, salary caps at the career Senior Executive Service maximum rate, performance awards limited to 5 percent of aggregate salaries with 60-day advance reporting, annual whistleblower training and manual updates, acknowledgment of federal support in published materials, and privacy protections barring disclosure of client names or contact information except under court order or for limited audits.

This section authorizes $17 million for each of fiscal years 2027 and 2028 to carry out the SCORE program, which provides mentoring and counseling services to small businesses.

This section requires SCORE to study its future role and submit a strategic plan to the House and Senate small business committees within 6 months of enactment, covering findings, objectives for the first, third, and fifth years of the ensuing 5-year period, and implementation under stagnant and increased funding. It also requires the Small Business Administration Administrator to report within 1 year on the cost of leased space donated to SCORE, and requires SCORE to report within 3 months after the first full fiscal year on the effectiveness of its online counseling services, including performance metrics on businesses counseled and created, jobs, and funding.

This section replaces references to the Service Corps of Retired Executives with SCORE in the Small Business Act and eight other statutes, including the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. It standardizes the name of the SCORE small business mentoring program across federal law.

This section defines the terms "Administration" and "Administrator" as the Small Business Administration and its head, incorporates the meaning of "SCORE" from section 8(c)(1) of the Small Business Act as added by section 2, and adopts the existing statutory definition of "small business concern" from section 3 of the Small Business Act.