President Barack Obama asked Congress today for the authority to consolidate six departments and agencies that serve business—including the Small Business Administration—into one agency.

This would make it easier for businesses to get the assistance they need and save taxpayers’ money, Obama said.

“We’d have one department where entrepreneurs can go from the day they come up with an idea and need a patent, to the day they start building a product and need financing for a warehouse, to the day they’re ready to export and need help breaking into new markets overseas,” Obama said. “One department where all our trade agencies would work together to ensure businesses and workers can better export by better enforcing trade agreements. One department dedicated to helping our businesses sell their products to the 95 percent of global consumers who live beyond our shores.”

Obama’s announcement follows up on a government reform pledge he made a year ago in his State of the Union address. Under his proposal, business programs at the Department of Commerce would be consolidated with the SBA, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.

Congress would have 90 days to vote on the consolidation, under Obama’s proposal.

Meanwhile, the SBA’s status will be elevated before it’s absorbed into a bigger agency: The president announced that, as of today, the SBA will be a cabinet-level agency.

“Karen Mills, who’s been doing a terrific job leading that agency, will make sure that small business owners have their own seat at the table in my cabinet meetings,” Obama said.

This move could ease concerns that the interests of small businesses could get lost if their programs are moved into a larger agency that also serves big businesses.

Small business advocates and members of Congress had mixed feelings about the president’s proposal to consolidate the SBA with other agencies. Many reserved judgment until they see more details.

“Decreasing the size of government and reducing bureaucracy is something that I support in principle, however, it is important that any effort to make significant changes to federal commerce and trade programs must be done carefully, and in a way that protects America’s small businesses,” said Representative Sam Graves, Republican of Missouri, who chairs the House Small Business Committee.

Tom Sullivan, who headed the SBA’s Office of Advocacy during former President George W. Bush’s administration, thinks Obama is “on the right track” with his consolidation proposal.

“If a small business wants to grow by entering into the export market, they should not have to call several agencies trying to find the right assistance,” he said.

Todd McCracken, president and CEO of the National Small Business Association, said it’s unclear whether the president’s consolidation proposal would help or hurt small businesses.

“On the one hand, reorganizing federal agencies to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ for America’s small businesses could streamline processes and make accessing information and assistance much easier,” he said. “On the other hand, such a reorganization could minimize the emphasis placed on small business by the federal government and lead to an even greater imbalance toward promoting the interests of large businesses over those of small business.”

That’s why Giovanni Coratolo, vice president of small business policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is leery of the proposal to merge the SBA with other agencies.

“Small businesses should always be independently represented within the administration and not buried within a mega agency,” he said.

In his speech, Obama noted that no business leader would allow “the kind of duplication or unnecessary complexity in their operations” that’s present in the federal government. But no business leader would do what the Obama administration just did if they’re serious about consolidation: Last week, the SBA signed a 10-year lease for 254,267 square feet at its existing Washington, D.C., headquarters. That’s a lot of real estate for an agency that’s supposedly about to move in with other agencies.

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Kent Hoover is the Washington bureau chief for bizjournals.