As a member of the powerful Rules committee, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor worked yesterday to move H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act, out of committee and onto the House floor. She will urge her colleagues today to approve the bill, which would improve the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) disaster relief response plan to assist small businesses and communities in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster. 
  
    “As hurricane season approaches my neighbors are not only worried about the potential physical damage, but also concerned about whether government agencies are prepared to adequately respond to such a crisis.” 
  
    The Relief for Entrepreneurs: Coordination of Objectives and Values for Effective Recovery Act of 2007 or “RECOVER Act” requires SBA to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive written disaster response plan. The plan shall include a description of the disasters most likely to occur in each region, an assessment of the disaster, an assessment of the demand for the SBA assistance most likely to occur in response to the disaster, and an assessment of the needs of the SBA with respect to resources such as information technology, telecommunications, human resources, and office space to meet that demand. 
  
    The RECOVER Act also helps small business owners faced with starting over or starting up after a disaster by increasing the amount available on disaster loans from $1.5 million to $3 million, and revising collateral requirements for loans.   Business owners will no longer be required to pledge their homes for business loans less than $100,000. The Act also requires the SBA to develop guidelines to coordinate with other federal agencies and state and local authorities to best respond to the demands and best use the resources. 

    “Following the Bush Administration’s poor response to the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, the new Congress pledged to strengthen disaster planning and response – and now we are following through,” Castor said. “As a former county commissioner, I understand how important an integrated emergency planning effort is to local communities and small businesses.  Small Business Committee Chair Nydia Velazquez and her committee deserve credit for insisting upon better disaster preparation.” 
  
    Act establishes a disaster reserve corps of at least 1,000 individuals who will be trained annually. A disaster simulation exercise would be conducted at least once a year, including the participation of at least half of the individuals in the disaster reserve corps to test all of the information technology and telecommunications systems vital to the SBA activities during a disaster.