To establish the Small Business Economic Assistance Program.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7522 To establish the Small Business Economic Assistance Program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 9, 2020 Mr. GALLEGO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business A BILL To establish the Small Business Economic Assistance Program. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PRO- 3 GRAM. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Treas- 5 ury shall establish the Small Business Economic Assist- 6 ance Program to provide financial assistance to each cov- 7 ered entity. 8 (b) ASSISTANCE.—Subject to subsection (d), the Sec- 9 retary shall provide each covered entity a financial assist- 10 ance payment equal to $5,000 per employee of that cov- 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7522.IH H7522 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7522 IH ered entity. Such assistance may not be treated as taxable 1 income, and expenses of a covered entity that arise from 2 such assistance shall be eligible for any otherwise applica- 3 ble tax deduction. 4 (c) PURPOSE.— 5 (1) A covered entity that receives assistance 6 under subsection (b) shall use at least 80 percent of 7 the assistance under subsection (b) for employee 8 compensation, and the balance for business costs 9 (including rent, mortgage payments, or utility pay- 10 ments). 11 (2) The Secretary shall treat any portion of a 12 payment of assistance under subsection (b) not used 13 pursuant to paragraph (1) as a loan— 14 (A) subject to an interest rate the Sec- 15 retary determines to be low; and 16 (B) that the covered entity shall repay not 17 later than one year after the Secretary makes 18 such payment. 19 (d) OPT-OUT.—A covered entity may elect in writing 20 not to receive financial assistance under subsection (b). 21 (e) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall distribute 22 payments under subsection (b) based on information in 23 the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7522.IH H7522 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7522 IH (f) FRAUD.—All documents relating to the program 1 under this section shall be subject to section 1001 of title 2 18, United States Code. 3 (g) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, the 4 term ‘‘covered entity’’ means an entity that— 5 (1) is categorized as a sole proprietorship, part- 6 nership company, limited liability company, C cor- 7 poration, S corporation, B corporation, or 501(c) or- 8 ganization; 9 (2) has more than one but fewer than 50 em- 10 ployees; 11 (3) has any type of income subject to Federal 12 income tax; 13 (4) paid employment or self-employment tax 14 during calendar year 2019; 15 (5) did not receive a payment under the Pay- 16 check Protection Program; 17 (6) was established before January 1, 2020; 18 and 19 (7) has not filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:01 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7522.IH H7522 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS