A group of Republican senators unveiled a plan to ask their colleagues to designate a fresh $550 million to replenish the Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loan Program, which ran out of funds earlier this month following Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the Southeast. 

What You Need To Know

  • A group of GOP senators unveiled a plan to ask their colleagues to designate a fresh $550 million to replenish the Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loan Program, which ran out of funds earlier this month following Hurricanes Helene and Milton 
  • The senators, led by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a state heavily impacted by Helene, said they plan to introduce the legislation to allocate the money when Congress returns to Washington next month following the election
  • Hurricane Helene ripped through the Southeast late last month, killing more than 200 people in the region and causing billions of dollars in damages; It was followed by Hurricane Milton’s landfall in Florida, not far from Tampa, less than two weeks later
  • While federal officials said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which leads the federal response, currently has the resources to respond to the immediate needs of those impacted by the storms, the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program ran out of funds on Oct. 15

The group, led by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a state heavily impacted by Helene, plans to introduce the legislation to allocate the money when Congress returns to Washington next month following the election. 

North Carolina’s Ted Budd, South Carolina’s Tim Scott, Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy and Florida’s Rick Scott also signed onto the plan, which would give the program $2.475 billion in lending capacity through the end of 2024, according to the lawmakers. 

“The SBA Disaster Loan Program running out of funds risks delays in processing the loans of those affected by Helene and Milton and their ability to get their lives back on track,” Tillis said in a press release. “That is why I am leading legislation to replenish this fund when Congress returns to Washington, and I look forward to working across the aisle to pass a long-term disaster aid package that will provide additional resources to help make the victims of these hurricanes whole again.”

Hurricane Helene ripped through the Southeast late last month, leaving more than 200 people dead in the region, including more than 100 people in North Carolina alone, and causing billions of dollars in damages. It was followed by Hurricane Milton’s landfall in Florida less than two weeks later. 

In the wake of the storms, President Joe Biden urged Congress to “immediately” allocate more funds to aid survivors and called on lawmakers to pause their more than six-week pre-election break if necessary to do so. 

While federal officials, including the president, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which leads the federal response, currently has the resources to respond to the immediate needs of those impacted by the storms, Biden warned the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program, which he said is “often the largest source of Federal disaster recovery funds” was running dry. It officially ran out of funds on Oct. 15. 

“Until Congress appropriates additional funds, the SBA is pausing new loan offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term loans to disaster survivors,” the SBA said in a press release. “However, SBA is encouraging individuals and small businesses to continue to apply for loans given assurances from congressional leaders that additional funding will be provided upon Congress’s return in November.”

Amid the calls from Biden, House Speaker Mike Johnson continuously pushed back on the idea that it was necessary to call his members back early to designate more funds, arguing in an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” that it will take time for affected states to “assess and calculate” their needs after the recent storms. 

“As soon as that is done, Congress will meet and, in bipartisan fashion, we will address those needs,” Johnson said. “But it would be premature to call everyone back now, because this – these storms are so large in their scope and magnitude, it's going to take a little bit of time to make those calculations.”

Meanwhile, while officials say FEMA has enough resources to address storm recovery in the short term, Biden and other officials note it will need more money in the long term. By mid-October, the agency had already used almost half of the funds it was appropriated by Congress for the fiscal year ending next September, according to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. 

“We cannot allow frontline federal agencies, like the SBA, to run out of disaster relief funds,” Florida’s Scott said in a press release about this week’s new SBA proposal. “This is especially important in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton which devastated Florida, North Carolina and communities across the Southeast U.S.”

“I continue to call on [Senate Majority] Leader [Chuck] Schumer to immediately reconvene the Senate so we can fund disaster relief functions at FEMA, the SBA, USDA and other agencies to get folks what they need and deserve,” he added. 

Earlier this month, Scott was joined by Florida’s other senator, Marco Rubio and two other lawmakers in proposing legislation to add an additional $20 billion to FEMA’s disaster fund. Scott has continuously called on Congressional leaders to call members back to Washington early to allocate more funds for disaster aid to no avail.