Senate urges faster disaster loans

Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., noted substantial improvements in the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) response to natural disasters since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated her Gulf Coast constituents. However, as chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, she questioned in a Senate hearing why the SBA has been slow to disburse SBA disaster loans in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The SBA had approved more than $205 million in loans by mid-December, “but it simply isn’t good enough,” said Landrieu. During Katrina and Rita, it took 66 days to process a business loan, and the SBA has improved its performance to an average of 10 days. The SBA provides disaster assistance to businesses that have sustained physical damage (up to $2 million to qualified business of any size that have sustained uninsured losses) or economic injury (up to $2 million to pay ordinary operating expenses until customers rebuild or return).