TRACE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4027 To amend the Small Business Act to require Members of Congress, spouses of Members of Congress, and employees of Congress who receive a loan under the paycheck protection program to submit a financial disclo- sure form. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 22, 2020 Ms. ERNST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend the Small Business Act to require Members of Congress, spouses of Members of Congress, and employ- ees of Congress who receive a loan under the paycheck protection program to submit a financial disclosure form. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency Require- 4 ments Aimed at Congressional Expenditures Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘TRACE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4027.IS S4027 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4027 IS SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF PPP LOANS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a)(36) of the Small 2 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)) is amended by add- 3 ing at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(T) DISCLOSURE OF RECEIPT.— 5 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara- 6 graph— 7 ‘‘(I) the term ‘applicable officer’ 8 means— 9 ‘‘(aa) the Secretary of the 10 Senate, in the case of the Vice 11 President, a Senator, the spouse 12 of a Senator, or an employee of 13 Congress whose compensation is 14 disbursed by the Secretary of the 15 Senate; or 16 ‘‘(bb) the Clerk of the 17 House of Representatives, in the 18 case of a Representative in Con- 19 gress, a Delegate to Congress, 20 the Resident Commissioner from 21 Puerto Rico, the spouse of a 22 Representative in Congress, a 23 Delegate to Congress, or the 24 Resident Commissioner from 25 Puerto Rico, or an employee of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4027.IS S4027 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4027 IS Congress whose compensation is 1 disbursed by the Chief Adminis- 2 trator Officer of the House of 3 Representatives; 4 ‘‘(II) the term ‘employee of Con- 5 gress’ means an employee of the per- 6 sonal office of a Member of Congress, 7 of a committee of the Senate or the 8 House of Representatives, or of a 9 joint committee of Congress; and 10 ‘‘(III) the term ‘Member of Con- 11 gress’ has the meaning given that 12 term in section 2106 of title 5, United 13 States Code. 14 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE.— 15 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible 16 recipient owned or controlled by a 17 Member of Congress, spouse of a 18 Member of Congress, or employee of 19 Congress receives a covered loan, the 20 Member of Congress, spouse of a 21 Member of Congress, or employee of 22 Congress, respectively, shall submit to 23 the applicable officer a financial dis- 24 closure, which shall include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4027.IS S4027 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4027 IS ‘‘(aa) the name and address 1 of the principal place of business 2 for the eligible recipient receiving 3 the covered loan; and 4 ‘‘(bb) the amount of the cov- 5 ered loan. 6 ‘‘(II) DEADLINE.—A Member of 7 Congress, spouse of a Member of Con- 8 gress, or employee of Congress shall 9 submit a financial disclosure required 10 under subclause (I)— 11 ‘‘(aa) for a covered loan 12 made on or after the date of en- 13 actment of the TRACE Act, not 14 later than 15 days after the date 15 on which the loan is made; and 16 ‘‘(bb) for a covered loan 17 made before such date of enact- 18 ment, not later than 15 days 19 after such date of enactment. 20 ‘‘(iii) AVAILABILITY.—Each applicable 21 officer shall make available on a publicly 22 available website each financial disclosure 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4027.IS S4027 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4027 IS submitted to the applicable officer under 1 clause (ii).’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4027.IS S4027 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS