CONGRESSWOMAN ELISE STEFANIK
CHAIRWOMAN
On Monday, July 13, 2015, the House will consider H.R. 208, the Superstorm Sandy Relief and Disaster Loan Program Improvement Act of 2015, under suspension of the rules. H.R. 208 was introduced on January 8, 2015, by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and was referred to the Committee on Small Business, which ordered the bill reported, as amended, by voice vote on June 10, 2015.
H.R. 208 amends the Small Business Act so that individuals and businesses adversely impacted by Superstorm Sandy (which made landfall in October 2012) and were denied the ability to file due to administrative backlogs created by the Small Business Administration (SBA) can file applications for disaster loans. The bill also makes technical corrections and modernizations to SBA’s Disaster Loan program to ensure SBA is more effective in helping disaster victims obtain loans.[1]
Specifically, the bill:
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[1] House Report 114-186 at 4.
On October 29, 2012, a Category 1 hurricane, commonly referred to as Superstorm Sandy, made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey. The storm caused “damage to hundreds of thousands of homes, forced tens of thousands of survivors into shelters and caused billions of dollars in damage to vital infrastructure systems. . .”[2] Estimates to rebuild the infrastructure, homes and businesses in New York and New Jersey alone totaled nearly $80 billion.[3]
In response, President Obama declared a major disaster under the Stafford Act, which allows SBA to offer loans to homeowners and businesses. There are two types of such loans: physical disaster loans that enable reconstruction of residential and commercial property for damages not covered by insurance; and, economic injury disaster loans for small businesses that suffered monetary harm (but not physical damage) as a result of diminished commerce in the disaster area.[4]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that, despite previous improvements made by Congress to the agency’s disaster loan programs, SBA was ill-prepared to deal with the 15,745 disaster loan applications from small businesses, most of which were filed by entities in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area. GAO found that SBA did not meet its own processing deadlines and that the backlog on decisions whether to issue a loan “grew rapidly.” SBA worsened problems by the manner in which applications were handled, failing to have sufficient computer capabilities to handle the influx of applications, and not having sufficiently-trained personnel to review applications.[5]
H.R, 208 is designed to help those who were harmed by SBA’s insufficient response to Superstorm Sandy and prevent similar problems from occurring in the future.
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[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id. at 5.
[5] Id.
A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate is currently unavailable.
For questions or further information please contact Jerry White with the House Republican Policy Committee by email or at 5-0190.