Sponsors (2)
The bill extends enforcement windows to 10 years—improving the government's ability to recover pandemic-relief fraud and clarifying timeliness for some claimants, at the cost of prolonged liability and higher defense and administrative burdens for small businesses and government.
Taxpayers and oversight agencies: Civil enforcement under the False Claims Act and related statutes is preserved for up to 10 years, improving the government's ability to recover pandemic-relief fraud and pursue late-discovered cases.
Prosecutors, relators, and some plaintiffs: The statute of limitations for COVID-era SBA grant and loan fraud is clarified and extended to 10 years, reducing disputes about timeliness and helping preserve meritorious claims that otherwise might be dismissed as untimely.
Recipients of Shuttered Venue, Restaurant Revitalization, EIDL, and PPP programs: Gain statutory clarity about enforcement timing, which may reduce surprise late prosecutions or retroactive uncertainty about liability.
Small-business owners and other potential defendants: Face prolonged exposure to civil and criminal liability for up to 10 years, increasing legal uncertainty, potential defense costs, and the practical burdens of defending long‑stale claims.
Small businesses: Extending limitation periods makes it harder to rely on contemporaneous documentation and fresh witness testimony, complicating defenses and increasing the risk that legitimate borrowers or grantees will be wrongly penalized years later.
Taxpayers and federal agencies: Longer enforcement windows increase administrative and fiscal costs for DOJ, SBA, and other agencies to retain records, sustain investigations, and litigate matters over a decade-long period.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Sets a 10-year statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions and civil enforcement actions for alleged fraud connected to certain COVID-era SBA programs.
Official title: Extend the statute of limitations for fraud under certain pandemic programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Joni Ernst · Last progress May 4, 2026
Extends the time federal prosecutors and civil enforcers have to bring fraud cases tied to certain COVID-era Small Business Administration (SBA) programs by setting a 10-year statute of limitations. It applies to alleged crimes and civil false-claims actions connected to Shuttered Venue Operators Grants, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, CARES Act EIDL disaster loans, and PPP (including Second Draw) loans. The bill amends existing SBA and related statutes to measure the 10-year filing deadline from the date the offense or conspiracy was committed and lists the criminal and civil statutes covered (e.g., mail/wire fraud, false statements, money laundering, and False Claims Act provisions).