SBA Extends California Wildfire Deadlines While Local Bureaucrats Stal

SBA Extends California Wildfire Deadlines While Local Bureaucrats Stall Recovery

Posted: January 13, 2026 – 2:45 PM

One year ago today, the Los Angeles County wildfires devastated communities across Southern California. And what has the SBA done in that time? Well, they've approved over $3.2 billion in disaster funding – which sounds great until you realize most of that money is still sitting in bureaucratic limbo because local governments can't get their permitting acts together.

Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced today that the SBA is extending disaster relief deadlines to June 30, 2026. Why? Because California's byzantine permitting system has made it nearly impossible for homeowners and business owners to actually USE the loans they were approved for. You can't rebuild a structure if the city won't give you a permit, and many municipalities are still processing applications from LAST JANUARY.

The Numbers Tell the Story

That $3.2 billion represents over HALF of all disaster assistance the SBA delivered in Fiscal Year 2025. Half. For one county. Meanwhile, small business owners across the country dealing with floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes are fighting for scraps.

    Over $3.2 billion approved for LA County wildfire victims, but local permitting delays mean borrowers can't draw down their funds. The SBA is essentially paying interest on money that's doing nothing while businesses die waiting.

    

Here's the real kicker: the SBA is blaming local bureaucrats for the delays, and the local bureaucrats are blaming the state, and the state is blaming... well, everyone. Meanwhile, families who lost everything are still living in temporary housing, watching their approved loan funds collect dust while they wait for a permit that may never come.

Same Agency, Same Failures

This is the same SBA that couldn't process EIDL loans during COVID without losing billions to fraudsters. The same SBA that's now suspending thousands of Minnesota borrowers years after the fact. The same SBA that just ordered all 4,300 participants in the 8(a) program to produce three years of financial records under threat of expulsion.

But sure, let's give them credit for extending a deadline. That's definitely the same as actually helping people rebuild their lives.