II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4954 

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 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 purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Simplifying PPP For5 giveness Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION. 

7 Section 1106 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9005) 

8 is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (e), in the matter preceding 

2 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘An eligible’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (m), an eligi4 ble’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘or the infor6 mation required under subsection (m), as applica7 ble’’ after ‘‘subsection (e)’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(m) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

11 (e), with respect to a covered loan made to an eligi12 ble recipient that is not more than $100,000, the 

13 covered loan amount shall be forgiven under this 

14 section if the eligible recipient— 

15 ‘‘(A) signs and submits to the lender an 

16 attestation that the eligible recipient made a 

17 good faith effort to comply with the require18 ments under section 7(a)(36) of the Small 

19 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)); and 

20 ‘‘(B) for the 3-year period following sub21 mission of the attestation under subparagraph 

22 (A), retains records relevant to the attestation 

23 that prove compliance with those requirements. 

24 ‘‘(2) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—An eligible 

25 recipient of a covered loan described in paragraph 


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1 (1) may complete and submit any form related to 

2 borrower demographic information. 

3 ‘‘(3) AUDIT.—The Administrator may— 

4 ‘‘(A) review and audit covered loans de5 scribed in paragraph (1); and 

6 ‘‘(B) in the case of fraud, ineligibility, or 

7 other material noncompliance with applicable 

8 loan or loan forgiveness requirements, modify— 

9 ‘‘(i) the amount of a covered loan de10 scribed in paragraph (1); or 

11 ‘‘(ii) the loan forgiveness amount with 

12 respect to a covered loan described in para13 graph (1).’’. 

14 SEC. 3. CALCULATOR FOR PAYCHECK PROTECTION PRO15 GRAM LOAN FORGIVENESS. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

17 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad18 ministrator of the Small Business Administration; 

19 and 

20 (2) the term ‘‘covered loan’’ has the meaning 

21 given the term in section 7(a)(36) of the Small Busi22 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)). 

23 (b) ONLINE CALCULATOR.—The Administrator shall 

24 take actions, in accordance with this section, to ensure the 


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1 availability of a calculator with respect to forgiveness of 

2 covered loans that— 

3 (1) is easily accessible by the public online; 

4 (2) can be utilized without cost; 

5 (3) with respect to a covered loan, allows a 

6 lender or recipient to accurately estimate the 

7 amount of loan forgiveness related to the covered 

8 loan; and 

9 (4) assists a lender or recipient to complete an 

10 application to request loan forgiveness with respect 

11 to a covered loan. 

12 (c) MANNER OF PROVISION.—Not later than 5 days 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

14 shall establish, and thereafter maintain— 

15 (1) a calculator that satisfies the requirements 

16 specified in subsection (b); or 

17 (2) a process to certify a calculator established 

18 and maintained by a third party that satisfies those 

19 requirements. 

20 (d) CERTIFICATION PROCESS REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, under subsection (c), the 

22 Administrator elects only to establish the certifi23 cation process referenced in paragraph (2) of that 

24 subsection, the Administrator— 


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1 (A) not later than 10 days after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, shall certify not less 

3 than 1 calculator that satisfies the requirements 

4 specified in subsection (b); 

5 (B) upon request, shall review and, after a 

6 certification under subparagraph (A), may cer7 tify additional calculators that satisfy the re8 quirements specified in paragraphs (1), (3), and 

9 (4) of subsection (b), with certification deter10 minations made not later than 10 days after 

11 the receipt of an application for review; and 

12 (C) not later than 10 days after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, and weekly thereafter, 

14 shall make available to the public online a list 

15 specifying the calculators— 

16 (i) certified pursuant to this section; 

17 and 

18 (ii) under review for certification. 

19 (2) ASSISTED APPLICATIONS.—The Adminis20 trator shall accept an application to request loan for21 giveness with respect to a covered loan submitted 

22 with the assistance of a calculator certified under 

23 this section. 

24 (3) USE OF LOGO.—The Administrator may es25 tablish a logo that a third party may utilize to sigVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4954.IS S4954

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1 nify that a calculator is certified pursuant to this 

2 section. 

3 (e) COORDINATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF THE

4 TREASURY.—The Administrator shall carry out this sec5 tion in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury. 

6 (f) EXPIRATION.—The requirements under this sec7 tion shall cease to have effect on October 31, 2021. 

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