II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 537 

To address ongoing small business and homeowner needs in the Gulf Coast 

States impacted by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2007 

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

A BILL 

To address ongoing small business and homeowner needs 

in the Gulf Coast States impacted by Hurricane Katrina 

and Hurricane Rita. 

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 ‘‘Gulf Coast Back to 

5 Business Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) 43 percent of businesses that close following 

9 a natural disaster never reopen; 


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1 (2) an additional 29 percent of businesses close 

2 down permanently within 2 years of a natural dis3 aster; 

4 (3) Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of 

5 the United States on August 29, 2005, negatively 

6 impacting small business concerns and disrupting 

7 commerce in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, 

8 and Alabama; 

9 (4) Hurricane Rita struck the Gulf Coast of the 

10 United States on September 24, 2005, negatively 

11 impacting small business concerns and disrupting 

12 commerce in the States of Texas and Louisiana; 

13 (5) according to the United States Chamber of 

14 Commerce, more than 125,000 small- and medium15 sized businesses in the Gulf Coast were disrupted by 

16 Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita; 

17 (6) due to a slow initial Federal response and 

18 the widespread devastation in the affected States, 

19 businesses impacted by Hurricane Katrina are in 

20 dire need of increased access to capital and technical 

21 assistance to recover and prosper; and 

22 (7) without the full recovery and prosperity of 

23 affected businesses, the Gulf Coast, and the rest of 

24 the United States, will be negatively impacted. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘Disaster Area’’ means an area in 

4 which the President has declared a major disaster in 

5 response to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane 

6 Rita of 2005; 

7 (2) the term ‘‘major disaster’’ has the meaning 

8 given that term in section 102 of the Robert T. 

9 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 5122); and 

11 (3) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

12 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Small 

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

14 SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN RECOVERY GRANTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro16 priated to the Secretary of Commerce $100,000,000 for 

17 the Economic Development Administration of the Depart18 ment of Commerce to make grants to the appropriate 

19 State government agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi, 

20 to carry out this section. 

21 (b) DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

23 the Secretary of Commerce shall disburse the funds 

24 authorized under subsection (a) as follows: 

25 (A) $75,000,000 to the State of Louisiana. 


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1 (B) $25,000,000 to the State of Mis2 sissippi. 

3 (2) PROPORTIONATE ALLOCATION.—Regardless 

4 of the amount appropriated under subsection (a), 

5 the amount appropriated shall be allocated among 

6 the States listed in paragraph (1) of this subsection 

7 in direct proportion to the allocation under that 

8 paragraph. 

9 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded to a State 

11 under subsection (a) shall be used by the State to 

12 provide grants, which may be made to any small 

13 business concern located in a Disaster Area that was 

14 negatively impacted by Hurricane Katrina of 2005 

15 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, to assist such small busi16 ness concern for the purposes of— 

17 (A) paying employees; 

18 (B) paying bills, insurance costs, and other 

19 existing financial obligations; 

20 (C) making repairs; 

21 (D) purchasing inventory; 

22 (E) restarting or operating that business 

23 in the community in which it was conducting 

24 operations prior to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 


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1 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, or to a neighboring 

2 area or county or parish in a Disaster Area; 

3 (F) compensating such small business con4 cerns for direct economic injury suffered as a 

5 result of Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurri6 cane Rita of 2005; or 

7 (G) covering additional costs until that 

8 small business concern is able to obtain funding 

9 through insurance claims, Federal assistance 

10 programs, or other sources. 

11 (2) CRITERIA.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

13 other provision of law, in making grants under 

14 paragraph (1), a State may use such criteria as 

15 the State determines appropriate, and shall not 

16 be required to apply eligibility criteria for pro17 grams administered by the Federal Govern18 ment, including the Department of Commerce. 

19 (B) EXCLUSION.—In making grants under 

20 paragraph (1), a State may not exclude a small 

21 business concern based on any increase in the 

22 revenue of that small business concern during 

23 the 12-month period beginning on October 1, 

24 2005. 


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1 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The Depart2 ment of Commerce may use not more than 

3 $1,500,000 of the funds authorized under subsection 

4 (a) to administer the provision of grants to the des5 ignated States under this subsection. 

6 SEC. 5. DISASTER LOANS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA OR 

7 HURRICANE RITA. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(b) of the Small Busi9 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting im10 mediately after paragraph (3) the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) DISASTER LOANS AFTER HURRICANE

12 KATRINA OR HURRICANE RITA IN A DISASTER

13 AREA.— 

14 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

15 ‘‘(i) the term ‘Disaster Area’ means 

16 an area in which the President has de17 clared a major disaster in response to Hur18 ricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita 

19 of 2005; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘qualified borrower’ 

21 means a person to whom the Administrator 

22 made a loan under this section because of 

23 Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane 

24 Rita of 2005. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DEFERMENT OF DISASTER LOAN

2 PAYMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

4 any other provision of law, payments of 

5 principal and interest on a loan to a quali6 fied borrower made before December 31, 

7 2006, shall be deferred, and no interest 

8 shall accrue with respect to such loan, dur9 ing the time period described in clause (ii). 

10 ‘‘(ii) TIME PERIOD.—The time period 

11 for purposes of clause (i) shall be 1 year 

12 from the later of the date of enactment of 

13 this paragraph or the date on which funds 

14 are distributed under a loan described in 

15 clause (i), but may be extended to 2 years 

16 from such date, at the discretion of the 

17 Administrator. 

18 ‘‘(iii) RESUMPTION OF PAYMENTS.— 

19 At the end of the time period described in 

20 clause (ii), the payment of periodic install21 ments of principal and interest shall be re22 quired with respect to such loan, in the 

23 same manner and subject to the same 

24 terms and conditions as would otherwise be 


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1 applicable to any other loan made under 

2 this subsection.’’. 

3 (b) INCREASING COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law, including section 7(c)(6) of the 

6 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(c)(6)), the Ad7 ministrator may not require collateral for any cov8 ered loan made by the Administrator. 

9 (2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

10 ‘‘covered loan’’ means a loan in an amount of not 

11 more than $35,000 made— 

12 (A) under section 7(b)(1) of the Small 

13 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)); 

14 (B) as a result of Hurricane Katrina of 

15 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005; and 

16 (C) after the date of enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. OTHER PROGRAMS. 

18 (a) HUBZONES.—Section 3(p) of the Small Business 

19 Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

22 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

23 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(F) an area in which the President has 

2 declared a major disaster (as that term is de3 fined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford 

4 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 5122)) as a result of Hurricane 

6 Katrina of August 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 

7 September 2005, during the time period de8 scribed in paragraph (8).’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(8) TIME PERIOD.—The time period for the 

11 purposes of paragraph (1)(F)— 

12 ‘‘(A) shall be the 2-year period beginning 

13 on the later of the date of enactment of this 

14 paragraph and August 29, 2007; and 

15 ‘‘(B) may, at the discretion of the Admin16 istrator, be extended to be the 3-year period be17 ginning on the later of the date of enactment 

18 of this paragraph and August 29, 2007.’’. 

19 (b) RELIEF FROM TEST PROGRAM.—Section 711(d) 

20 of the Small Business Competitive Demonstration Pro21 gram Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 644 note) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘The Program’’ and inserting 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para25 graph (2), the Program’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Program shall 

4 not apply to any contract related to relief or re5 construction from Hurricane Katrina of 2005 

6 or Hurricane Rita of 2005 during the time pe7 riod described in subparagraph (B). 

8 ‘‘(B) TIME PERIOD.—The time period for 

9 the purposes of subparagraph (A)— 

10 ‘‘(i) shall be the 2-year period begin11 ning on the later of the date of enactment 

12 of this paragraph and August 29, 2007; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) may, at the discretion of the Ad15 ministrator, be extended to be the 3-year 

16 period beginning on the later of the date of 

17 enactment of this paragraph and August 

18 29, 2007.’’. 

Æ 


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