Small Business Disaster Relief Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2936 To provide disaster relief to small businesses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2019 Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself and Mr. KING of New York) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide disaster relief to small businesses, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Dis- 4 aster Relief Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DISASTER LOAN 6 PROCESSING. 7 It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator 8 of the Small Business Administration should use district 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2936 IH offices of the Administration whenever possible to expedite 1 the processing of disaster loans under section 7(b) of the 2 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)). 3 SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER PORT- 4 ABILITY GRANTS. 5 Section 21(a)(4)(C)(viii) of the Small Business Act 6 (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)(C)(viii)) is amended— 7 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘as a re- 8 sult of a business or government facility down sizing 9 or closing, which has resulted in the loss of jobs or 10 small business instability’’ and inserting ‘‘due to 11 events that have resulted or will result in a business 12 or government facility downsizing or closing’’; and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘At the 14 discretion of the Administrator, the Administrator 15 may make an award greater than $100,000 to a re- 16 cipient to accommodate extraordinary occurrences 17 having a catastrophic impact on the small business 18 concerns in a community.’’. 19 SEC. 4. DISASTER ASSISTANCE TO CRITICAL ENTERPRISES. 20 Section 237 of the Disaster Relief Act of 1970 (15 21 U.S.C. 636d) is amended— 22 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 23 section (c); and 24 (2) in subsection (a)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2936 IH (A) by striking ‘‘Farmers Home Adminis- 1 tration’’ and inserting ‘‘Farm Service Agency’’; 2 (B) by striking ‘‘major disaster’’ and in- 3 serting ‘‘major disaster or is vital to recovery 4 efforts in the disaster area (including providing 5 debris removal services, manufactured housing, 6 gasoline, telecommunications, or building mate- 7 rials),’’; and 8 (C) by striking ‘‘Loans authorized’’ and all 9 that follows through ‘‘pursuant thereto.’’ and 10 inserting the following: 11 ‘‘(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Notwithstanding 12 any other provision of law, loans authorized by this sec- 13 tion— 14 ‘‘(1) shall be made without regard to limitations 15 on the size of loans which may otherwise be imposed 16 by any other provision of law or regulations promul- 17 gated pursuant thereto; and 18 ‘‘(2) may waive any required evaluation of cred- 19 itworthiness in exchange for a fee, as set by the 20 Small Business Administration or the Farm Service 21 Agency, as applicable.’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS