Aid for small businesses impacted by Sandy sought

• Deadline for businesses to apply for loans from the SBA has been extended to Jan. 28 for New York-area businesses
• Lawmakers from states hit by Sandy are pushing for $60.4 billion in aid
• Tax relief measures are also being sought for businesses and homeowners

WASHINGTON — Small businesses need federal grant money, lower loan rates and extra time to file for assistance — and they need it now — to recover from Superstorm Sandy, officials from New Jersey and New York told congressional lawmakers Thursday.

The 4% loans offered by the federal government are "challenging" in the current economic climate, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer told the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. She said lower rates and grants would be more helpful, and are needed immediately.

"These next two months are critical for businesses," she said.

The deadline for businesses to apply for loans from the Small Business Administration is Dec. 31. It's been extended to Jan. 28 for New York-area businesses. Zimmer said the same should be done in New Jersey.

Kevin S. Law, president and CEO of the Long Island Association, also urged lawmakers to supplement the SBA loans.

"After this storm and in this economy, small-business owners are resistant to taking on more debt," he said. "If you are a business owner, your only federal option is an SBA loan. This has to change because those that do not get back to business fast may find themselves unable to ever open again."

A $60.4 billion supplemental spending bill to help states recover from the storm would finance grants through the Community Development Block Grant program.

The bill, requested by the Obama administration last week and introduced Wednesday, is pending in the Senate. Lawmakers from Northeast states hit by Sandy are pushing for the $60.4 billion to be approved by the end of the year, but time is running out.

House lawmakers from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut introduced companion legislation Thursday that would provide tax relief measures for businesses and homeowners, such as allowing them to write off recovery expenses not covered by insurance.

Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey said the legislation would address concerns from local officials that the SBA loans and disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are not enough.

"Small-interest loans are not what we need now. We need a much more intense response," he said.

With Congress and the White House negotiating how to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax increases set to hit Jan. 1, lawmakers have balked at the size of the Sandy aid package.

It's unclear how much the tax incentives in the House bill would cost, but that bill's fate also is uncertain.

At a midday news conference, Republican Rep. Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey lashed out at colleagues who have suggested offsetting the Sandy aid with spending cuts elsewhere, saying now is not the time for that debate.

"When there has been a natural disaster on the West Coast, when there's been a flood along the Mississippi, when there's been a tornado someplace in our country ... we come together and we do what's necessary to get people back on their feet and get things going again," he said. "If there needs to be a discussion about doing things differently, (it) shouldn't be on the heels of a natural disaster like this, with people suffering."

Democratic Sen Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, chairwoman of the Senate Small Business Committee, urged colleagues to approve the entire aid package, calling it "absolutely essential for the recovery in this region."

"If the people don't have the confidence that their local leaders have been given access to serious money — and $60 billion is serious money — they will lose hope," Landrieu said.

Landrieu toured the devastation at Long Beach Township, N.J., on Monday, with Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Jon Tester of Montana and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. She described "block after block after block of restaurants, gas stations, toy stores, hair dressers ... completely gutted."

"Getting these loans out and with reduced paperwork is what our goal is," she said.