Title: Small Business Disaster Relief Act of 2017
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Small Business Disaster Relief Act of 2017
This bill amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) to exceed the $100,000 limit on small business development center assistance grants to accommodate extraordinary occurrences having a catastrophic impact on small business concerns in a community.
The bill amends the Disaster Relief Act of 1970 to permit: (1) the use of SBA and Farm Service Agency (formerly, Farmers Home Administration) loans for enterprises that are vital to recovery efforts in a disaster area (including debris removal services, manufactured housing, gasoline, telecommunications, or building materials); and (2) such loans to waive any required evaluation of creditworthiness in exchange for a fee set by the SBA or the Farm Service Agency.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1853 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1853

To provide disaster relief to small businesses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 25, 2017

 Mr. Nelson (for himself and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 
                          and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide disaster relief to small businesses, 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 Relief Act 
of 2017''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DISASTER LOAN PROCESSING.

    It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the Small 
Business Administration should use district offices of the 
Administration whenever possible to expedite the processing of disaster 
loans under section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)).

SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER PORTABILITY GRANTS.

    Section 21(a)(4)(C)(viii) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
648(a)(4)(C)(viii)) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``as a result of a 
        business or government facility down sizing or closing, which 
        has resulted in the loss of jobs or small business 
        instability'' and inserting ``due to events that have resulted 
        or will result in a business or government facility downsizing 
        or closing''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``At the discretion 
        of the Administrator, the Administrator may make an award 
        greater than $100,000 to a recipient to accommodate 
        extraordinary occurrences having a catastrophic impact on the 
        small business concerns in a community.''.

SEC. 4. DISASTER ASSISTANCE TO CRITICAL ENTERPRISES.

    Section 237 of the Disaster Relief Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 636d) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``Farmers Home Administration'' and 
                inserting ``Farm Service Agency'';
                    (B) by striking ``major disaster or'' and inserting 
                ``major disaster or is vital to recovery efforts in the 
                disaster area (including providing debris removal 
                services, manufactured housing, gasoline, 
                telecommunications, or building materials),''; and
                    (C) by striking ``Loans authorized'' and inserting 
                the following:
    ``(b) Terms and Conditions.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, loans authorized by this section--
            ``(1) shall be made without regard to limitations on the 
        size of loans which may otherwise be imposed by any other 
        provision of law or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto; 
        and
            ``(2) may waive any required evaluation of creditworthiness 
        in exchange for a fee, as set by the Small Business 
        Administration or the Farm Service Agency, as applicable.''.
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