II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2664 

To prohibit the suspension of collections on loans made to small businesses 

related to COVID–19, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To prohibit the suspension of collections on loans made to 

small businesses related to COVID–19, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Tax5 payer Recoveries Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATION; ADMINISTRATOR.—The 

9 terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Administrator’’ mean 


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1 the Small Business Administration and the Adminis2 trator thereof, respectively. 

3 (2) COVERED FUNDS.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 funds’’ means amounts made available for COVID– 

5 19 relief under— 

6 (A) the Coronavirus Preparedness and Re7 sponse Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 

8 (Public Law 116–123; 134 Stat 146); 

9 (B) the Families First Coronavirus Re10 sponse Act (Public Law 116–127; 134 Stat. 

11 178); 

12 (C) the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136; 

13 134 Stat. 281); 

14 (D) the Paycheck Protection Program and 

15 Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 

16 116–139; 134 Stat. 620); 

17 (E) division M or N of the Consolidated 

18 Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116– 

19 260; 134 Stat. 1909); or 

20 (F) the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 

21 (Public Law 117–2; 135 Stat. 4). 

22 (3) COVERED LOAN.—The term ‘‘covered loan’’ 

23 means— 


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1 (A) a loan guaranteed under paragraph 

2 (36) or (37) of section 7(a) of the Small Busi3 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)); and 

4 (B) a loan made under section 7(b)(2) of 

5 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) 

6 related to COVID–19. 

7 (4) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 program’’ means— 

9 (A) loans made under paragraph (36) or 

10 (37) of section 7(a) of the Small Business Act 

11 (15 U.S.C. 636(a)); 

12 (B) economic injury disaster loans made 

13 under section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) related to COVID–19; 

15 (C) advances provided pursuant to section 

16 1110 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9009), sec17 tion 331 of division N of the Consolidated Ap18 propriations Act, 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9009b), or 

19 section 5002(b) of the American Rescue Plan 

20 Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9009 note); 

21 (D) restaurant revitalization grants made 

22 under section 5003 of the American Rescue 

23 Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9009c); and 

24 (E) grants for shuttered venue operators 

25 made under section 324 of division N of the 


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1 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (15 

2 U.S.C. 9009a). 

3 (5) IMPROPER PAYMENT.—The term ‘‘improper 

4 payment’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

5 3351 of title 31, United States Code. 

6 SEC. 3. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR PANDEMIC RE7 COVERY. 

8 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 4018 of the CARES Act 

9 (15 U.S.C. 9053) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (c)(1), in the matter preceding 

11 subparagraph (A)— 

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘or the Administrator of 

13 the Small Business Administration (referred to 

14 in this section as the ‘Administrator’)’’ after 

15 ‘‘the Secretary of the Treasury’’; 

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘or the Administrator’’ 

17 after ‘‘established by the Secretary’’; 

18 (C) by inserting ‘‘or any assistance pro19 vided under any covered program’’ after ‘‘under 

20 this Act’’; each place that term appears; and 

21 (D) by inserting ‘‘or the Administrator’’ 

22 after ‘‘management by the Secretary’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘the date 5 

24 years after March 27, 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘Sep25 tember 30, 2030’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(k) COORDINATION AND PROVISION OF INFORMA3 TION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the du5 ties, responsibilities, and authorities of the Special 

6 Inspector General under this section, the Special In7 spector General shall coordinate with, and receive 

8 the cooperation of, the Administrator and the In9 spector General of the Small Business Administra10 tion. 

11 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—The Administrator shall 

12 provide data and information related to covered pro13 grams to the Special Inspector General in the same 

14 manner as the Administrator provides that data and 

15 information to the Inspector General of the Small 

16 Business Administration. 

17 ‘‘(l) COVERED PROGRAM.—In this section, the term 

18 ‘covered program’ has the meaning given the term in sec19 tion 2 of the Strengthening Taxpayer Recoveries Act.’’. 

20 (b) FUNDING.— 

21 (1) DEPOSIT AND USE OF AMOUNTS RECOV22 ERED FROM AUDITS AND INVESTIGATIONS.— 

23 (A) DEPOSIT.—Notwithstanding section 

24 3302 of title 31, United States Code, the Sec25 retary of the Treasury shall credit to the SpeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Aug 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2664.IS S2664

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1 cial Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery 

2 as offsetting collections any amounts recovered 

3 by the Federal Government that are attrib4 utable to an audit or investigation by the Office 

5 of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic 

6 Recovery. 

7 (B) USE.—Amounts credited under sub8 paragraph (A) shall be available to the Special 

9 Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery, with10 out further appropriation, for necessary ex11 penses in carrying out section 4018 of the 

12 CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9053). 

13 (C) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 

14 credited under subparagraph (A) shall remain 

15 available until September 30, 2030. 

16 (2) REPORTING.—The Special Inspector Gen17 eral for Pandemic Recovery shall submit to the Com18 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and 

19 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and 

20 the Committee on Small Business and the Com21 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent22 atives an annual report on the amounts recovered by 

23 the Federal Government that are attributable to an 

24 audit or investigation by the Office of the Special In25 spector General for Pandemic Recovery— 


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1 (A) that are relating to a covered program; 

2 and 

3 (B) that are relating to a program that is 

4 not a covered program. 

5 SEC. 4. FRAUD ENFORCEMENT HARMONIZATION. 

6 (a) EMERGENCY RELIEF AND TAXPAYER PROTEC7 TIONS.—Section 4003 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 

8 9042) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(i) FRAUD ENFORCEMENT HARMONIZATION.—Not10 withstanding any other provision of law, any criminal 

11 charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, 

12 State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly re13 lated crime with respect to any loan, loan guarantee, or 

14 other investment made under this section shall be filed not 

15 later than 10 years after the offense was committed.’’. 

16 (b) GRANTS FOR SHUTTERED VENUE OPERATORS.— 

17 Section 324 of division N of the Consolidated Appropria18 tions Act, 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9009a) is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(g) FRAUD ENFORCEMENT HARMONIZATION.—Not21 withstanding any other provision of law, any criminal 

22 charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, 

23 State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly re24 lated crime with respect to any grant made under this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Aug 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2664.IS S2664

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1 tion shall be filed not later than 10 years after the offense 

2 was committed.’’. 

3 (c) RESTAURANT REVITALIZATION GRANTS.—Sec4 tion 5003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 

5 U.S.C. 9009c) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(d) FRAUD ENFORCEMENT HARMONIZATION.—Not8 withstanding any other provision of law, any criminal 

9 charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, 

10 State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly re11 lated crime with respect to any grant made under this sec12 tion shall be filed not later than 10 years after the offense 

13 was committed.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON SUSPENDING COLLECTIONS ON 

15 SBA LOANS RELATED TO COVID–19. 

16 (a) REFERRAL OF CLAIMS.—The Administrator shall 

17 refer to the Department of the Treasury any claim for 

18 collection related to a covered loan under $100,000. 

19 (b) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY DETERMINA20 TION.—The Department of the Treasury shall render a 

21 final decision as to suspend, end, or make collection on 

22 a claim referred to the Department of the Treasury by 

23 the Administrator under subsection (a). 

24 (c) BRIEFINGS AND TESTIMONY.— 


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1 (1) MONTHLY BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 30 

2 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 

3 every 30 days thereafter, the Administrator shall 

4 brief the Committee on Small Business and Entre5 preneurship of the Senate and the Committee on 

6 Small Business of the House of Representatives on 

7 the progress of the Administrator in pursuing the 

8 collection of claims related to covered loans and 

9 transferring claims to the Department of the Treas10 ury for collection in accordance with subchapter II 

11 of chapter 37 of title 31, United States Code. 

12 (2) TESTIMONY.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

14 shall testify annually before the Committee on 

15 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

16 Senate and the Committee on Small Business 

17 of the House of Representatives on— 

18 (i) the implementation of collections of 

19 claims related to covered loans; 

20 (ii) improper payments related to cov21 ered programs; and 

22 (iii) the compliance of the Administra23 tion with the reporting requirements under 

24 subchapter IV of chapter 33 of title 31, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (B) NONDELEGATION.—The Administrator 

2 may not delegate the responsibility under sub3 paragraph (A) to any other individual. 

4 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE COVID–19 PROGRAM 

5 FRAUD REPORT. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 days after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, and every month thereafter, 

8 the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report 

9 on activities related to covered programs, which shall in10 clude— 

11 (1) a summary of the information contained in 

12 the report, specifically the total number of prosecu13 tions, the total dollar amount recovered by prosecu14 tions, the total number of referrals and source of 

15 such referrals, and the total number of declined 

16 cases and reasons for declining; 

17 (2) with respect to each covered program— 

18 (A) the number and disposition of each 

19 prosecution; 

20 (B) the dollar amount recovered from pros21 ecutions; 

22 (C) the number of declined cases and the 

23 reasons for declining; 

24 (D) the number of referrals— 


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1 (i) from the Department of Justice; 

2 and 

3 (ii) from sources other than the De4 partment of Justice, such as other inspec5 tors general; and 

6 (E) the disposition of each referral de7 scribed in subparagraph (D), specifically wheth8 er the referral resulted in prosecution or dec9 lination; and 

10 (3) any additional matters as the Attorney Gen11 eral determines appropriate. 

12 SEC. 7. RECOVERIES TRANSPARENCY. 

13 Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act, the Pandemic Response Accountability Com15 mittee established under section 15010 of division B of 

16 the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136; 134 Stat. 533) 

17 shall establish and maintain on the website of the Com18 mittee real-time data relating to covered funds recovered 

19 by the Federal Government, which shall be broken out by 

20 type of covered funds and dollar amount of covered funds 

21 recovered by the Federal Government. 

Æ 


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