John Kerry on SBA Disaster Loan Funding

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John Kerry on SBA Disaster Loan Funding
February 17th, 2006 @ 2:34 pm

The following is a statement by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), Ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Business and Entrepreneurship, submitted for the record on the Supplemental Appropriations for SBA’s Disaster Loan Program (HR 4745) which passed the Senate today:

Mr. KERRY: Mr. President, the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program is facing another shutdown this month unless Congress passes a bill to provide the program with more funding. A shutdown of this program would further slow the recovery of the Gulf, where hundreds of thousands of business owners and homeowners have been waiting months for the Administration to process and disburse loans to help them pay their bills and start rebuilding their businesses and homes.

As of this week, according to the SBA’s data, out of more than 60,000 loans approved for businesses and homeowners, only 23,000 have been partially or fully disbursed. And out of the almost 375,000 applications received, 190,000 are still waiting to be processed. The families and businesses waiting should not be subjected to yet another roadblock to assistance through the disaster loan program.

The mismanagement of the SBA’s disaster loan program has been well-documented on national news programs like CNN and in major papers like The Washington Post and USA Today. The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship has held two hearings on the matter. Adding to the problems, the SBA was not paying attention to the books and didn’t realize it was making larger loans and spending more than it had estimated. This lack of oversight brought the program to the brink of shutting down.

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