Bond finds SBA's cutting SCORE funds unacceptable

Sen. Kit Bond has expressed his dissatisfaction with the U.S. Small Business Administration action to cut funding for the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). Bond said in a release that the cut differed from the direction Congress outlined in its 1997 bill authorizing SBA programs.

"Congress made it clear that SCORE provides invaluable assistance to the nation's small businesses and that any reduction in direct and in-kind support as outlined in the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 would create a severe hardship to SCORE services," Bond said in a release.

Bond is chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business.

In a letter to SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez, Bond sought an explanation for the agency's effort to redirect money allocated to cover reimbursements of volunteers' expenses. The letter was signed by Sen. John F. Kerry, the ranking Democratic member on the Committee on Small Business.

The money has been redirected to pay for administrative expenses such as office space and telephone and postal services, according to a release from Bond.

Bond's release said the money that appears to have been redirected goes toward reimbursement of 14,000 SCORE volunteers' expenses. Participants in the program receive no payment or stipend for their work.

"SCORE volunteers should not be expected to pay for travel and out-of-pocket expenses they incur while helping small businesses," Bond said in a release. "At a time when increased SCORE funding is being considered by the Congress, the SBA should not scale back current support for such a valuable and effective program."

The 1997 reauthorization bill increased SCORE funding from $3.3 million in fiscal year 1997 to $5 million in fiscal year 2000.