Skip to main content

Business Regulation and Consumer Protection

Jump To:

Open Recommendations

Small Business Research Programs: Agencies Identified Foreign Risks, but Some Due Diligence Programs Lack Clear Procedures
GAO-25-107402
Nov 21, 2024
Show
3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency should ensure that the SBIR/STTR program office and the Office of National Security develop and document agreed-upon procedures for requesting analytical support and sharing information—including classified information, as applicable—to support due diligence reviews. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the SBIR/STTR program office, the Office of the Chief Security Officer, and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis develop and document agreed-upon procedures for requesting analytical support and sharing information—including classified information, as applicable—to support due diligence reviews. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should ensure that the SBIR/STTR program office and the Office of Protective Services, Counterintelligence/Counterterrorism Division develop and document agreed-upon procedures for requesting analytical support and sharing information—including classified information, as applicable—to support due diligence reviews. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

COVID-19 Relief: SBA and DOL Should Improve Processes to Identify and Recover Overpayments
GAO-25-106199
Nov 13, 2024
Show
5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Administrator of SBA should ensure that the Office of Capital Access expands and documents loan review processes for the PPP and COVID-19 EIDL program and how loans are reviewed to identify overpayments. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Small Business Administration The Administrator of SBA should ensure that the Office of Capital Access expands and documents the PPP guarantee purchase process to ensure that—prior to purchase approval—SBA has collected sufficient documentation to verify that lenders complied with program requirements. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Small Business Administration The Administrator of SBA should ensure that the Office of Capital Access expands and documents SBA's overpayment identification and recovery process for the PPP and COVID-19 EIDL program, as well as future programs, to include clear, formalized procedures for tracking all identified overpayments and subsequent recoveries. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the Employment and Training Administration reports the total overpayment recovery rate in place of, or along with, the nonwaived overpayment recovery rate for UI programs, particularly pandemic-related UI programs (i.e., PUA, FPUC, PEUC, and MEUC). (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the Employment and Training Administration expands its UI program guidance to require that future temporary programs establish state overpayment recovery baselines to support DOL's monitoring of states' progress in recovering identified overpayments. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Small Business Research Programs: Agencies Broadly Solicit Ideas, but Clearer Guidance Could Improve DOD Efforts
GAO-24-107036
Sep 30, 2024
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering revises the SBIR/STTR Program Innovation Open Topic Guidance to clarify how the specificity of open and conventional topics should differ. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Small Business Research Programs: Opportunities Exist for SBA and Agencies to Reduce Vulnerabilities to Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
GAO-24-105470
Sep 09, 2024
Show
8 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Administrator of SBA should ensure that the Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment and Innovation expands the methods and sources used to identify fraud-related convictions and findings of civil liability to list in the SBA's database, such as through alerts from legal research resources. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Small Business Administration The Administrator of SBA should ensure that the Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment and Innovation leverages its oversight mechanisms to identify, share, and report fraud-related convictions and findings of civil liability to SBIR.gov and address participating agencies' challenges in understanding and meeting the 15-day reporting requirement. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture should ensure that the Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture ensures that USDA SBIR/STTR applicants receive fraud, waste, and abuse training. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DOD Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering SBIR/STTR Program ensures that DOD SBIR/STTR subcomponent program officials receive fraud, waste, and abuse training. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Small Business Administration The Administrator of SBA should ensure that the Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment and Innovation leverages its existing oversight mechanisms to ensure the accuracy of agencies' survey responses to required fraud, waste, and abuse training and, to the full extent of the SBA's legal authority, shares SBIR/STTR fraud risk information and resources for conducting fraud risk assessments. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Small Business Administration The Administrator of SBA should ensure that the Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment and Innovation, to the full extent of the SBA's legal authority, provides guidance to participating agencies to conduct comprehensive SBIR/STTR program fraud risk assessments, including all key elements, in support of the Policy Directive's fraud, waste, and abuse prevention requirements and consistent with Fraud Risk Framework leading practices. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
View More Recommendations

Related Pages

GAO Contacts

View More Contacts