Simplifying PPP Forgiveness Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4954 To amend the CARES Act to simplify the procedure for applying for forgive- ness for certain loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 3, 2020 Mr. KENNEDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To amend the CARES Act to simplify the procedure for applying for forgiveness for certain loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Simplifying PPP For- 4 giveness Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION. 6 Section 1106 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9005) 7 is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4954.IS S4954 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4954 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)’’; and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(m) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 10 (e), with respect to a covered loan made to an eligi- 11 ble recipient that is not more than $100,000, the 12 covered loan amount shall be forgiven under this 13 section if the eligible recipient— 14 ‘‘(A) signs and submits to the lender an 15 attestation that the eligible recipient made a 16 good faith effort to comply with the require- 17 ments under section 7(a)(36) of the Small 18 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)); and 19 ‘‘(B) for the 3-year period following sub- 20 mission of the attestation under subparagraph 21 (A), retains records relevant to the attestation 22 that prove compliance with those requirements. 23 ‘‘(2) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—An eligible 24 recipient of a covered loan described in paragraph 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4954.IS S4954 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4954 IS (1) may complete and submit any form related to 1 borrower demographic information. 2 ‘‘(3) AUDIT.—The Administrator may— 3 ‘‘(A) review and audit covered loans de- 4 scribed in paragraph (1); and 5 ‘‘(B) in the case of fraud, ineligibility, or 6 other material noncompliance with applicable 7 loan or loan forgiveness requirements, modify— 8 ‘‘(i) the amount of a covered loan de- 9 scribed in paragraph (1); or 10 ‘‘(ii) the loan forgiveness amount with 11 respect to a covered loan described in para- 12 graph (1).’’. 13 SEC. 3. CALCULATOR FOR PAYCHECK PROTECTION PRO- 14 GRAM LOAN FORGIVENESS. 15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 16 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad- 17 ministrator of the Small Business Administration; 18 and 19 (2) the term ‘‘covered loan’’ has the meaning 20 given the term in section 7(a)(36) of the Small Busi- 21 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)). 22 (b) ONLINE CALCULATOR.—The Administrator shall 23 take actions, in accordance with this section, to ensure the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4954.IS S4954 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4954 IS availability of a calculator with respect to forgiveness of 1 covered loans that— 2 (1) is easily accessible by the public online; 3 (2) can be utilized without cost; 4 (3) with respect to a covered loan, allows a 5 lender or recipient to accurately estimate the 6 amount of loan forgiveness related to the covered 7 loan; and 8 (4) assists a lender or recipient to complete an 9 application to request loan forgiveness with respect 10 to a covered loan. 11 (c) MANNER OF PROVISION.—Not later than 5 days 12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 13 shall establish, and thereafter maintain— 14 (1) a calculator that satisfies the requirements 15 specified in subsection (b); or 16 (2) a process to certify a calculator established 17 and maintained by a third party that satisfies those 18 requirements. 19 (d) CERTIFICATION PROCESS REQUIREMENTS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, under subsection (c), the 21 Administrator elects only to establish the certifi- 22 cation process referenced in paragraph (2) of that 23 subsection, the Administrator— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4954.IS S4954 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4954 IS (A) not later than 10 days after the date 1 of enactment of this Act, shall certify not less 2 than 1 calculator that satisfies the requirements 3 specified in subsection (b); 4 (B) upon request, shall review and, after a 5 certification under subparagraph (A), may cer- 6 tify additional calculators that satisfy the re- 7 quirements specified in paragraphs (1), (3), and 8 (4) of subsection (b), with certification deter- 9 minations made not later than 10 days after 10 the receipt of an application for review; and 11 (C) not later than 10 days after the date 12 of enactment of this Act, and weekly thereafter, 13 shall make available to the public online a list 14 specifying the calculators— 15 (i) certified pursuant to this section; 16 and 17 (ii) under review for certification. 18 (2) ASSISTED APPLICATIONS.—The Adminis- 19 trator shall accept an application to request loan for- 20 giveness with respect to a covered loan submitted 21 with the assistance of a calculator certified under 22 this section. 23 (3) USE OF LOGO.—The Administrator may es- 24 tablish a logo that a third party may utilize to sig- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4954.IS S4954 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4954 IS nify that a calculator is certified pursuant to this 1 section. 2 (e) COORDINATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF THE 3 TREASURY.—The Administrator shall carry out this sec- 4 tion in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury. 5 (f) EXPIRATION.—The requirements under this sec- 6 tion shall cease to have effect on October 31, 2021. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4954.IS S4954 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS