(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the corporations make maximum use of their statutory authority to guarantee loans and surety bonds, and administer other financial products, including the authority to secure loans with a minimum loan loss reserve of only 10 percent, unless the program manager authorizes a higher leverage ratio for an individual corporation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 63089.56, so that the financing needs of small business may be met as fully as possible within the limits of corporations’ trust fund account balance.

(b) Any corporation that serves an area declared to be in a state of emergency by the Governor or a disaster area by the President of the United States, the Administrator of the United States Small Business Administration, or the United States Secretary of Agriculture shall increase the portfolio of loan guarantees where the dollar amount of the loan is less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), so that at least 15 percent of the dollar value of loans guaranteed by the corporation is for those loans. The corporation shall comply with this requirement within one year of the date the emergency or disaster is declared. Upon application of a corporation, the executive director may waive or modify the rule for the corporation if the corporation demonstrates that it made a good faith effort to comply and failed to locate lending institutions in the region that the corporation serves that are willing to make guaranteed loans in that amount.

(Amended (as added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 537, Sec. 4, 1st text) by Stats. 2016, Ch. 713, Sec. 8. (SB 936) Effective January 1, 2017.)