Paycheck Protection Small Business Forgiveness Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4117 To provide automatic forgiveness for paycheck protection program loans under $150,000, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 30, 2020 Mr. CRAMER (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. TILLIS, and Ms. SINEMA) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To provide automatic forgiveness for paycheck protection program loans under $150,000, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Paycheck Protection 4 Small Business Forgiveness Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR PPP LOANS UNDER 6 $150,000. 7 Section 1106 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116– 8 136) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4117.IS S4117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4117 IS (1) in subsection (e), in the matter preceding 1 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘An eligible’’ and insert- 2 ing ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (m), an eligi- 3 ble’’; 4 (2) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘or the infor- 5 mation required under subsection (m), as applica- 6 ble’’ after ‘‘subsection (e)’’; 7 (3) by striking subsection (h) and inserting the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(h) HOLD HARMLESS.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A lender may rely on all 11 certifications and documentation submitted by an 12 applicant or eligible recipient pursuant to any re- 13 quirement in statute regarding covered loans, or 14 rules or guidance promulgated to carry out any ac- 15 tion relating to covered loans, from an applicant or 16 eligible recipient attesting that the applicant or eligi- 17 ble recipient has accurately verified all documenta- 18 tion provided to the lender. 19 ‘‘(2) NO ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—With respect 20 to a lender that relies on the certifications and docu- 21 mentation described in paragraph (1)— 22 ‘‘(A) no enforcement or other action may 23 be taken against the lender relating to loan 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4117.IS S4117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4117 IS origination, forgiveness, or guarantee based on 1 such reliance, including claims under— 2 ‘‘(i) the Small Business Act (15 3 U.S.C. 631 et seq.); 4 ‘‘(ii) sections 3729 through 3733 of 5 title 31, United States Code (commonly 6 known as the ‘False Claims Act’); 7 ‘‘(iii) the Financial Institutions Re- 8 form, Recovery, and Enforcement Act 9 (Public Law 101–73); 10 ‘‘(iv) section 21 of the Federal De- 11 posit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1829b), 12 chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91–508 13 (12 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.), and subchapter 14 II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States 15 Code (collectively known as the ‘Bank Se- 16 crecy Act’); or 17 ‘‘(v) any other Federal, State, or 18 other criminal or civil law or regulation; 19 and 20 ‘‘(B) the lender shall not be subject to any 21 penalties relating to loan origination, forgive- 22 ness, or guarantee based on such reliance.’’; 23 and 24 (4) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4117.IS S4117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4117 IS ‘‘(m) FORGIVENESS FOR COVERED LOANS UNDER 1 $150,000.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 3 (e), with respect to a covered loan made to an eligi- 4 ble recipient that is not more than $150,000, the 5 covered loan amount shall be forgiven under this 6 section if the eligible recipient submits to the lender 7 a one-page online or paper form, to be established 8 by the Administrator not later than 7 days after the 9 date of enactment of this subsection, that attests 10 that the eligible recipient complied with the require- 11 ments under section 7(a)(36) of the Small Business 12 Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)). 13 ‘‘(2) HOLD HARMLESS.—With respect to a 14 lender that relies on an attestation submitted by an 15 eligible recipient under paragraph (1), no enforce- 16 ment action may be taken against the lender for any 17 falsehoods contained in the attestation. 18 ‘‘(3) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The online 19 or paper form established by the Administrator 20 under paragraph (1) shall include a means by which 21 an eligible recipient may, at the discretion of the eli- 22 gible recipient, submit demographic information of 23 the owner of the eligible recipient, including the sex, 24 race, ethnicity, and veteran status of the owner. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4117.IS S4117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4117 IS ‘‘(n) ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST BOR- 1 ROWERS.—An eligible recipient of a covered loan may only 2 be subject to an enforcement action or penalty relating 3 to loan origination, forgiveness, or guarantee of the cov- 4 ered loan if the eligible recipient commits fraud or expends 5 covered loan proceeds on expenses that are not allowable 6 under section 7(a)(36)(F) of the Small Business Act (15 7 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)(F)).’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 Jul 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4117.IS S4117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS