EXCLUSIVE — A bipartisan and bicameral congressional trio is pushing the Small Business Administration to publicly report disaster relief loan funds in new legislation dropped Tuesday.
The SBA Disaster Transparency Act, introduced by Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) and Salud Carbajal (D-CA) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), comes as Republicans battle over whether to include disaster aid for several states in a spending deal ahead of a government shutdown deadline next month.
Under the bill, the SBA would be required to issue monthly public reporting on its Disaster Loan Account’s balance, obligations, and projections, per text shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner. The agency, led by newly confirmed Administrator Kelly Loeffler, would also give Congress and the public “real-time insight” into the loans and “ensure funds remain available when businesses and homeowners need them most.”
“The last thing anyone needs amid the stress of disaster recovery are confusing, bureaucratic roadblocks,” Hinson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “This commonsense bill will improve transparency and streamline recovery efforts through the SBA, ensuring more Americans can access critical relief funds when they need them most.”
The SBA would be required to align with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has publicly reported on its disaster relief fund since 2015. The agency does not currently provide the same information for small businesses, homeowners, and renters seeking disaster aid under the SBA loan account.
“Transparency is crucial to ensure disaster relief programs work effectively,” Carbajal said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Timely assistance is a lifeline for survivors, and we cannot allow delays due to lapses in funding. I’m committed to working across the aisle to make these changes and ensure our communities get the support they need when disaster strikes.”
Wildfires in California and hurricanes across the East Coast, as well as tornadoes in the Midwest, have sparked bipartisan calls to revitalize the areas and provide aid for recovery.
Scott said in a statement to the Washington Examiner the bill would allow Congress to act “before it’s too late,” adding that he is committed to working with President Donald Trump to “ensure we have effective, top-of-the-line disaster response efforts in place.”
Sending disaster aid to states like California and North Carolina has been contentious in Congress. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) sent a letter on Friday asking Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) for $40 billion in aid to help Los Angeles — but many GOP spending hawks had been insistent on finding a way to tie aid to increasing the debt ceiling.
With the debt ceiling now included in the House budget reconciliation process, disaster assistance may be the key to getting Democrats on board in the likely stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on March 14. A significant number of hard-line conservatives typically vote against continuing resolutions, so Johnson, with a razor-thin majority, may need to rely on Democratic votes to get a spending deal across the finish line.
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House leadership has also not indicated any desire to put a separate disaster aid supplemental bill on the floor, particularly as House Republicans lean on Trump’s calls to overhaul and reform FEMA.
“I think there should probably be conditions on that aid, that’s my personal view. We’ll see what the consensus is,” Johnson said in January.