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Small Business Disaster Damage Fairness Act of 2025
To amend the Small Business Act to increase the minimum disaster loan amount for which the Small Business Administration may require collateral, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Small Business Act to increase the minimum disaster loan amount that requires collateral from $14,000 to $50,000, expanding the category of loans that do not require collateral. The change applies to all disasters, not just major disasters. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report within three years on the performance and default rates of disaster loans and the impact of the collateral requirement changes, and directs the Small Business Administration to develop targeted outreach strategies that distinguish between rural and urban communities to improve rural access to disaster assistance loans.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO)
1 cosponsor
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Joe Neguse’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK $31,726
- HOLLAND & HART $17,400
- ELEVATIONS CREDIT UNION $14,600
- FOUNDRY GROUP $14,200
- DISH NETWORK $13,200
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Joe Neguse → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Feb 5, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Small Business. · house
- Feb 5, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 5, 2025
Mr. Neguse (for himself and Mr. Obernolte) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to increase the minimum disaster loan amount for which the Small Business Administration may require collateral, 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 “Small Business Disaster Damage Fairness Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR DISASTER LOANS.
Section 7(d)(6) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(d)(6)) is amended, in the second sentence, in the third proviso—
(1) by striking “$14,000” and inserting “$50,000”; and
(2) by striking “major disaster” and inserting “disaster”.
SEC. 3. GAO REPORT ON DEFAULT RATES.
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report on the performance, including the default rate, of loans made under section 7(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)), and the impact of the amendments to collateral amounts made under section 2 of this Act on the performance of those loans, during the period—
(1) beginning on September 30, 2020; and
(2) ending on the date on that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN COMMUNITIES IN MARKETING AND OUTREACH.
(a) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Administration.—The term “Administration” means the Small Business Administration.
(2) Administrator.—The term “Administrator” means the Administrator of the Administration.
(3) Associate administrator.—The term “Associate Administrator” means the Associate Administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience of the Administration.
(4) Covered program.—The term “covered program” means the disaster loan program authorized by section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)).
(b) Requirement.—Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, consistent with the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office in the report entitled “Small Business Administration: Targeted Outreach about Disaster Assistance Could Benefit Rural Communities” (GAO-24-106755) (February 22, 2024), the Administrator shall ensure that the Associate Administrator—
(1) distinguishes between rural and urban communities in the outreach and marketing plan of the Administration with respect to the covered program; and
(2) incorporates actions to mitigate challenges encountered by rural communities in accessing loans under the covered program. <all>
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