U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) recently cosponsored a bipartisan bill that would direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) administrator to increase certain disaster loan limits, which have not been adjusted since 1994.
“This assistance program no longer meets the needs of disaster victims because home prices have significantly increased while the loan amounts have not similarly increased,” Rep. Graves said. “This bill is a great example of how commonsense, bipartisan solutions can fix this and help people that need it most.”
Rep. Graves on June 29 introduced the Rebuilding Communities After Disasters Act, H.R. 4215, with 34 other original cosponsors and bill sponsor U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) to increase the maximum loan amount for SBA physical damage disaster loans from $200,000 to $400,000 for home repair, and from $40,000 to $75,000 to replace household and personal belongings.
Additionally, one of Rep. Graves’ top priorities with H.R. 4215 is to ensure against Duplication of Benefits, which occurs when a homeowner or business receives assistance from multiple sources for the same purpose and the total assistance is greater than the need for that type of assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“One key issue we are working to resolve is making sure that the 2016 Flood Duplication of Benefits issue will not apply to any future loans granted under the SBA program,” said Rep. Graves.
The congressman also noted that the SBA loan program and other FEMA assistance efforts are employed when flood protection has failed and there are flood victims. “The top priority must be to prevent flooding in our committees,” he said. “We will not lose sight of this priority.”
H.R. 4215 has been referred for consideration to the U.S. House Small Business Committee.