II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2370 

To amend title 11, United States Code, to make bankruptcy organization 

more efficient for small business debtors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2012 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 11, United States Code, to make bankruptcy 

organization more efficient for small business debtors, 

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 ‘‘Small Business Reor5 ganization Efficiency and Clarity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY IN CONFIRMATION. 

7 Section 1129(e) of title 11, United States Code, is 

8 amended by striking ‘‘45 days’’ and inserting ‘‘90 days’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. CLARITY IN PERIODIC REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

2 Section 308(b) of title 11, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the 

7 end and inserting a period; and 

8 (3) by striking paragraph (6). 

9 SEC. 4. RETAINING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 327 of title 11, United 

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(g) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a person is not 

14 disqualified for employment under this section by a small 

15 business debtor solely because such person holds a claim 

16 of less than $5,000 that arose prior to the date of com17 mencement of the case.’’. 

18 (b) ADJUSTMENTS TO DOLLAR AMOUNT.—Section 

19 104 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by insert20 ing ‘‘327(g),’’ after ‘‘303(b),’’. 

21 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS SELECTION. 

22 Section 1112(b)(4) of title 11, United States Code, 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (O) and 

25 (P) as subparagraphs (P) and (Q), respectively; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (N) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(O) failure of a small business debtor to 

4 designate itself as a small business debtor;’’. 

5 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

6 Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States, 

8 in consultation with the Administrative Office of United 

9 States Courts and the Executive Office of United States 

10 Trustees, shall submit a report to Congress detailing— 

11 (1) the number and percentage of all cases filed 

12 under chapter 11 of title 11, United States Code, in 

13 which the debtor is a small business debtor, as that 

14 term is defined in section 101(51D) of title 11, 

15 United States Code; 

16 (2) the number of cases and rates of confirma17 tions for small business debtors in cases filed under 

18 chapter 11 of title 11, United States Code, as com19 pared with— 

20 (A) all debtors in cases filed under that 

21 chapter 11; 

22 (B) all debtors in cases filed under that 

23 chapter 11 that are not small business debtors; 

24 (C) debtors in cases filed under that chap25 ter 11 that— 


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1 (i) are not small business debtors; and 

2 (ii) have less than $5,000,000 in debt; 

3 (D) debtors in cases filed under that chap4 ter 11 that— 

5 (i) are not small business debtors; and 

6 (ii) have less than $10,000,000 in 

7 debt; 

8 (E) debtors in cases filed under chapter 12 

9 of title 11, United States Code; and 

10 (F) debtors in cases filed under that chap11 ter 13 that are business cases; 

12 (3) the number of cases filed under chapter 11 

13 of title 11, United States Code, in which the debtor 

14 has less than $2,190,000 in debt outstanding, but 

15 does not designate itself a small business debtor; 

16 (4) recommendations for improving the con17 firmation rate for small business debtors; and 

18 (5) an analysis on whether the definition of the 

19 term ‘‘small business debtor’’ should be amended to 

20 include businesses with— 

21 (A) less than $5,000,000 in debt; and 

22 (B) less than $10,000,000 in debt. 

Æ 


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