SBA expands disaster counseling access through nonprofit partners
S. 1698 — Small Business Disaster Coordination Act · Filed by James Risch (R-ID) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced May 8, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Small Business Act to require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to coordinate with 'resource partners' (nonprofit counseling organizations, chambers of commerce, and similar entities) during disaster response and planning. It allows resource partners to provide disaster advice to small businesses outside their normal service area if they coordinate with local partners, permits this assistance for up to 2 years after a disaster (extendable by the Administrator), requires the SBA to share disaster-loan information with resource partners to amplify public awareness, and mandates that the SBA include resource partners in its disaster-response coordination guidelines.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to expand and coordinate disaster-response assistance for small businesses by integrating nonprofit resource partners more deeply into SBA disaster planning and response. It is a procedural/coordination measure, not a substantive change to eligibility or benefit amounts.
What the text implies
- Expands the SBA's discretion to authorize resource partners to operate outside their normal service areas, potentially creating inconsistent service quality or oversight if coordination breaks down.
- The 2-year assistance window and Administrator's discretion to extend it may create uncertainty for small businesses about how long support will remain available post-disaster.
- Mandating information-sharing with resource partners increases the number of entities handling sensitive small-business disaster-loan data, raising potential privacy/security considerations not addressed in the bill.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Small-business owners in disaster areas gain expanded access to counseling and assistance through a broader network of resource partners, and the bill mandates information-sharing to amplify public awareness of available disaster loans. The coordination requirement does not restrict any citizen rights or remedies; it expands the reach of existing assistance programs.
Who stands to gain
- nonprofit resource partners (counseling organizations, chambers of commerce, business development ce
- small businesses in disaster areas (through expanded access to free/low-cost counseling)
Named in the bill
Small Business Administration (SBA), Small Business Act, Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act of 2008, resource partners, small business concerns
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
- May 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 8, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,715 characters) on Sep 23, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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