# 119-s-1451: Helene Small Business Recovery Act

119-s-1451, Helene Small Business Recovery Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2025-12-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1451
- As of: 2025-12-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-1451
- Congress: 119
- Title: Helene Small Business Recovery Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-04-10
- Sponsor: Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Emergency Management
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2025-12-21

## Summary

**This bill would let the President waive the federal prohibition on receiving duplicative disaster assistance so affected people and businesses can get extra help after a declared disaster.** **Waiving the ban on duplicative disaster aid** is the bill's core change. - Small businesses, households, and other entities could receive overlapping federal disaster aid if a Governor requests a waiver on their behalf and the President finds it in the public interest. - State governors gain a clear path to seek waivers for their state or for specific people and businesses, and the President would have to act on requests within 45 days. - The President would consider FEMA recommendations, cost effectiveness, equity and fraud risk when deciding waivers, and the law would bar imposing any income threshold to limit eligibility. - The bill would prevent treating a federal loan as duplicative when all federal assistance is used to cover disaster losses, and it specifically covers disasters or emergencies declared in calendar years 2023 and 2024.

## Provisions PRIA read

- More disaster aid for small businesses: benefit, medium. If enacted, this bill would let the President waive the ban on duplicate federal disaster aid. This waiver would apply only to disasters declared by the President in 2023 or 2024. A Governor must ask for the waiver for a State, person, business, or other entity. The President would grant or deny th…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-s-4498: ABLE Tomorrow Act
- 119-s-2438: Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-1949: Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act

## Sources
- [119-s-1451 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1451)

## Related
- [119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4744)
- [119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1541)
- [119-s-4498: ABLE Tomorrow Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4498)
- [119-s-2438: Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2438)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-1949: Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1949)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1451 (as of 2025-12-21).