Prairie State Wire

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has not yet responded to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's request for a disaster declaration in DuPage County following a tornado touchdown there last month.

Pritzker issued the disaster declaration request to the SBA on July 8, according to a statement issued the governor's office.

"I submitted a request to the U.S. Small Business Administration seeking a disaster declaration to help DuPage County residents in the wake of the recent storms," Pritzker said in the statement posted on Facebook on July 9. "We're doing everything we can at the state level to help the community get back on their feet faster and stronger."

In the statement issued the previous day, Pritzker said a SBA disaster declaration would allow eligible DuPage County residents and businesses, as well as contiguous counties, to apply for low-interest, long-term loans.

"Recent storms have upended the daily lives of DuPage County residents, impacting family homes and local businesses," Pritzker said in the statement. "Multiple state agencies have been on the ground working closely with community leaders to provide critical support as residents begin the process of rebuilding. Receiving a disaster declaration from the U.S. SBA would provide an additional level of needed support to the community and help residents get back on their feet faster and stronger."

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency has already been working with the local jurisdictions on an extensive damage assessment of the affected area, according to the statement.

"While the damage did not meet the threshold for a federal disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the state believes the threshold has been met for the SBA," the statement said. "To be eligible for an SBA declaration, at least 25 homes and/or businesses in a county must sustain major, uninsured losses of 40% or more."

Pritzker's request to the SBA has the support of the 14 U.S. House members that make up Illinois' delegation who sent a letter, as did U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Carbondale) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Rock Island), urging the administration to respond favorably to Pritzker's request.

"Assisting these residents in recovery is of utmost importance, and Gov. Pritzker has determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of state and local governments," Durbin and Duckworth said in their letter.

The requests came after an EF-3 tornado touched down in DuPage County on June 20. The SBA already has conducted a damage assessment from the storm and found 79 DuPage County properties sustained major damage or were destroyed, according to Durbin and Duckworth's letter.

If the SBA approves Pritzker’s request, it will not the first time the administration offered disaster assistance to Illinois businesses after the governor asked for it. In March of last year, as lockdowns descended on the United States and the rest of the world, the SBA offered low-interest federal disaster loans to Illinois small businesses that were suffering substantial economic injury in the then-just-beginning COVID-19 pandemic. 

That assistance followed a request the SBA received from Pritzker on March 17, 2020, according to an SBA announcement at the time. The following June, the SBA offered disaster assistance to Illinois businesses and residents affected by civil unrest.

In October 2019, the SBA also provided assistance to DuPage County residents whose homes and businesses sustained damage during severe thunderstorms the previous June.