[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3122 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3122

  To amend the Small Business Act to improve loans for members of the 
               Guard and Reserve, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2006

 Ms. Snowe (for herself and Mr. Craig) 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 improve loans for members of the 
               Guard and Reserve, 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 ``Patriot Loan Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``activated'' means receiving an order placing 
        a member of the Guard and Reserve on active duty;
            (2) the term ``active duty'' has the meaning given the term 
        in section 101 of title 10, United States Code;
            (3) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the Small Business Administration;
            (4) the term ``member of the Guard or Reserve'' means a 
        member of a reserve component of the armed forces, as defined 
        in section 10101 of title 10, United States Code;
            (5) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Defense;
            (6) the term ``small business concern'' has the same 
        meaning as in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        632); and
            (7) the term ``veteran'' has the same meaning as in section 
        101(2) of title 38, United States Code.

SEC. 3. GUARD AND RESERVE LOANS.

    (a) In General.--Section 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 636(b)(3)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``$1,500,000'' each 
        place such term appears and inserting ``$2,000,000''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(G) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 
                loan not greater than $25,000 may be made under this 
                paragraph without collateral.
                    ``(H) The Administrator shall give priority to any 
                application for a loan under this paragraph and shall 
                process and make a determination regarding such 
                applications prior to processing or making a 
                determination on other loan applications under this 
                subsection, on a rolling basis.''.
    (b) Loan Information.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator and the Secretary shall 
        develop a joint website and printed materials providing 
        information regarding the program under section 7(b)(3) of the 
        Small Business Act.
            (2) Marketing.--The Administrator is authorized--
                    (A) to advertise and promote the program under 
                section 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act jointly with 
                the Secretary and veteran's service organizations; and
                    (B) to advertise and promote participation by 
                lenders in such program jointly with trade associations 
                for banks or other lending institutions.

SEC. 4. STUDY.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator and the Secretary shall jointly 
conduct a study of the feasibility of--
            (1) creating a business mobilization and interruption 
        insurance program for members of the Guard or Reserve who own 
        or operate small business concerns;
            (2) creating an insurance program to repay debts to the 
        Administrator in the event of the death or significant injury 
        of a member of the Guard or Reserve who is activated; and
            (3) increasing the utilization of credit unions affiliated 
        with the Department of Defense in programs administered by the 
        Administrator.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator and the Secretary shall submit a joint 
report to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 
Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
Representatives regarding the study conducted under subsection (a).
                                 <all>