When disasters strike, the Small Business Administration (SBA) offers loans to help homeowners and businesses rebuild — but oversight of that program has had gaps in transparency. This bill requires the SBA to file more detailed monthly reports, including exact projected dates when disaster loan funding will run low, and mandates that Congress be notified any time available funds drop below 10 percent of their typical annual level. The President's annual budget request must also separately justify SBA disaster loan funding against a 10-year historical cost average, with an explanation for any difference. Two independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) studies are commissioned — one examining how loans actually flow to borrowers and one reviewing the effects of recent rule changes that altered lending limits and eligibility. As a backstop, any administrator who fails to file required reports on time is barred from spending agency funds on official travel until the overdue report is submitted.
Transparency & Accountability
- SBA disaster loan monthly reporting — More detailed reports required, including precise funding-depletion date projections
- Low-funding congressional notification — SBA must alert Congress when disaster loan reserves fall below 10% of the annual average
- Presidential budget itemization — Annual budget must separately justify SBA disaster loan requests against the 10-year cost average
- GAO oversight — Two independent studies commissioned on SBA disaster loan disbursement rates and recent program rule changes
- Compliance enforcement — Official-travel funding suspended for the SBA Administrator until overdue reports are filed
Congressional Summary
Disaster Loan Accountability and Reform Act or the DLARAThis 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 obligated 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 unobligated 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; andan SBA report on its actions to improve forecasting, data quality, and budget assumptions for the cost of disaster loans.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Reported to House
- Action Date
- 2026-06-11
- Date Added
- 2026-06-19
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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