II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 956 

To clarify the collateral requirement for certain loans under section 7(d) 

of the Small Business Act, to address assistance to out-of-State small 

business concerns, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 15, 2015 

Ms. HEITKAMP introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To clarify the collateral requirement for certain loans under 

section 7(d) of the Small Business Act, to address assistance to out-of-State small business concerns, 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 Reform Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS. 

7 Section 7(d)(6) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

8 636(d)(6)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘which are made 


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1 under paragraph (1) of subsection (b)’’ the following: ‘‘: 

2 Provided further, That the Administrator, in obtaining the 

3 best available collateral for a loan of not more than 

4 $200,000 under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) re5 lating to damage to or destruction of the property of, or 

6 economic injury to, a small business concern, shall not re7 quire the owner of the small business concern to use the 

8 primary residence of the owner as collateral if the Admin9 istrator determines that the owner has other assets with 

10 a value equal to or greater than the amount of the loan 

11 that could be used as collateral for the loan: Provided fur12 ther, That nothing in the preceding proviso may be con13 strued to reduce the amount of collateral required by the 

14 Administrator in connection with a loan described in the 

15 preceding proviso or to modify the standards used to 

16 evaluate the quality (rather than the type) of such collat17 eral’’. 

18 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO OUT-OF-STATE SMALL BUSINESSES. 

19 Section 21(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 648(b)(3)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘(3) At the discretion’’ and in22 serting the following: 

23 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE TO OUT-OF-STATE SMALL

24 BUSINESSES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion’’; 

2 and 

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

4 ‘‘(B) DISASTER RECOVERY ASSISTANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion 

6 of the Administrator, the Administrator 

7 may authorize a small business develop8 ment center to provide assistance, as de9 scribed in subsection (c), to a small busi10 ness concern located outside of the State, 

11 without regard to geographic proximity, if 

12 the small business concern is located in an 

13 area for which the President has declared 

14 a major disaster under section 401 of the 

15 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

16 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 5170), during the period of the declara18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(ii) CONTINUITY OF SERVICES.—A 

20 small business development center that 

21 provides counselors to an area described in 

22 clause (i) shall, to the maximum extent 

23 practicable, ensure continuity of services in 

24 any State in which the small business deVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Apr 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956

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1 velopment center otherwise provides serv2 ices. 

3 ‘‘(iii) ACCESS TO DISASTER RECOVERY

4 FACILITIES.—For purposes of this sub5 paragraph, the Administrator shall, to the 

6 maximum extent practicable, permit the 

7 personnel of a small business development 

8 center to use any site or facility designated 

9 by the Administrator for use to provide 

10 disaster recovery assistance.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that, subject to the avail13 ability of funds, the Administrator of the Small Business 

14 Administration shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that 

15 a small business development center is appropriately reim16 bursed for any legitimate expenses incurred in carrying 

17 out activities under section 21(b)(3)(B) of the Small Busi18 ness Act, as added by this Act. 

19 SEC. 5. INCREASED OVERSIGHT OF ECONOMIC INJURY DIS20 ASTER LOANS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(b) of the Small Busi22 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting im23 mediately after paragraph (9)(D)(3)(cc) the following: 

24 ‘‘(10) INCREASED OVERSIGHT OF ECONOMIC IN25 JURY DISASTER LOANS.—The Administrator shall 


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1 increase oversight of entities receiving loans under 

2 paragraph (2), including— 

3 ‘‘(A) scheduled site visits to ensure bor4 rower eligibility and compliance with require5 ments established by the Administrator; and 

6 ‘‘(B) reviews of the use of the loan pro7 ceeds by an entity described in paragraph (2) to 

8 ensure compliance with requirements estab9 lished by the Administrator.’’. 

10 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO USING EX11 ISTING FUNDS.—It is the sense of Congress that no addi12 tional Federal funds shall be made available to carry out 

13 the amendments made by this section. 

14 SEC. 6. REDUCTION OF PAPERWORK BURDEN. 

15 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that the Administrator of the Small Business Ad17 ministration should— 

18 (1) reduce paperwork burdens pursuant to sec19 tion 3501 of title 44, United States Code, on small 

20 business concerns applying for disaster assistance 

21 under section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 636(b)); and 

23 (2) ensure that the application for disaster as24 sistance under section 7(b) of the Small Business 

25 Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) facilitates deterring and deVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Apr 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956

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1 tecting potential incidents of waste, fraud, and 

2 abuse. 

3 (b) REDUCTION.—Section 7(b) of the Small Business 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by inserting imme5 diately after paragraph (10), as added by this Act, the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(11) PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—The Adminis8 trator shall take steps to reduce, to the maximum 

9 extent practicable, the paperwork associated with the 

10 application for a loan under this subsection.’’. 

11 SEC. 7. REPORT ON WEB PORTAL FOR DISASTER LOAN AP12 PLICANTS. 

13 Section 38 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

14 657j) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(c) REPORT ON WEB PORTAL FOR DISASTER LOAN

16 APPLICATION STATUS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

19 Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 

20 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

21 and the Committee on Small Business of the House 

22 of Representatives a report relating to the creation 

23 of a web portal to the track the status of applica24 tions for disaster assistance under section 7(b). 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The report under paragraph 

2 (1) shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) information on the progress of the 

4 Administration in implementing the information 

5 system under subsection (a); 

6 ‘‘(B) recommendations from the Adminis7 tration relating to the creation of a web portal 

8 for applicants to check the status of an applica9 tion for disaster assistance under section 7(b), 

10 including a review of best practices and web 

11 portal models from the private sector; 

12 ‘‘(C) information on any related costs or 

13 staffing needed to implement such a web portal; 

14 ‘‘(D) information on whether such a web 

15 portal can maintain high standards for data 

16 privacy and data security; 

17 ‘‘(E) information on whether such a web 

18 portal will minimize redundancy among Admin19 istration disaster programs, improve manage20 ment of the number of inquiries made by dis21 aster applicants to employees located in the 

22 area affected by the disaster and to call centers, 

23 and reduce paperwork burdens on disaster vic24 tims; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) such additional information as is de2 termined necessary by the Administrator.’’. 

Æ 


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