II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 715 

To amend the Small Business Act to provide expedited disaster assistance, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2007 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. KERRY, Ms. SNOWE, and Mr. VITTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to provide expedited 

disaster assistance, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Dis5 aster Recovery Assistance Improvement Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BUSINESS EXPEDITED DISASTER ASSISTANCE LOAN 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ mean the Small Business Administration 

3 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘immediate disaster assistance’’ 

5 means assistance provided during the period begin6 ning on the date on which a disaster declaration is 

7 made and ending on the date that an impacted small 

8 business concern is able to secure funding through 

9 insurance claims, Federal assistance programs, or 

10 other sources; 

11 (3) the term ‘‘program’’ means the expedited 

12 disaster assistance business loan program estab13 lished under subsection (b); and 

14 (4) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

15 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Small 

16 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

17 (b) CREATION OF PROGRAM.—The Administrator 

18 shall take such administrative action as is necessary to 

19 establish and implement an expedited disaster assistance 

20 business loan program to provide small business concerns 

21 with immediate disaster assistance under section 7(b) of 

22 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)). 

23 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In establishing the 

24 program, the Administrator shall consult with— 


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1 (1) appropriate personnel of the Administration 

2 (including District Office personnel of the Adminis3 tration); 

4 (2) appropriate technical assistance providers 

5 (including small business development centers); 

6 (3) appropriate lenders and credit unions; 

7 (4) the Committee on Small Business and En8 trepreneurship of the Senate; and 

9 (5) the Committee on Small Business of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 (d) RULES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

14 shall promulgate rules establishing and imple15 menting the program in accordance with this sec16 tion. Such rules shall apply as provided for in this 

17 section, beginning 90 days after their issuance in 

18 final form. 

19 (2) CONTENTS.—The rules promulgated under 

20 paragraph (1) shall— 

21 (A) identify whether appropriate uses of 

22 funds under the program may include— 

23 (i) paying employees; 

24 (ii) paying bills and other financial 

25 obligations; 


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1 (iii) making repairs; 

2 (iv) purchasing inventory; 

3 (v) restarting or operating a small 

4 business concern in the community in 

5 which it was conducting operations prior to 

6 the declared disaster, or to a neighboring 

7 area, county, or parish in the disaster 

8 area; or 

9 (vi) covering additional costs until the 

10 small business concern is able to obtain 

11 funding through insurance claims, Federal 

12 assistance programs, or other sources; and 

13 (B) set the terms and conditions of any 

14 loan made under the program, subject to para15 graph (3). 

16 (3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A loan made by 

17 the Administration under this section— 

18 (A) shall be a short-term loan, not to ex19 ceed 180 days, except that the Administrator 

20 may extend such term as the Administrator de21 termines necessary or appropriate on a case-by22 case basis; 

23 (B) shall have an interest rate not to ex24 ceed 1 percentage point above the prime rate of 

25 interest that a private lender may charge; 


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1 (C) shall have no prepayment penalty; 

2 (D) may be refinanced as part of any sub3 sequent disaster assistance provided under sec4 tion 7(b) of the Small Business Act; and 

5 (E) shall be subject to such additional 

6 terms as the Administrator determines nec7 essary or appropriate. 

8 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 

9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad10 ministrator shall report to the Committee on Small Busi11 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Com12 mittee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 

13 on the progress of the Administrator in establishing the 

14 program. 

15 (f) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap16 propriated to the Administrator such sums as are nec17 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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