II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 327 

To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish 

a border closure recovery loan program for small businesses located 

near the United States border, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2021 

Mr. KELLY (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish a border closure recovery loan program for small businesses located near the United States 

border, 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 ‘‘Border Business 

5 COVID–19 Rescue Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BORDER CLOSURE RECOVERY LOAN. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi3 ness Administration. 

4 (2) BORDER BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘border 

5 business’’ means an entity eligible for a loan under 

6 section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 636(b)(2)) that— 

8 (A) has its principal office located in the 

9 contiguous United States; 

10 (B) has— 

11 (i) estimated or actual annual average 

12 gross receipts less than or equal to 

13 $1,000,000; and 

14 (ii) fewer than 50 employees; 

15 (C)(i) except as provided in clauses (ii), 

16 (iii), and (iv), had gross receipts during the 

17 first, second, third, or fourth quarter in 2020 

18 that demonstrate a reduction from the gross re19 ceipts of the entity during the same quarter in 

20 2019; 

21 (ii) if the entity was not in business during 

22 the first or second quarter of 2019, but was in 

23 business during the third and fourth quarter of 

24 2019, had gross receipts during the first, sec25 ond, third, or fourth quarter of 2020 that demVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S327.IS S327

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1 onstrate a reduction from the gross receipts of 

2 the entity during the third or fourth quarter of 

3 2019; 

4 (iii) if the entity was not in business dur5 ing the first, second, or third quarter of 2019, 

6 but was in business during the fourth quarter 

7 of 2019, had gross receipts during the first, 

8 second, third, or fourth quarter of 2020 that 

9 demonstrate a reduction from the gross receipts 

10 of the entity during the fourth quarter of 2019; 

11 or 

12 (iv) if the entity was not in business dur13 ing 2019, but was in operation on February 15, 

14 2020, had gross receipts during the second, 

15 third, or fourth quarter of 2020 that dem16 onstrate a reduction from the gross receipts of 

17 the entity during the first quarter of 2020; and 

18 (D) is located within 25 miles of the 

19 United States border. 

20 (b) BORDER CLOSURE RECOVERY LOAN PRO21 GRAM.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es23 tablish a program under which the Administrator 

24 shall make loans to border businesses directly im25 pacted by the COVID–19 pandemic. 


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1 (2) APPLICATION.—A border business desiring 

2 a loan under this subsection shall submit to the Ad3 ministrator an application at such time, in such 

4 place, and containing such information as the Ad5 ministrator determines necessary. 

6 (3) TERMS.— 

7 (A) AMOUNT; INTEREST RATE.—A loan 

8 made under this subsection shall— 

9 (i) be in an amount of not more than 

10 $500,000; and 

11 (ii) have an interest rate of not more 

12 than 2 percent. 

13 (B) PROHIBITED REQUIREMENTS.—With 

14 respect to a loan made under this subsection, 

15 the Administrator shall not establish— 

16 (i) any rules related to a personal 

17 guarantee for loans of less than $200,000; 

18 or 

19 (ii) any requirement that an applicant 

20 exhaust other loan options before applying 

21 for a loan under this subsection. 

22 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—A border business that re23 ceives a loan under this subsection— 

24 (A) shall use the loan proceeds for any al25 lowable purpose for a loan made under section 


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1 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

2 636(b)(2)), including— 

3 (i) providing paid sick leave to em4 ployees unable to work due to the direct ef5 fect of COVID–19; 

6 (ii) maintaining payroll to retain em7 ployees during business disruptions or sub8 stantial slowdowns; 

9 (iii) meeting increased costs to obtain 

10 materials unavailable from the original 

11 source of the border business due to inter12 rupted supply chains; 

13 (iv) making rent or regular mortgage 

14 payments; 

15 (v) repaying obligations that cannot 

16 be met due to revenue losses; 

17 (vi) to pay for logistical expenses asso18 ciated with border closures due to the 

19 COVID–19 pandemic; and 

20 (vii) to pay for improvements related 

21 to complying with public health guidelines, 

22 including personal protective equipment, 

23 signage, temporary barriers, and space 

24 heaters; and 

25 (B) may not use the loan proceeds— 


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1 (i) to purchase real estate; 

2 (ii) for payments of interest or prin3 cipal on any loan originated after February 

4 15, 2020; 

5 (iii) to invest or re-lend funds; 

6 (iv) for the prepayment of any mort7 gage or other debt obligation; 

8 (v) for any contribution or expendi9 ture to, or on behalf of, any political party, 

10 party committee, or candidate for elective 

11 office; or 

12 (vi) for any other use as the Adminis13 trator may prohibit. 

14 (c) APPROVAL AND ABILITY TO REPAY.—With re15 spect to a loan made under subsection (b), the Adminis16 trator may— 

17 (1) approve an applicant— 

18 (A) based solely on the credit score of the 

19 applicant; or 

20 (B) by using alternative appropriate meth21 ods to determine an applicant’s ability to repay; 

22 and 

23 (2) use information from the Department of the 

24 Treasury to confirm that— 


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1 (A) an applicant is eligible to receive the 

2 loan; or 

3 (B) the information contained in an appli4 cation for the loan is accurate. 

5 (d) REPAYMENT.—The Administrator shall establish 

6 the repayment terms with respect to each loan made under 

7 subsection (b), except that— 

8 (1) repayment shall not begin before the date 

9 that is 1 year after the date on which the loan is 

10 made; 

11 (2) the Administrator shall establish a process 

12 by which a border business that continues to experi13 ence a reduction in gross receipts following receipt 

14 of the loan can apply to delay the repayment of the 

15 loan for a period of not more than 4 years; and 

16 (3) the loan shall not accrue interest during the 

17 period in which repayment of the loan is deferred. 

18 (e) LOAN ADVANCE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A border business that ap20 plies for a loan under subsection (b) may request 

21 that the Administrator provide an advance in the 

22 amount requested by the applicant to the applicant 

23 not later than 15 business days after the date on 

24 which the Administrator receives the request. 


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1 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of an advance pro2 vided under this subsection shall be not less than 

3 $10,000. 

4 (3) VERIFICATION.—Before disbursing amounts 

5 under this subsection, the Administrator shall, not 

6 later than 15 business days after the date on which 

7 the Administrator receives the request for an ad8 vance by an applicant under this subsection— 

9 (A) perform the verification required under 

10 subsection (c); 

11 (B) if the Administrator verifies that the 

12 applicant is eligible for an advance under sub13 section (c), provide to the applicant with a pay14 ment in the amount described in paragraph (2); 

15 and 

16 (C) with respect to an applicant that the 

17 Administrator determines is not eligible for an 

18 advance under this subsection, provide the ap19 plicant with a notification explaining the rea20 sons for reaching that determination. 

21 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—An advance provided 

22 under this subsection may be used for any purpose 

23 described in subsection (b)(4). 

24 (5) REPAYMENT.—An applicant shall not be re25 quired to repay any amounts of an advance provided 


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1 under this subsection, even if the applicant is subse2 quently denied a loan under subsection (b). 

3 (f) OTHER BENEFITS.—Receipt of an advance under 

4 subsection (e) or a loan under subsection (b) shall not be 

5 construed as to prohibit receipt of any other Federal 

6 grant, loan, or aid. 

7 (g) TAXABILITY.—For purposes of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986— 

9 (1) any advance described in paragraph (e) 

10 shall not be included in the gross income of the bor11 der business that receives the advance; 

12 (2) no deduction shall be denied, no tax at13 tribute shall be reduced, and no basis increase shall 

14 be denied, by reason of the exclusion from gross in15 come provided by paragraph (1); and 

16 (3) in the case of a partnership or S corpora17 tion that receives an advance described in subsection 

18 (e)— 

19 (A) any amount excluded from income 

20 under this subsection shall be treated as tax ex21 empt income for purposes of sections 705 and 

22 1366 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

23 and 

24 (B) the Secretary of the Treasury (or the 

25 Secretary’s delegate) shall prescribe rules for 


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1 determining a partner’s distributive share of 

2 any amount described in subparagraph (A) for 

3 purposes of section 705 of the Internal Revenue 

4 Code of 1986. 

5 (h) OUTREACH.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the loan pro7 gram under this section, the Administrator shall— 

8 (A) establish an advertising and outreach 

9 program in partnership with State and local 

10 governments, community advocacy groups, 

11 chambers of commerce, and other State and 

12 local entities to help border businesses under13 stand the availability of the loan program and 

14 to promote participation in the program by bor15 der businesses located in economically depressed 

16 areas; and 

17 (B) provide technical assistance to appli18 cants, including instructions on how to partici19 pate in the loan program, assistance in pre20 paring applications, and assistance in applying 

21 for loan deferral. 

22 (2) LANGUAGE ACCESS.—The Administrator 

23 shall ensure that outreach and technical assistance 

24 activities described in this subsection are made avail25 able by the Administration to border business conVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S327.IS S327

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1 cerns in the commonly spoken languages, other than 

2 English, in the States of the United States that bor3 der the international boundary with Canada or Mex4 ico, which shall include Spanish and French. 

5 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated $500,000,000, to remain 

7 available until December 31, 2021, to carry out the re8 quirements of this Act. 

Æ 


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