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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 956 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

    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 ``Small Business Disaster Reform Act 
of 2015''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 7(d)(6) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(d)(6)) is 
amended by inserting after ``which are made under paragraph (1) of 
subsection (b)'' the following: ``: Provided further, That the 
Administrator, in obtaining the best available collateral for a loan of 
not more than $200,000 under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) 
relating to damage to or destruction of the property of, or economic 
injury to, a small business concern, shall not require the owner of the 
small business concern to use the primary residence of the owner as 
collateral if the Administrator determines that the owner has other 
assets with a value equal to or greater than the amount of the loan 
that could be used as collateral for the loan: Provided further, That 
nothing in the preceding proviso may be construed to reduce the amount 
of collateral required by the Administrator in connection with a loan 
described in the preceding proviso or to modify the standards used to 
evaluate the quality (rather than the type) of such collateral''.

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

    Section 21(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(b)(3)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``(3) At the discretion'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(3) Assistance to out-of-state small businesses.--
                    ``(A) In general.--At the discretion''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Disaster recovery assistance.--
                            ``(i) In general.--At the discretion of the 
                        Administrator, the Administrator may authorize 
                        a small business development center to provide 
                        assistance, as described in subsection (c), to 
                        a small business concern located outside of the 
                        State, without regard to geographic proximity, 
                        if the small business concern is located in an 
                        area for which the President has declared a 
                        major disaster under section 401 of the Robert 
                        T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
                        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), during the 
                        period of the declaration.
                            ``(ii) Continuity of services.--A small 
                        business development center that provides 
                        counselors to an area described in clause (i) 
                        shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 
                        ensure continuity of services in any State in 
                        which the small business development center 
                        otherwise provides services.
                            ``(iii) Access to disaster recovery 
                        facilities.--For purposes of this subparagraph, 
                        the Administrator shall, to the maximum extent 
                        practicable, permit the personnel of a small 
                        business development center to use any site or 
                        facility designated by the Administrator for 
                        use to provide disaster recovery assistance.''.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that, subject to the availability of 
funds, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall, to 
the extent practicable, ensure that a small business development center 
is appropriately reimbursed for any legitimate expenses incurred in 
carrying out activities under section 21(b)(3)(B) of the Small Business 
Act, as added by this Act.

SEC. 5. INCREASED OVERSIGHT OF ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOANS.

    (a) In General.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
636(b)) is amended by inserting immediately after paragraph 
(9)(D)(3)(cc) the following:
            ``(10) Increased oversight of economic injury disaster 
        loans.--The Administrator shall increase oversight of entities 
        receiving loans under paragraph (2), including--
                    ``(A) scheduled site visits to ensure borrower 
                eligibility and compliance with requirements 
                established by the Administrator; and
                    ``(B) reviews of the use of the loan proceeds by an 
                entity described in paragraph (2) to ensure compliance 
                with requirements established by the Administrator.''.
    (b) Sense of Congress Relating to Using Existing Funds.--It is the 
sense of Congress that no additional Federal funds shall be made 
available to carry out the amendments made by this section.

SEC. 6. REDUCTION OF PAPERWORK BURDEN.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration should--
            (1) reduce paperwork burdens pursuant to section 3501 of 
        title 44, United States Code, on small business concerns 
        applying for disaster assistance under section 7(b) of the 
        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)); and
            (2) ensure that the application for disaster assistance 
        under section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) 
        facilitates deterring and detecting potential incidents of 
        waste, fraud, and abuse.
    (b) Reduction.--Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
636(b)) is amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (10), as 
added by this Act, the following:
            ``(11) Paperwork reduction.--The Administrator shall take 
        steps to reduce, to the maximum extent practicable, the 
        paperwork associated with the application for a loan under this 
        subsection.''.

SEC. 7. REPORT ON WEB PORTAL FOR DISASTER LOAN APPLICANTS.

    Section 38 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657j) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Report on Web Portal for Disaster Loan Application Status.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall submit to 
        the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 
        Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
        Representatives a report relating to the creation of a web 
        portal to the track the status of applications for disaster 
        assistance under section 7(b).
            ``(2) Contents.--The report under paragraph (1) shall 
        include--
                    ``(A) information on the progress of the 
                Administration in implementing the information system 
                under subsection (a);
                    ``(B) recommendations from the Administration 
                relating to the creation of a web portal for applicants 
                to check the status of an application for disaster 
                assistance under section 7(b), including a review of 
                best practices and web portal models from the private 
                sector;
                    ``(C) information on any related costs or staffing 
                needed to implement such a web portal;
                    ``(D) information on whether such a web portal can 
                maintain high standards for data privacy and data 
                security;
                    ``(E) information on whether such a web portal will 
                minimize redundancy among Administration disaster 
                programs, improve management of the number of inquiries 
                made by disaster applicants to employees located in the 
                area affected by the disaster and to call centers, and 
                reduce paperwork burdens on disaster victims; and
                    ``(F) such additional information as is determined 
                necessary by the Administrator.''.
                                 <all>
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