[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6343 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6343
To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to
provide economic injury grants for small business concerns affected by
the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 23, 2020
Mr. Espaillat introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Small Business
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to
provide economic injury grants for small business concerns affected by
the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business COVID-19 Recovery
Grants Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. ECONOMIC INJURY GRANTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.
(a) Grants.--The Administrator of the Small Business Administration
shall provide grants to eligible small business concerns that have
suffered a substantial economic injury (as defined in section 7(b)(2)
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)), directly or
indirectly, as a result of the public health emergency declared because
of COVID-19.
(b) Definition of Eligible Small Business Concern.--In this
section, the term ``eligible small business concern'' means a small
business concern (as defined under section 3 of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 632)) or an independent contractor.
(c) Amount of Grant.--A grant provided under this section shall be
in an amount that is not more than $100,000.
(d) Use of Funds.--An eligible small business concern that receives
a grant under this section may use the grant funds to address the
direct effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including--
(1) providing paid sick leave to employees unable to work;
(2) maintaining payroll to retain employees during business
disruptions or substantial slowdowns;
(3) meeting increased costs to obtain materials unavailable
from the original source of the eligible small business concern
due to interrupted supply chains;
(4) making payments under a lease or mortgage loan related
to a place of operation of the small business concern;
(5) repaying obligations that cannot be met due to revenue
losses; and
(6) other expenses as deemed appropriate by the
Administrator.
(e) Application.--
(1) In general.--An eligible small business concern
desiring a grant under this section shall submit to the
Administration an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Administration may require.
(2) Standards.--The Administrator shall establish minimum
qualifying standards to ensure that applicants adversely
impacted by the effects of COVID-19 pandemic receive funds
expeditiously under this section.
(f) Procedures.--The Administrator shall establish procedures to
verify and document compliance with the requirements under this section
in order to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds awarded under this
section.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $100,000,000,000 to the Administrator to carry out this
section.
(h) Emergency Rulemaking Authority.--
(1) In general.--Within 15 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration shall issue rules to carry out this
section.
(2) Notice.--Notice requirements of section 553(b) of title
5, United States Code, shall not apply to any issuance of rules
under paragraph (1).
(i) Report.--Not later than March 31, 2022, the Administrator of
the Small Business Administration shall submit to Congress a report
that includes--
(1) the number of grants made under this section,
disaggregated by the number of grants made--
(A) in an amount less than or equal to $20,000;
(B) in an amount greater than $20,000 but less than
or equal to $40,000;
(C) in an amount greater than $40,000 but less than
or equal to $60,000;
(D) in an amount greater than $60,000 but less than
or equal to $80,000; and
(E) in an amount greater than $80,000 but less than
or equal to $100,000;
(2) the average amount of an award;
(3) an analysis of the program established under this
section and recommendations for improvement;
(4) the average time from receipt of an application to
approval of grant under this section; and
(5) the average time from approval of grant to disbursement
of grant funds.
(j) Termination.--The authority to carry out grants under this
section shall terminate on September 30, 2021.
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