Senators Call On Administration to Work Together For Louisiana's Small Businesses
Ask Agencies to Provide Concerns Regarding Snowe-Kerry Bill In Order to Resolve and Provide Aid Immediately
October 28, 2005
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U.S. Senators Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., and David Vitter, R-La., today asked the White House to work with the Senate Small Business Committee to provide immediate relief to Louisiana's small businesses devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the subsequent levee breaks.
The request from Sens. Landrieu and Vitter came in a letter addressed to Joshua Bolten, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Hector Barreto, Administrator to the U.S. Small Business Administration after the White House has kept the Small Business Hurricane Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2005, S. 1807, from consideration.
"The type and scope of assistance available is insufficient, and the Small Business Administration must step up its efforts in helping small businesses recover from these hurricanes, just as it has done in past disasters," the Senators wrote. "We are more than willing to work with you to develop a compromise that can pass the Congress and get aid to the affected businesses in the Gulf as quickly as possible."
The rate of loan approvals is far below past approval rates for previous disasters. Of the more than 20,000 businesses that have applied for SBA disaster loans, only 260 have been approved, or slightly more than one percent. Without the disaster loans, most small businesses will not be able to get their businesses up and running again to rehire local workers and avoid bankruptcy.
"The longer businesses have to wait for this relief, the less likely they are to remain in operation," the Senators wrote.
Senators Landrieu and Vitter introduced S. 1807 with Senators Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and John Kerry, D-Mass., the Chair and ranking member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. The bill authorizes $450 million in funding to hurricane affected states to help them provide immediate financial assistance to small businesses in the form of bridge loans or grants. It also provides deferred payments on existing small business loans, increases funding for disaster loans for affected businesses, increases funding for SBA counseling, and sets contracting goals for federal contracts in the affected areas. A similar amendment passed the Senate unanimously in September as part of the Commerce, Justice, Science, FY 2006 Appropriations Act. Unfortunately, the Snowe-Kerry bill, introduced on September 30th, has been blocked from consideration in part due to concerns from the Administration.