Small business disaster loan program is out of money until Congress approves new funds

NEW YORK (AP) — The Small Business Administration has run out of money for the disaster assistance loans it offers small businesses, homeowners and renters, delaying much needed relief for people applying for aid in the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to businesses and people affected by disasters. The SBA warned earlier this month that it could run out of funding, given the anticipated surge in claims from Hurricane Helene, without additional funding from Congress.

There are other disaster relief programs available, including assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. The FEMA aid isn't affected by the SBA shortfall.

Helene was a Category 4 storm that first struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26, dumped trillions of gallons of rain and left a trail of destruction for hundreds of miles across several states. Hurricane Milton swept across Florida two weeks later.

So far, the SBA has received around 37,000 applications for relief from those impacted by Hurricane Helene and made more than 700 loan offers totaling about $48 million. It has received 12,000 applications from those impacted by Hurricane Milton.

The SBA is pausing new loan offers until it gets more funding, which means loans that have not already been offered will be delayed by at least a month. SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said people should keep applying for the loans, however.

“We know that swift financial relief can help communities recover quickly to stabilize local economies.” Guzman said in a statement. She added that the SBA will continue to process applications so assistance can be quickly disbursed once funds are replenished.

The SBA said it could also be able to make a small number of new loan offers during this time, if it gets more funds from loan cancellations or similar actions.

House Speaker Mike Johnson assured there would be strong support to provide necessary funds – when Congress returns after the November election.

“There’s no question these devastating back-to-back storms have stressed the SBA funding program,” Johnson, a Republican, said in a statement. “But the Biden-Harris Administration has the necessary disaster funding right now to address the immediate needs of American people in these hurricane affected areas.”

The speaker has declined to recall lawmakers back to Washington to vote on aid in the aftermath of deadly hurricanes and declined to do so now. He said Congress is tracking this situation closely.

“When Members return in just a few short weeks, the Administration should have an accurate assessment of the actual dollar amount needed and there will be strong bipartisan support to provide the necessary funding,” he said.

The SBA offers two different types of disaster loans. Business physical disaster loans are for repairing or replacing disaster-damaged property, including real estate, inventories, supplies, machinery and equipment. Economic injury disaster loans are working capital loans to help small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private, non-profit organizations meet financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of a disaster.

Businesses can access loans up to $2 million. Interest rates are as low as 4% for businesses and 3.25% for nonprofit organizations.

The SBA also offers disaster loans up to $500,000 to homeowners to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed personal property.

FEMA's disaster relief fund is a pot of money the agency uses to respond to disasters. The money pays for things like refunding state and local officials for debris removal and rebuilding public infrastructure damaged by disasters. FEMA also gives disaster survivors money for things like rent while their homes are uninhabitable or for emergency needs like diapers.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has repeatedly said that the disaster relief fund has enough money to respond to Helene and Milton. But Criswell has said that the agency eventually will need supplemental funding from Congress. If that doesn’t happen, the agency would go into what’s called “immediate needs funding.” That means the agency stops paying out for previous disasters and conserves its money for life-saving missions during any new ones.

For more details about all aid programs the government offers visit https://www.disasterassistance.gov.

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AP Writers Lisa Mascaro and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.

Businesses are seen in a debris field in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Chimney Rock Village, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Thailand on Thursday acquitted a Thai woman who had been charged with involvement in a 2015 bombing at a shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people and injured 120.

Wanna Suansan was one of three people apprehended out of 17 suspects who authorities said were responsible for the blast at Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination, particularly for visitors from China. The Bangkok Southern Criminal Court ruled that there was not enough evidence to link her to the bombing.

The two others being tried separately are ethnic Uyghurs, a Muslim minority in China that has suffered repression. All three were charged with a variety of offenses, including murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of explosive materials.

The two Uyghurs were arrested in 2015 shortly after the bombing on Aug. 17. Wanna was arrested later when she voluntarily returned to Thailand from Turkey in 2017 to turn herself in when she was named as a suspect.

Thai authorities have said the bombing was revenge by a people-smuggling gang whose activities had been disrupted by the police. Thailand cracked down on human traffickers earlier in 2015 after abandoned camps for Rohingyas fleeing persecution in Myanmar and economic migrants from Bangladesh were found in the jungles along the Thai-Malaysia border.

However, some analysts suspect the bombing was the work of Uyghur separatists angry that Thailand had forcibly repatriated scores of Uyghurs to China in July that year. Many Uyghurs try to escape persecution and tight control in China with the help of professional smugglers. The shrine’s popularity among Chinese tourists lent support to the theory that the bombing had a political element.

While the two other suspects, Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammad, were allegedly linked by video, DNA and other evidence to the bombing, the case against Wanna was more circumstantial.

Wanna, 36, was accused of leasing accommodation for the alleged bombers. Police said they found gunpowder, fertilizer and other bomb-making materials in an apartment in outer Bangkok that was leased under Wanna’s name.

The judge on Thursday said there was not enough evidence indicating that Wanna had committed a crime as she was charged.

She said prosecutors could not provide evidence that Wanna was present at the site of the bombing, had brought the other suspects there or helped them escape. There was also no evidence that she had contact with them or helped them acquire explosive materials that were found in the apartment, which she was alleged to have rented for the suspects, the judge said.

She said it might have been possible that Wanna helped find accommodation for friends or acquaintances of her husband, who is Turkish, but prosecutors could not prove what kind of relationship her husband might have had with the other suspects. Her husband, not in custody, is another suspect in the case.

Some of the suspects are Turks, with whom Uyghurs share ethnic bonds.

“Today the court acquitted the charges. I’m very happy. I’d like to thank the court, because I had been waiting for this day for seven years since I returned,” Wanna said after the ruling.

She said that during that time, she felt discouraged because "it’s like I didn’t get any justice, and it also damaged my family.”

Mieraili and Bilal, accused of being the main bombers, have faced repeated delays in their trial because of difficulties in finding suitable translators. Their lawyer, Chuchart Kanpai, said Thursday that their case was still at the stage of examining witnesses, and the next court date is scheduled for March.

The two men pleaded not guilty when their trial began in 2016 and said they suffered mistreatment and torture in jail after their arrests. Police said they believe Mieraili detonated the bomb minutes after a backpack containing the device was allegedly left at the shrine by Bilal, who is also known as Adem Karadag.

Wanna Suansan, who had been charged with involvement in a 2015 bombing, leaves the Bangkok South Criminal Court in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

FILE - Police investigate the scene around the Erawan Shrine the morning after an explosion in Bangkok,Thailand, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)

FILE - Police investigate the scene at the Erawan Shrine after an explosion in Bangkok on Aug. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)

Wanna Suansan, who had been charged with involvement in a 2015 bombing, leaves the Bangkok South Criminal Court in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Wanna Suansan, who had been charged with involvement in a 2015 bombing, leaves the Bangkok South Criminal Court in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)