[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 397 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 397

 To amend the Small Business Act to increase the minimum disaster loan 
    amount for which the Small Business Administration may require 
                  collateral, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 4, 2025

 Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Booker, and Ms. Hirono) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Small Business Act to increase the minimum disaster loan 
    amount for which the Small Business Administration may require 
                  collateral, 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 Damage 
Fairness Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR DISASTER LOANS.

    Section 7(d)(6) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(d)(6)) is 
amended, in the second sentence, in the third proviso--
            (1) by striking ``$14,000'' and inserting ``$50,000''; and
            (2) by striking ``major disaster'' and inserting 
        ``disaster''.

SEC. 3. GAO REPORT ON DEFAULT RATES.

    Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States 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 on the 
performance, including the default rate, of loans made under section 
7(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)), and the impact 
of the amendments to collateral amounts made under section 2 of this 
Act on the performance of those loans, during the period--
            (1) beginning on September 30, 2020; and
            (2) ending on the date on that is 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN COMMUNITIES IN MARKETING 
              AND OUTREACH.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the 
        Small Business Administration.
            (2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Administration.
            (3) Associate administrator.--The term ``Associate 
        Administrator'' means the Associate Administrator of the Office 
        of Disaster Recovery and Resilience of the Administration.
            (4) Covered program.--The term ``covered program'' means 
        the disaster loan program authorized by section 7(b) of the 
        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)).
    (b) Requirement.--Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 
consistent with the recommendations of the Government Accountability 
Office in the report entitled ``Small Business Administration: Targeted 
Outreach about Disaster Assistance Could Benefit Rural Communities'' 
(GAO-24-106755) (February 22, 2024), the Administrator shall ensure 
that the Associate Administrator--
            (1) distinguishes between rural and urban communities in 
        the outreach and marketing plan of the Administration with 
        respect to the covered program; and
            (2) incorporates actions to mitigate challenges encountered 
        by rural communities in accessing loans under the covered 
        program.
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