II 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 68 

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 

JANUARY 9, 2025 

Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mr. YOUNG, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. LANKFORD, and 

Mr. CURTIS) 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 ‘‘Complete COVID Col5 lections 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 Complete COVID Collections Act.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. FRAUD ENFORCEMENT HARMONIZATION. 

21 (a) EMERGENCY RELIEF AND TAXPAYER PROTEC22 TIONS.—Section 4003 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 9042) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(i) FRAUD ENFORCEMENT HARMONIZATION.—Not25 withstanding any other provision of law, any criminal 


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1 charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, 

2 State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly re3 lated crime with respect to any loan, loan guarantee, or 

4 other investment made under this section shall be filed not 

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

6 (b) GRANTS FOR SHUTTERED VENUE OPERATORS.— 

7 Section 324 of division N of the Consolidated Appropria8 tions Act, 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9009a) is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(g) FRAUD ENFORCEMENT HARMONIZATION.—Not11 withstanding any other provision of law, any criminal 

12 charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, 

13 State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly re14 lated crime with respect to any grant made under this sec15 tion shall be filed not later than 10 years after the offense 

16 was committed.’’. 

17 (c) RESTAURANT REVITALIZATION GRANTS.—Sec18 tion 5003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 

19 U.S.C. 9009c) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(d) FRAUD ENFORCEMENT HARMONIZATION.—Not22 withstanding any other provision of law, any criminal 

23 charge or civil enforcement action alleging that a business, 

24 State, or municipality engaged in fraud or similarly re25 lated crime with respect to any grant made under this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S68.IS S68

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

2 was committed.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON SUSPENDING COLLECTIONS ON 

4 SBA LOANS RELATED TO COVID–19. 

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

6 refer to the Department of the Treasury any claim for 

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

8 (b) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY DETERMINA9 TION.—The Department of the Treasury shall render a 

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

11 a claim referred to the Department of the Treasury by 

12 the Administrator under subsection (a). 

13 (c) BRIEFINGS AND TESTIMONY.— 

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

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

16 every 30 days thereafter, the Administrator shall 

17 brief the Committee on Small Business and Entre18 preneurship of the Senate and the Committee on 

19 Small Business of the House of Representatives on 

20 the progress of the Administrator in pursuing the 

21 collection of claims related to covered loans and 

22 transferring claims to the Department of the Treas23 ury for collection in accordance with subchapter II 

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

25 (2) TESTIMONY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

2 shall testify annually before the Committee on 

3 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

4 Senate and the Committee on Small Business 

5 of the House of Representatives on— 

6 (i) the implementation of collections of 

7 claims related to covered loans; 

8 (ii) improper payments related to cov9 ered programs; and 

10 (iii) the compliance of the Administra11 tion with the reporting requirements under 

12 subchapter IV of chapter 33 of title 31, 

13 United States Code. 

14 (B) NONDELEGATION.—The Administrator 

15 may not delegate the responsibility under sub16 paragraph (A) to any other individual. 

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

18 FRAUD REPORT. 

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

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

21 the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report 

22 on activities related to covered programs, which shall in23 clude— 

24 (1) a summary of the information contained in 

25 the report, specifically the total number of prosecuVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jan 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S68.IS S68

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1 tions, the total dollar amount recovered by prosecu2 tions, the total number of referrals and source of 

3 such referrals, and the total number of declined 

4 cases and reasons for declining; 

5 (2) with respect to each covered program— 

6 (A) the number and disposition of each 

7 prosecution; 

8 (B) the dollar amount recovered from pros9 ecutions; 

10 (C) the number of declined cases and the 

11 reasons for declining; 

12 (D) the number of referrals— 

13 (i) from the Department of Justice; 

14 and 

15 (ii) from sources other than the De16 partment of Justice, such as other inspec17 tors general; and 

18 (E) the disposition of each referral de19 scribed in subparagraph (D), specifically wheth20 er the referral resulted in prosecution or dec21 lination; and 

22 (3) any additional matters as the Attorney Gen23 eral determines appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 7. RECOVERIES TRANSPARENCY. 

2 Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Pandemic Response Accountability Com4 mittee established under section 15010 of division B of 

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

6 shall establish and maintain on the website of the Com7 mittee real-time data relating to covered funds recovered 

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

9 type of covered funds and dollar amount of covered funds 

10 recovered by the Federal Government. 

Æ 


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