{"format":1,"id":"117-s-1617","congress":117,"number":"S. 1617","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act","title_source":"Short Titles as Enacted","official_title":"A bill to modify the requirements for the Administrator of the Small Business Administration relating to declaring a disaster in a rural area, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"A bill to modify the requirements for the Administrator of the Small Business Administration relating to declaring a disaster in a rural area, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Short Titles from ENR (Enrolled) bill text","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act"},{"type":"Display Title","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act"},{"type":"Short Titles as Enacted","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act"},{"type":"Short Titles as Passed House","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed Senate","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Reported to Senate","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act"}],"outcome":"became_law","law_number":"Public Law 117-249","introduced":"2021-05-13","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2022-12-08","vote":{"id":"117-2022-h517","question":"On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass","title":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act","result":"Passed","yea":406,"nay":8,"present":0,"not_voting":17,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2022/roll517.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"voice","date":"2022-09-28","vote":null,"how":"voice_vote","words":"Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote.(consideration: CR S5165; text: CR S5165)"}},"president":{"status":"signed","date":"2022-12-20"},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Became Public Law No: 117-249.","date":"2022-12-20"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[],"other_votes":[],"crs_summary":{"date":"2022-12-20","stage":"Public Law","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act"},{"k":"p","t":"This bill authorizes the Small Business Administration (SBA) to declare a disaster in rural areas where significant damage has been incurred for the purpose of providing certain assistance."},{"k":"p","t":"A rural area is a county or political subdivision designated as such by the Census Bureau. Significant damage means uninsured losses of not less than 40% of the fair replacement value or pre-disaster fair market value of the damaged property (whichever is less)."},{"k":"p","t":"For a rural area where the President has declared a major disaster, the SBA may declare a disaster for the purpose of providing economic injury disaster loans if (1) the state or tribal government wherein the rural area is located requests the declaration; and (2) any home, small business, private nonprofit organization, or small agricultural cooperative has incurred significant damage."},{"k":"p","t":"The Government Accountability Office must report on (1) any unique challenges to communities in rural areas compared to communities in urbanized areas when seeking economic injury disaster assistance, and (2) any legislative recommendations for improving access to disaster assistance for communities in rural areas."}],"words":181},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Amends the Small Business Act to let the Administrator of the Small Business Administration declare a disaster in certain rural areas for the purpose of making disaster loans, and requires related regulations and reports.","cites":[{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text/enr#idf34ad1ba5b79486eb1d66f09650fd25e:~:text=2.%20Disaster%20declaration%20in%20rural%20areas"}]},"core_areas":["Small Business Administration disaster declarations in rural areas","Reporting by the Small Business Administration and the Comptroller General on rural disaster assistance"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Defines a rural area as a county or other political subdivision of a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or possession that the Bureau of the Census designates as rural.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text/enr#idf34ad1ba5b79486eb1d66f09650fd25e:~:text=2.%20Disaster%20declaration%20in%20rural%20areas"}},{"text":"Defines significant damage to property as uninsured losses of not less than 40 percent of the estimated fair replacement value or pre-disaster fair market value of the damaged property, whichever is lower.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text/enr#idf34ad1ba5b79486eb1d66f09650fd25e:~:text=2.%20Disaster%20declaration%20in%20rural%20areas"}},{"text":"Allows the Administrator to declare a disaster in a rural area, for making loans under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 7(b) of the Small Business Act, where the President declared a major disaster and individual assistance was not authorized.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text/enr#idf34ad1ba5b79486eb1d66f09650fd25e:~:text=2.%20Disaster%20declaration%20in%20rural%20areas"}},{"text":"Requires, for such a declaration, a request from the State Governor or tribal Chief Executive and significant damage to a home, small business concern, private nonprofit organization, or small agricultural cooperative in the rural area.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text/enr#idf34ad1ba5b79486eb1d66f09650fd25e:~:text=2.%20Disaster%20declaration%20in%20rural%20areas"}},{"text":"Requires the Administrator to issue regulations carrying out the amendment, and to report annually to the Senate and House small business committees on rural economic injury, requests for declarations and responses, and regulatory changes.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text/enr#idf34ad1ba5b79486eb1d66f09650fd25e:~:text=2.%20Disaster%20declaration%20in%20rural%20areas"}},{"text":"Requires the Comptroller General to report within 1 year on unique challenges rural communities face compared to urbanized communities in obtaining disaster assistance under section 7(b), and on legislative recommendations for improving access.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text/enr#idf34ad1ba5b79486eb1d66f09650fd25e:~:text=2.%20Disaster%20declaration%20in%20rural%20areas"}}],"unexpected":[],"version":{"type":"Enrolled Bill","date":null,"rule":"enrolled","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text/enr"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-10-15","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1617/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/117-s-1617.png","v":"a777fd9ab096","alt":"Votes on Record. S. 1617, 117th Congress: Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act. House: 406 Yea, 8 Nay. Senate: voice vote. Outcome: Became law, 20 Dec 2022."}}