II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2138 

To waive participant fees on small-dollar and veteran Express loans in the 

largest loan program of the Small Business Administration to close 

the capital gap for underserved business owners, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 17, 2019 

Mr. CARDIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To waive participant fees on small-dollar and veteran Express 

loans in the largest loan program of the Small Business 

Administration to close the capital gap for underserved 

business owners, 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-Dollar and Vet5 erans Loans Enhancement Act’’. 


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•S 2138 IS

1 SEC. 2. FEE WAIVER EXCEPTIONS FOR SMALL-DOLLAR AND 

2 VETERAN EXPRESS LOANS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a) of the Small Busi4 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (18)(A), in the matter pre6 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘With respect’’ and in7 serting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (36), with 

8 respect’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (23)(A), by striking ‘‘With re10 spect’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in para11 graph (36), with respect’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (31)(G)(ii), by striking ‘‘If’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph 

14 (36), if’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(36) GUARANTEE AND YEARLY FEE WAIVERS

17 FOR SMALL-DOLLAR LOANS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

19 term ‘cost’ has the meaning given the term in 

20 section 502 of the Federal Credit Reform Act 

21 of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a). 

22 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OR REDUCTION IN FEES.— 

23 In each fiscal year, to the extent that the cost 

24 of such elimination or reduction of fees is offset 

25 by appropriations, the Administrator shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) with respect to each loan guaran2 teed under this subsection that is not more 

3 than $150,000— 

4 ‘‘(I) in lieu of the fee otherwise 

5 applicable under paragraph (18)(A), 

6 collect no fee or reduce fees to the 

7 maximum extent possible; and 

8 ‘‘(II) in lieu of the fee otherwise 

9 applicable under paragraph (23)(A), 

10 collect no fee or reduce fees to the 

11 maximum extent possible; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) in lieu of the fee otherwise appli13 cable under paragraph (18)(A) to veterans 

14 or spouses of veterans in connection with a 

15 loan made under paragraph (31), based on 

16 paragraph (31)(G)(ii), collect no fee or re17 duce fees to the maximum extent possible. 

18 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION OF FEE RELIEF.—If 

19 the Administrator is required to waive or reduce 

20 fees under subparagraph (B)— 

21 ‘‘(i) the Administrator shall first use 

22 any amounts provided to eliminate or re23 duce fees under paragraph (18)(A) paid by 

24 veterans or spouses of veterans in connecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jul 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2138.IS S2138

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1 tion with a loan made under paragraph 

2 (31), to the maximum extent possible; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator shall then use 

4 any amounts provided to eliminate or re5 duce fees paid by small business borrowers 

6 under clauses (i) through (iii) of paragraph 

7 (18)(A), to the maximum extent possible; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the Administrator shall then use 

10 any amounts provided to eliminate or re11 duce fees under paragraph (23)(A) paid by 

12 small business lenders. 

13 ‘‘(D) INDEPENDENT COST ESTIMATE.— 

14 Not later than 30 days after the date on which 

15 the President submits a budget under section 

16 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, the 

17 Congressional Budget Office shall submit to the 

18 Committee on Small Business and Entrepre19 neurship of the Senate and the Committee on 

20 Small Business of the Administration an esti21 mate of the cost of providing fee waivers or re22 ductions through appropriations under subpara23 graph (B).’’. 

24 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

25 section shall apply to each loan guaranteed by the Small 


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1 Business Administration under section 7(a) of the Small 

2 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) for which the application 

3 is approved on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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