I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5554 
To amend title 11 of the United States Code to prohibit the payment of 
bonuses to highly compensated individuals employed by the debtor and 
insiders of the debtor to perform services during the bankruptcy case, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 12, 2021 
Mrs. BUSTOS (for herself and Mr. BURCHETT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 11 of the United States Code to prohibit 
the payment of bonuses to highly compensated individ-
uals employed by the debtor and insiders of the debtor 
to perform services during the bankruptcy case, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Bonuses in Bank-
ruptcy Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 
(a) ALLOWANCE OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 
Section 503 of title 11 of the United States Code is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
section, there shall neither be allowed nor paid a bonus 
to— 
‘‘(A) an individual employed by the debtor at an 
annual rate of compensation exceeding $250,000; 
‘‘(B) an insider of the debtor; or 
‘‘(C) an individual employed by the debtor to 
the extent that such bonus would cause that individ-
ual’s annual rate of compensation to exceed 
$250,000. 
‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘bonus’ 
means a transfer to, or obligation incurred for the benefit 
of, an individual employed by the debtor or insider of the 
debtor as compensation for services in an amount that— 
‘‘(A) is in addition to the existing wages, salary, 
or base compensation of an insider of the debtor or 
individual employed by the debtor; and 
‘‘(B) can be construed as a form of retention, 
incentive, or reward related to the services provided 
to the debtor by the insider or the individual em-
ployed by the debtor. 
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The term ‘bonus’ does not include a sales commission. Nor 
does the term ‘bonus’ include any transfer or obligation 
pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining agree-
ment. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘an individual employed by the debtor’ 
includes, but is not limited to, an employee, consultant, 
or contractor.’’. 
(b) PREFERENCES.—Section 547 of title 11 of the 
United States Code is amended by adding at end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec-
tion, the trustee may avoid any transfer of an interest of 
the debtor in property made within 180 days before the 
date of the filing of the petition if such transfer is the 
payment of a bonus of the kind that would be disallowed 
under subsection (c) or (d) of section 503.’’. 
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT. 
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub-
section (b), this Act and the amendment made by this Act 
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—The amendment 
made by this Act shall apply only with respect to cases 
commenced under title 11 of the United States Code on 
or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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