# 119-s-397: Small Business Disaster Damage Fairness Act of 2025

119-s-397, Small Business Disaster Damage Fairness Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-397
- As of: 2026-09-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-397
- Congress: 119
- Title: Small Business Disaster Damage Fairness Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-04
- Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Commerce
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-10

## Summary

**Raises the collateral threshold for Small Business Administration disaster loans.** - Small businesses and households that apply for SBA disaster loans would see a higher collateral cutoff. The bill changes the threshold from $14,000 to $50,000 so more smaller disaster loans would avoid collateral requirements. - Congress and oversight bodies would get new data. The Government Accountability Office would review loan performance tied to the collateral changes. - Rural communities would get different outreach than urban areas. The bill directs targeted marketing and access adjustments to distinguish rural from urban applicants.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Higher collateral cutoff for small business loans: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would raise the SBA disaster loan collateral cutoff from $14,000 to $50,000. Loans up to $50,000 would meet the referenced proviso and would not need collateral under that rule. The change would apply to disasters (not only major disasters) and would take effect upon enactment.…
- Small Business Administration outreach for rural communities: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would require the Small Business Administration to distinguish rural and urban communities in disaster loan outreach plans. The SBA would add steps to mitigate access challenges rural communities face, implemented consistent with GAO report GAO-24-106755 (February 22, 2024). Th…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-2461: Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2025
- 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-s-410: Love Lives On Act of 2025
- 119-s-1816: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025
- 119-s-3966: TREY'S Law

## Sources
- [119-s-397 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/397)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-2461: Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2461)
- [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241)
- [119-s-410: Love Lives On Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-410)
- [119-s-1816: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1816)
- [119-s-3966: TREY'S Law](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3966)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-397 (as of 2026-09-10).