1.This Act may be cited as the
Gulf Coast Back to Business and Homes
Act of 2006
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)43 percent of
businesses that close following a natural disaster never reopen;
(2)an additional 29
percent of businesses close down permanently within 2 years of a natural
disaster;
(3)Hurricane Katrina
struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005, negatively
impacting small business concerns and disrupting commerce in the States of
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama;
(4)Hurricane Rita
struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on September 24, 2005, negatively
impacting small business concerns and disrupting commerce in the States of
Texas and Louisiana;
(5)according to the
United States Chamber of Commerce, more than 125,000 small and medium-sized
businesses in the Gulf Coast were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane
Rita;
(6)due to a slow
initial Federal response and the widespread devastation in the affected States,
businesses impacted by Hurricane Katrina are in dire need of increased access
to capital and technical assistance to recover and prosper; and
(7)without the full
recovery and prosperity of affected businesses, the Gulf Coast, and the rest of
the United States, will be negatively impacted.
3.In this Act—
(1)the term
Disaster Area means an area in which the President has declared a
major disaster in response to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of
2005;
(2)the term
major disaster has the meaning given the term in section 102 of
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5122); and
(3)the term
small business concern has the meaning given the term in section 3
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
4.Small business concern
recovery grants
(a)There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
of Commerce $100,000,000 for the Economic Development Administration of the
Department of Commerce to make grants to the appropriate State government
agencies in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, to carry out this
section.
(b)The Department of Commerce shall disburse the funds
authorized under subsection (a) in the most expeditious manner possible to the
designated States, based on—
(1)the number of
small business concerns directly damaged or disrupted by Hurricane Katrina of
2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005 in the State;
(2)the number of
residents displaced from the State by Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane
Rita of 2005;
(3)the number of
jobs lost or disrupted by Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005
in the State;
(4)the extent of
economic disruption by Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005 in
the State; and
(5)the number of
evacuees from any other State due to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane
Rita of 2005, to whom the designated State is providing assistance.
(c)
(1)Grants awarded to a State under subsection (a) shall be
used by the State to provide grants, which may be made to any small business
concern located in a Disaster Area that was negatively impacted by Hurricane
Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, to assist such small business
concern for the purposes of—
(A)paying
employees;
(B)paying bills and
other existing financial obligations;
(C)making
repairs;
(D)purchasing
inventory;
(E)restarting or
operating that business in the community in which it was conducting operations
prior to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, or to a
neighboring area or county or parish in a Disaster Area; or
(F)covering
additional costs until that small business concern is able to obtain funding
through insurance claims, Federal assistance programs, or other sources.
(2)Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, in making grants under paragraph (1), a State may
use such criteria as the State determines appropriate, and shall not be
required to apply eligibility criteria for programs administered by the Federal
Government, including the Department of Commerce.
(3)The Department of Commerce may use not more than
$1,000,000 of the funds authorized under subsection (a) to administer the
provision of grants to the designated States under this subsection.
5.Disaster loans
after Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita
(a)Section 7(b) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b))
is amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (3) the following:
(4)Disaster loans
after Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita in a disaster area
(A)In
this paragraph—
(i)the term
Disaster Area means an area in which the President has declared a
major disaster in response to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of
2005; and
(ii)the term
qualified borrower means a person to whom the Administrator made a
loan under this section because of Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita
of 2005.
(B)Deferment of
disaster loan payments
(i)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, payments of
principal and interest on a loan to a qualified borrower made before December
31, 2006, shall be deferred, and no interest shall accrue with respect to such
loan, during the time period described in clause (ii).
(ii)The time period for purposes of clause (i) shall be 1 year
from the later of the date of enactment of this paragraph or the date on which
funds are distributed under a loan described in clause (i), but may be extended
to 2 years from such date, at the discretion of the Administrator.
(iii)At the end of the time period described in clause (ii),
the payment of periodic installments of principal and interest shall be
required with respect to such loan, in the same manner and subject to the same
terms and conditions as would otherwise be applicable to any other loan made
under this
subsection.
.
(b)Increasing
collateral requirements
(1)Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, including section 7(c)(6) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 636(c)(6)), the Administrator may not require collateral for any covered
loan made by the Administrator.
(2)In
this subsection, the term covered loan means a loan in an amount
of not more than $35,000 made—
(A)under section
7(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1));
(B)as a result of
Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005; and
(C)after the date of
enactment of this Act.
6.Waiver of duplication
of certain benefits
(a)Chapter 9 of title II
of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on
Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Public Law 109–234; 120 Stat. 471) is
amended under the heading community development fund (including transfer of
funds)
under the heading Community Planning and
Development
under the heading DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
, by inserting after Army Corps of
Engineers:
the following: Provided further,
That notwithstanding the previous proviso or any other provision of law, in
providing assistance in the State of Louisiana, the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration may (in determining whether activities are reimbursable
under, or whether funds have been made available under, the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) using
amounts made available under this heading) use as the amount of a loan under
section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) the amount
attributable to the difference between the rate of interest on such loan and
the market rate at which such borrower could have borrowed such funds, over the
period of such loan:
.
(b)Effective date
and applicability
(1)The amendments made by
this section shall be deemed to have taken effect as though enacted as part of
the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on
Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Public Law 109–234; 120 Stat.
418).
(2)The
amendments made by this section shall apply to any application for assistance
under section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) that is
submitted not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.