A month after the federal budget cuts went into effect, the SBAis being called on to provide contingency plans on how the agencyplans to operate in an environment with limited resources.

In a Wednesday letter to SBA Administrator Karen Mills, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.),chairman of the House Small Business Committee, raised concernsabout the SBA's 7(a) and certified development company loan programs,both which he said requires an appropriation to cover their costsas defined in the Federal Credit Reform Act.

To assist the House Small Business Committee with oversight,Graves asked Mills to provide several pieces of informationincluding expected demand through Sept. 30 for the 7(a) and CDCloan programs and procedures the SBAwill use to allocate funds in the business loan accounts for bothprograms.

Graves also requested details on any plans to cap the size ofloans available in either program to ensure that sufficient fundsare in place to operate through Sept. 30.

The SBA was also asked to provide any plans to establish apriority list to allocate loans to potential borrowers should theexpected loan demand exceed funds, Graves said.

Mills was also asked to describe any expected reprogrammingfunds as authorized by Congress from other SBA accounts to thebusiness loan account in order to cover any shortfalls infunds.

Finally, Graves has also requested information from the SBA onexpected cost of travel by the agency's employees through Sept. 30,costs incurred through its National Small Business Week events, andexpenses to host a website associated with an award program forsmall businesses involved in an innovation research program andcontinued funding of the Regional Innovation Clusters program.

Graves asked Mills to provide the information by April 15. Healso told Mills to be prepared to testify on the SBA's sequestration contingency plans during a House Small BusinessCommittee hearing scheduled for April 24.