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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4072 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4072

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

                           November 16, 2006

Ms. Landrieu (for herself and Mr. Kerry) 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.

    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 ``Gulf Coast Back to Business and 
Homes Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) 43 percent of businesses that close following a natural 
        disaster never reopen;
            (2) an additional 29 percent of businesses close down 
        permanently within 2 years of a natural disaster;
            (3) Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United 
        States on August 29, 2005, negatively impacting small business 
        concerns and disrupting commerce in the States of Louisiana, 
        Mississippi, and Alabama;
            (4) Hurricane Rita struck the Gulf Coast of the United 
        States on September 24, 2005, negatively impacting small 
        business concerns and disrupting commerce in the States of 
        Texas and Louisiana;
            (5) according to the United States Chamber of Commerce, 
        more than 125,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the Gulf 
        Coast were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita;
            (6) due to a slow initial Federal response and the 
        widespread devastation in the affected States, businesses 
        impacted by Hurricane Katrina are in dire need of increased 
        access to capital and technical assistance to recover and 
        prosper; and
            (7) without the full recovery and prosperity of affected 
        businesses, the Gulf Coast, and the rest of the United States, 
        will be negatively impacted.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Disaster Area'' means an area in which the 
        President has declared a major disaster in response to 
        Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005;
            (2) the term ``major disaster'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
        and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122); and
            (3) the term ``small business concern'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 632).

SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN RECOVERY GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Commerce $100,000,000 for the Economic Development 
Administration of the Department of Commerce to make grants to the 
appropriate State government agencies in Louisiana, Alabama, 
Mississippi, and Texas, to carry out this section.
    (b) Disbursement of Funds.--The Department of Commerce shall 
disburse the funds authorized under subsection (a) in the most 
expeditious manner possible to the designated States, based on--
            (1) the number of small business concerns directly damaged 
        or disrupted by Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 
        2005 in the State;
            (2) the number of residents displaced from the State by 
        Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005;
            (3) the number of jobs lost or disrupted by Hurricane 
        Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005 in the State;
            (4) the extent of economic disruption by Hurricane Katrina 
        of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005 in the State; and
            (5) the number of evacuees from any other State due to 
        Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, to whom 
        the designated State is providing assistance.
    (c) Use of Funds.--
            (1) In general.--Grants awarded to a State under subsection 
        (a) shall be used by the State to provide grants, which may be 
        made to any small business concern located in a Disaster Area 
        that was negatively impacted by Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or 
        Hurricane Rita of 2005, to assist such small business concern 
        for the purposes of--
                    (A) paying employees;
                    (B) paying bills and other existing financial 
                obligations;
                    (C) making repairs;
                    (D) purchasing inventory;
                    (E) restarting or operating that business in the 
                community in which it was conducting operations prior 
                to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, 
                or to a neighboring area or county or parish in a 
                Disaster Area; or
                    (F) covering additional costs until that small 
                business concern is able to obtain funding through 
                insurance claims, Federal assistance programs, or other 
                sources.
            (2) Criteria.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
        in making grants under paragraph (1), a State may use such 
        criteria as the State determines appropriate, and shall not be 
        required to apply eligibility criteria for programs 
        administered by the Federal Government, including the 
        Department of Commerce.
            (3) Administrative expenses.--The Department of Commerce 
        may use not more than $1,000,000 of the funds authorized under 
        subsection (a) to administer the provision of grants to the 
        designated States under this subsection.

SEC. 5. DISASTER LOANS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA OR HURRICANE RITA.

    (a) In General.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
636(b)) is amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (3) the 
following:
            ``(4) Disaster loans after hurricane katrina or hurricane 
        rita in a disaster area.--
                    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                            ``(i) the term `Disaster Area' means an 
                        area in which the President has declared a 
                        major disaster in response to Hurricane Katrina 
                        of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005; and
                            ``(ii) the term `qualified borrower' means 
                        a person to whom the Administrator made a loan 
                        under this section because of Hurricane Katrina 
                        of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005.
                    ``(B) Deferment of disaster loan payments.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Notwithstanding any 
                        other provision of law, payments of principal 
                        and interest on a loan to a qualified borrower 
                        made before December 31, 2006, shall be 
                        deferred, and no interest shall accrue with 
                        respect to such loan, during the time period 
                        described in clause (ii).
                            ``(ii) Time period.--The time period for 
                        purposes of clause (i) shall be 1 year from the 
                        later of the date of enactment of this 
                        paragraph or the date on which funds are 
                        distributed under a loan described in clause 
                        (i), but may be extended to 2 years from such 
                        date, at the discretion of the Administrator.
                            ``(iii) Resumption of payments.--At the end 
                        of the time period described in clause (ii), 
                        the payment of periodic installments of 
                        principal and interest shall be required with 
                        respect to such loan, in the same manner and 
                        subject to the same terms and conditions as 
                        would otherwise be applicable to any other loan 
                        made under this subsection.''.
    (b) Increasing Collateral Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, including section 7(c)(6) of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 636(c)(6)), the Administrator may not require collateral 
        for any covered loan made by the Administrator.
            (2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``covered 
        loan'' means a loan in an amount of not more than $35,000 
        made--
                    (A) under section 7(b)(1) of the Small Business Act 
                (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1));
                    (B) as a result of Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or 
                Hurricane Rita of 2005; and
                    (C) after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. WAIVER OF DUPLICATION OF CERTAIN BENEFITS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 9 of title II of the Emergency 
Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, 
and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Public Law 109-234; 120 Stat. 471) is 
amended under the heading ``community development fund (including 
transfer of funds)'' under the heading ``Community Planning and 
Development'' under the heading ``DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN 
DEVELOPMENT'', by inserting after ``Army Corps of Engineers:'' the 
following: ``Provided further, That notwithstanding the previous 
proviso or any other provision of law, in providing assistance in the 
State of Louisiana, the Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration may (in determining whether activities are reimbursable 
under, or whether funds have been made available under, the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 
et seq.) using amounts made available under this heading) use as the 
amount of a loan under section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 636(b)) the amount attributable to the difference between the 
rate of interest on such loan and the market rate at which such 
borrower could have borrowed such funds, over the period of such 
loan:''.
    (b) Effective Date and Applicability.--
            (1) Effective date.--The amendments made by this section 
        shall be deemed to have taken effect as though enacted as part 
        of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, 
        the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Public 
        Law 109-234; 120 Stat. 418).
            (2) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section 
        shall apply to any application for assistance under section 
        7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) that is 
        submitted not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act.
                                 <all>
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