[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6344 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6344
To modify the economic injury disaster loan of the Small Business
Administration in response to COVID-19, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 23, 2020
Mr. Evans introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Small Business
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To modify the economic injury disaster loan of the Small Business
Administration in response to COVID-19, 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 ``Expediting the EIDL Program Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOANS.
(a) Terms.--With respect to a loan made under section 7(b)(2) of
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) in response to COVID-19,
the Administrator of the Small Business Administration--
(1) may make such a loan to a start-up small business
concern;
(2) may waive any rules related to affiliation; and
(3) shall, with respect to such a loan made to a
cooperative, waive any requirement that the borrower of such
loan provide a personal guarantee to repay such loan.
(b) Preliminary Amounts.--
(1) In general.--An applicant for a loan under section
7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) in
response to COVID-19 may request that the Administrator provide
an advance in the amount requested by such applicant (not to
exceed $10,000) to such applicant within 3 days after the
Administrator receives an application from such applicant.
(2) Verification.--Before disbursing amounts under this
subsection, the Administrator shall verify that the applicant
is a small business concern (as defined under section 3 of such
Act (15 U.S.C. 632)).
(3) Repayment.--An applicant that is subsequently denied a
loan under such section 7(b)(2) shall not be required to repay
any amounts of an advance provided under this subsection.
(c) Approval and Ability To Repay for Small Dollar Loans.--With
respect to a loan made under section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) in response to COVID-19 that does not exceed
$350,000, the Administrator--
(1) may approve an applicant based solely on the credit
score of the applicant and shall not require an applicant to
submit a tax return or a tax return transcript for such
approval; or
(2) use alternative appropriate methods to determine an
applicant's ability to repay.
(d) Emergencies Involving Federal Primary Responsibility Qualifying
for Small Business Administration Assistance.--Section 7(b)(2) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(3) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(4) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E);
(5) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:
``(D) an emergency involving Federal primary
responsibility determined to exist by the President
under section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5191(b)); or'';
(6) in subparagraph (E), as so redesignated--
(A) by striking ``or (C)'' and inserting ``(C), or
(D)'';
(B) by striking ``disaster declaration'' each place
it appears and inserting ``disaster or emergency
declaration'';
(C) by striking ``disaster has occurred'' and
inserting ``disaster or emergency has occurred'';
(D) by striking ``such disaster'' and inserting
``such disaster or emergency''; and
(E) by striking ``disaster stricken'' and inserting
``disaster- or emergency-stricken''; and
(7) in the flush matter following subparagraph (E) (as so
redesignated), by striking the period at the end and inserting
the following: ``: Provided further, That for purposes of
subparagraph (D), the Administrator shall deem that such an
emergency affects each State or subdivision thereof (including
counties), and that each State or subdivision has sufficient
economic damage to small business concerns to qualify for
assistance under this paragraph and the Administrator shall
accept applications for such assistance immediately.''
(e) Credit Elsewhere Requirements.--The flush matter following
subparagraph (E) (as so redesignated) of section 7(b)(2) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) is amended by striking ``That no
loan or guarantee'' and all that follows through ``credit elsewhere.''
and inserting the following: ``The interest rate on a loan or guarantee
made under this paragraph shall be not more than 2 percent, if the
Administrator determines the applicant is not able to obtain credit
elsewhere, or not more than 4 percent, if the Administrator determines
the applicant is able to obtain credit elsewhere.''.
(f) Eligibility.--Section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act is
amended by striking ``small agricultural cooperative'' and inserting
``small cooperative''.
(g) Additional Amounts.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator of the Small Business
Administration may increase by 20 percent the amount received
by an eligible small business concern under section 7(b)(2) of
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) to cover
continuity-of-operations and risk mitigation improvements,
including telework capability, offsite record keeping,
redundancy, the administrative costs of establishing paid sick
leave, and presenteeism prevention.
(2) Definition.--In this section, the term ``eligible small
business concern'' means a small business concern that--
(A) meets the applicable size standard established
under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
632); and
(B) is receiving assistance under section 7(b)(2)
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) related
to COVID-19.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the loan program under
section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2))--
(1) $177,000,000 for administration costs; and
(2) $1,000,000,000 to provide loans or other assistance.
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