S. 68

119th CONGRESS 1st Session

To prohibit the suspension of collections on loans made to small businesses related to COVID–19, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES · January 9, 2025 · Sponsor: Ms. Ernst · Committee: Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

S. 68

SEC. 1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Complete COVID Collections Act.

SEC. 2. Definitions

In this Act:
- The terms and mean the Small Business Administration and the Administrator thereof, respectively. Administration,Administrator
- The term covered funds means amounts made available for COVID–19 relief under—
- The term covered loan means—
- The term covered program means—
- The term improper payment has the meaning given the term in section 3351 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 3. Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery

(a) Extension
- Section 4018 of the CARES Act () is amended— 15 U.S.C. 9053
- Extension
  - in subsection (c)(1), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—
    - by inserting after ;
    - by inserting after each place that term appears; and
    - by inserting after ;
  - in subsection (h), by striking the date 5 years after March 27, 2020and inserting September 30, 2030; and
    - (k) Coordination and provision of information
      - (1) Coordination
        
        In carrying out the duties, responsibilities, and authorities of the Special Inspector General under this section, the Special Inspector General shall coordinate with, and receive the cooperation of, the Administrator and the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration.
        
        Coordination
      - (2) Information
        
        The Administrator shall provide data and information related to covered programs to the Special Inspector General in the same manner as the Administrator provides that data and information to the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration.
        
        Information
    - (l) Covered program
      - In this section, the term covered program has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the .
      - Covered program
  - by adding at the end the following:

SEC. 4. Fraud enforcement harmonization

(a) Emergency relief and taxpayer protections
- Section 4003 of the CARES Act () is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 U.S.C. 9042
- Emergency relief and taxpayer protections
  - (i) Fraud enforcement harmonization
    - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any criminal charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly related crime with respect to any loan, loan guarantee, or other investment made under this section shall be filed not later than 10 years after the offense was committed.
(b) Grants for shuttered venue operators
- Section 324 of division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 () is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 U.S.C. 9009a
  - (g) Fraud enforcement harmonization
    - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any criminal charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly related crime with respect to any grant made under this section shall be filed not later than 10 years after the offense was committed.
(c) Restaurant revitalization grants
- Section 5003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 () is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 U.S.C. 9009c
  - (d) Fraud enforcement harmonization
    - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any criminal charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly related crime with respect to any grant made under this section shall be filed not later than 10 years after the offense was committed.

(a) Referral of claims
- The Administrator shall refer to the Department of the Treasury any claim for collection related to a covered loan under $100,000.
(b) Department of the Treasury determination
- The Department of the Treasury shall render a final decision as to suspend, end, or make collection on a claim referred to the Department of the Treasury by the Administrator under subsection (a).
(c) Briefings and testimony
- (1) Monthly briefings
  - Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 30 days thereafter, the Administrator shall brief the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives on the progress of the Administrator in pursuing the collection of claims related to covered loans and transferring claims to the Department of the Treasury for collection in accordance with subchapter II of of title 31, United States Code. chapter 37
  - Monthly briefings
- (2) Testimony
  - (A) In general
    - The Administrator shall testify annually before the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives on—
    - In general
      - (i) the implementation of collections of claims related to covered loans;
      - (ii) improper payments related to covered programs; and
      - (iii) the compliance of the Administration with the reporting requirements under subchapter IV of of title 31, United States Code. chapter 33
  - (B) Nondelegation
    - The Administrator may not delegate the responsibility under subparagraph (A) to any other individual.

SEC. 6. Department of Justice COVID–19 program fraud report

(a) Requirement
- Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and every month thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on activities related to covered programs, which shall include—
- Requirement
  - a summary of the information contained in the report, specifically the total number of prosecutions, the total dollar amount recovered by prosecutions, the total number of referrals and source of such referrals, and the total number of declined cases and reasons for declining;
  - with respect to each covered program—
    - the number and disposition of each prosecution;
    - the dollar amount recovered from prosecutions;
    - the number of declined cases and the reasons for declining;
    - the number of referrals—
      - (i) from the Department of Justice; and
      - (ii) from sources other than the Department of Justice, such as other inspectors general; and
    - the disposition of each referral described in subparagraph (D), specifically whether the referral resulted in prosecution or declination; and
  - any additional matters as the Attorney General determines appropriate.

SEC. 7. Recoveries transparency

Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee established under section 15010 of division B of the CARES Act (; 134 Stat. 533) shall establish and maintain on the website of the Committee real-time data relating to covered funds recovered by the Federal Government, which shall be broken out by type of covered funds and dollar amount of covered funds recovered by the Federal Government. Public Law 116–136
Recoveries transparency