Washington, D.C. — Today, the Senate Small Business Committee unanimously passed U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senator Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) bipartisan SBA Disaster Transparency Act, which requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make its monthly reporting requirements for the Disaster Loan Account available to the public.
During the committee hearing, Schiff spoke about the importance of additional SBA oversight which will ensure that its disaster accounts are funded appropriately to help communities impacted by natural disasters rebuild and recover.
“I’m pleased to join Senator Scott in introducing the SBA Disaster Transparency Act and also support the transparency and accountability provisions in Senator Budd’s bill, the Disaster Loan Accountability and Reform Act. I am happy to support the bill, and I am glad that staff — on both sides of the aisle — were able to come to an agreement on perfecting the language to ensure transparency measures do not come at the cost of those relying on these programs for a lifeline in the wake of disasters,” said Senator Schiff during the committee.
“Transparency and timely notifications are critical in ensuring our disaster accounts are funded appropriately. And I agree it is unacceptable that funding lapsed in the past because SBA failed to notify Congress in a timely manner. Changes must be made to prevent this from happening again. Congress has repeatedly shown that, when given proper notice of SBA’s balances, it provides funding in a bipartisan manner to help disaster survivors rebuild. After seeing so many tragic and increasingly expensive disasters strike states represented on our committee, we need to be moving SBA forward, enhancing its ability to help our communities after disaster, not moving disaster assistance in the opposite direction,” Senator Schiff concluded.
The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.).
Full text of the bill is available here.
Watch Schiff’s remarks on the bipartisan bill here.
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