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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5332 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5332

 To appropriate amounts to the Disaster Loans Program Account, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 14, 2024

    Mr. Tillis (for himself, Mr. Budd, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Warner, Mr. 
 Heinrich, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, and Ms. Ernst) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To appropriate amounts to the Disaster Loans Program Account, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restoring an Economic Lifeline with 
Immediate Emergency Funding Act'' or the ``RELIEF Act''.

SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS DISASTER LOANS.

    (a) Direct Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There is appropriated, out of amounts in 
        the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for an additional 
        amount for ``Disaster Loans Program Account'' for fiscal year 
        2025 for the cost of direct loans authorized by section 7(b) of 
        the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)), $810,000,000, to 
        remain available until expended, of which--
                    (A) $10,000,000 shall be transferred to ``Office of 
                Inspector General'' for audits and reviews of disaster 
                loans and the disaster loan programs; and
                    (B) $250,000,000 may be transferred to ``Salaries 
                and Expenses'' for administrative expenses to carry out 
                the disaster loan program authorized by such section 
                7(b).
            (2) Prohibition.--None of the funds appropriated under 
        paragraph (1) may be used for indirect administrative expenses.
            (3) Emergency designation.--
                    (A) In general.--The amounts provided by this 
                subsection are designated as an emergency requirement 
                pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go 
                Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)).
                    (B) Designation in house and senate.--This 
                subsection is designated as being for an emergency 
                requirement pursuant to section 4001(a)(1) of S. Con. 
                Res. 14 (117th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 
                the budget for fiscal year 2022, and to legislation 
                establishing fiscal year 2025 budget enforcement in the 
                House of Representatives.
    (b) Inspector General Review.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    (A) the terms ``Administration'' and 
                ``Administrator'' mean the Small Business 
                Administration and the Administrator thereof, 
                respectively;
                    (B) the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' 
                means the Committee on Small Business and 
                Entrepreneurship and the Committee on Appropriations of 
                the Senate and the Committee on Small Business and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives;
                    (C) the term ``covered amounts'' means amounts made 
                available for the cost of direct loans authorized by 
                section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
                636(b)); and
                    (D) the term ``Inspector General'' means the 
                Inspector General of the Administration.
            (2) Review.--
                    (A) In general.--The Inspector General shall 
                conduct a review of the circumstances and the 
                underlying causes surrounding the funding shortfall 
                with respect to covered amounts, as described in the 
                letter from President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. entitled 
                ``Letter to Congress on Disaster Needs'', dated October 
                4, 2024, and the letter from the Administrator 
                submitted to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the 
                Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the 
                House of Representatives, dated October 10, 2024.
                    (B) Contents.--The review conducted under 
                subparagraph (A) shall include, with respect to the 
                funding shortfall described in that subparagraph--
                            (i) a comparison of monthly obligations of 
                        covered amounts against projected obligations 
                        of covered amounts;
                            (ii) an analysis of the accuracy of 
                        projections and estimates related to projected 
                        obligations of covered amounts;
                            (iii) the identification and description of 
                        any internal controls in place to manage 
                        covered amounts;
                            (iv) the identification of actions that the 
                        Administration can take to improve the accuracy 
                        of information submitted by the President under 
                        section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 
                        Code, with respect to the Administration, 
                        prevent any future funding shortfall with 
                        respect to any account of the Administration, 
                        and improve the report submitted to the 
                        appropriate committees of Congress under 
                        section 12091(a) of the Small Business Disaster 
                        Response and Loan Improvements Act of 2008 (15 
                        U.S.C. 636k(a)); and
                            (v) any other matter determined relevant by 
                        the Inspector General.
                    (C) Report on findings.--Not later than 180 days 
                after the date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector 
                General shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
                Congress a report that contains the findings of the 
                review conducted under subparagraph (A).
            (3) Reports on corrections.--The Administrator shall submit 
        to the appropriate committees of Congress--
                    (A) not later than 30 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, a report detailing corrections 
                the Administration will make to improve forecasting, 
                data quality, and budget assumptions relating to budget 
                submissions relating to amounts made available for the 
                cost of direct loans authorized by section 7(b) of the 
                Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)); and
                    (B) not later than 90 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter 
                until the date that is 90 days after the date on which 
                all the corrections described in subparagraph (A) have 
                been implemented, a report--
                            (i) detailing the actions the 
                        Administration has taken to implement the 
                        corrections described in subparagraph (A); and
                            (ii) explaining how each action detailed 
                        under clause (i) is directly related to 
                        implementing 1 or more corrections described in 
                        subparagraph (A).
                                 <all>
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