[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 565 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 565

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the availability of disaster 
loans to individuals and businesses affected by catastrophic incidents.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 18, 2007

Mr. Jefferson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Small Business Act to improve the availability of disaster 
loans to individuals and businesses affected by catastrophic incidents.

    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 Loan 
Improvement Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF DISASTER LOANS FOR CATASTROPHIC INCIDENTS.

    Section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(o) Improvements to Disaster Loan Program With Respect to 
Catastrophic Incidents.--
            ``(1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term 
        `catastrophic incident' means a disaster that--
                    ``(A) results in extraordinary levels of mass 
                casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting 
                the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, 
                national morale, or government functions;
                    ``(B) has the potential to result in sustained 
                national impacts over a prolonged period of time;
                    ``(C) almost immediately exceeds resources normally 
                available to State, local, tribal, and private-sector 
                authorities in the impacted area; and
                    ``(D) significantly interrupts governmental 
                operations and emergency services to such an extent 
                that national security could be threatened.
            ``(2) Availability of disaster loans.--In carrying out the 
        disaster loan program under subsection (b) with respect to a 
        catastrophic incident, the Administrator shall not, in 
        determining whether a person is eligible for such a loan or in 
        determining the amount of such a loan, consider the extent to 
        which--
                    ``(A) the loss or damage or injury of the person is 
                compensated for by insurance or otherwise; or
                    ``(B) the person paid, voluntarily or 
                involuntarily, insurance proceeds to a recorded 
                lienholder.''.

SEC. 3. RETROACTIVITY FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANES KATRINA, RITA, AND 
              WILMA.

    (a) Retroactivity.--Subsection (o) of the Small Business Act, as 
added by section 2 of this Act, applies to all catastrophic incidents 
occurring on or after August 29, 2005.
    (b) Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.--For purposes of 
subsection (o) of such Act, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma of 2005 
are hereby deemed to be catastrophic incidents.
    (c) Review and Compliance.--The Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration shall ensure that all applications, and all loans, under 
the disaster loan program before the date of the enactment of this Act 
are reviewed and brought into compliance with this section.
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