Rural Small Business Resilience Act
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Would require the Small Business Administration to ensure rural residents in federally declared disaster areas have full access to SBA disaster assistance, including through targeted outreach and marketing materials, within one year of enactment.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to ensure that the Associate Administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience takes all necessary steps so that individuals in rural areas covered by a federal disaster declaration under section 7(b) of the Small Business Act have full access to the disaster assistance available under that section. The SBA would be required to provide targeted outreach and marketing materials to those rural individuals as part of meeting that obligation.
The bill also makes a technical correction to the Small Business Act, redesignating a duplicate paragraph (16) — relating to a statute of limitations — as paragraph (17) to resolve a numbering conflict. It does not appropriate any new funds or create a new assistance program; it works within the existing section 7(b) disaster loan framework.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the SBA Administrator to ensure the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience provides full access to disaster assistance for rural residents in federally declared disaster areas, including targeted outreach and marketing materials.
- 2Would make a technical correction redesignating a duplicate paragraph (16) in section 7(b) of the Small Business Act as paragraph (17).
Who would be affected
Residents and small business owners in rural areas that have received a federal disaster declaration under section 7(b) of the Small Business Act, and the SBA's Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, which would be required to develop and deploy targeted outreach and marketing materials to reach those populations.
Why it matters
Rural disaster survivors often face barriers to learning about and applying for SBA disaster assistance — including limited internet access, sparse local outreach infrastructure, and geographic distance from SBA offices. If enacted, the SBA would be legally obligated to actively close that access gap within one year, rather than relying on standard outreach methods that may not reach rural communities effectively.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. § 636(b) (Sec. 2–3)
Adds a requirement for full rural access to section 7(b) disaster assistance and redesignates a duplicate paragraph (16) as paragraph (17).
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- SBA must ensure rural access to disaster assistance is in place
How implementation would work
Within one year of enactment, the SBA Administrator must ensure the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience takes all actions necessary to guarantee full access to section 7(b) disaster assistance for rural disaster-area residents. The bill specifies targeted outreach and marketing materials as required tools but leaves the specific methods to the agency's discretion. No rulemaking requirement, reporting mandate, or grant mechanism is established; compliance rests with the SBA Administrator's directive authority over the Associate Administrator.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Official CRS summary
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This bill requires the Small Business Administration's Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience to take necessary actions to ensure that individuals located in rural areas where a disaster has been declared have full access to disaster assistance. Such actions include providing targeted outreach and marketing materials to such individuals.
Legislative subjects
Commerce; Disaster relief and insurance; Rural conditions and development; Small business