H.R. 4238
DLARA
Sponsor: Tim Moore · 19 cosponsors
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Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Disaster Loan Accountability and Reform Act or the DLARA
This bill modifies the Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan program to require additional oversight and reports regarding the program.
First, the bill requires the SBA to report monthly on the operation of the disaster loan program. (Currently, the SBA must report only during the applicable period for a major disaster.) The report must estimate the date on which available funding for such loans will reach 10% of the most recent appropriation and the date on which the funds will be depleted. If a report is not submitted by the required date, no funds may be appropriated for official travel by the SBA Administrator until the report is submitted.
Second, the President's annual budget must include separate statements regarding the appropriations request for SBA disaster loans and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), including explanations for any difference between the amount requested and the 10-year average cost for such loans.
Third, the SBA must notify Congress when the balance of amounts available for disaster loans is less than 10% of the 10-year average annual cost provided in the most recent presidential budget.
Finally, the bill requires additional oversight of the disaster loan program, including
- Government Accountability Office reports on the disbursement of disaster loans and the cost of specified SBA rules that modified the loan program; and
- an SBA report on its actions to improve forecasting, data quality, and budget assumptions for the cost of disaster loans.
Text of the bill
(a) Report. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Administrator and the appropriate committees of Congress a report on—
(1) the average weekly rate at which the Administration obligates the unobligated balance of amounts available for the cost of SBA disaster loans;
(2) the average amount, during the periods beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 31, 2023, and beginning on July 31, 2023, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act, respectively, disbursed to a borrower each week, during the initial 12-week period in which a borrower receives amounts from an SBA disaster loan, beginning the day after the borrower accepts their loan, separated by home SBA disaster loan borrowers, business SBA disaster loan borrowers, and economic injury disaster loan borrowers; and
(3) the average amount of fully disbursed SBA disaster loans, originated during the period beginning on July 31, 2023, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act, with separate averages for SBA disaster loans delineated by home, business, and economic injury disaster loans.
(b) Response. Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Comptroller General of the United States submits the report under subsection (a), the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a response to the report, including an implementation plan for any recommendations in the report.