cluding amounts collected as a result of a civil mone-
tary penalty under subsection (g)— 
‘‘(A) for or pursuant to such conviction; or 
‘‘(B) under or pursuant to such settlement 
or plea agreement. 
‘‘(4) REMAINING
AMOUNTS.—The Adminis-
trator shall deposit into the general fund of the 
Treasury any amounts in the Whistleblower Award 
Fund not used to pay whistleblowers under sub-
section (c) or the necessary expenses for the oper-
ation of the Office of Whistleblower Awards. 
‘‘(g) CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who is finally 
convicted pursuant to a COVID loan action or who 
enters into a settlement or plea agreement with re-
spect to a COVID loan action shall, in addition to 
any other penalties that may be prescribed by law, 
be subject to a civil monetary penalty, assessed by 
the Administrator, in an amount equal to 30 percent 
of the aggregate of the principal amounts of the 
loans with respect to which such person was so fi-
nally convicted or entered into such a settlement or 
plea agreement. 
‘‘(2) COLLECTION.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Civil money penalties 
and assessments imposed under this subsection 
may be compromised by the Adminstrator and 
may be recovered in a civil action in the name 
of the United States brought in United States 
district court for the district where the conduct 
serving as the basis for the relevant COVID 
loan action occurred or in United States district 
court for the district in which the person 
against whom the penalty or assessment has 
been assessed resides, as determined by the Ad-
ministrator. 
‘‘(B) WITHHOLDINGS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a 
civil money penalty and assessment im-
posed under this subsection, when finally 
determined, or the amount agreed upon in 
compromise, may be deducted from any 
sum then or later owing by the United 
States to the person against whom the 
penalty or assessment has been assessed. 
‘‘(ii) TREATMENT.—For the purposes 
of awards under this section, amounts de-
ducted under clause (i) shall be deposited 
into the Whistleblower Award Fund. 
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‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 
date of the enactment of this section, and annually there-
after, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report 
on— 
‘‘(1) the number of times whistleblowers sub-
mitted to the head of the Office of Whistleblower 
Awards original information relating to financial 
misconduct or fraudulent misrepresentation by a re-
cipient of financial assistance from the Adminis-
trator; 
‘‘(2) the amount of awards disbursed under this 
section; and 
‘‘(3) any legislative or administrative rec-
ommendations regarding the duties of the Office of 
Whistleblower Awards. 
‘‘(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to modify or interfere with any in-
vestigations carried out by the Inspector General or an-
other Federal agency. 
‘‘(j) SUNSET.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided by 
paragraph (2), the authority under this section shall 
terminate on the date that the last COVID loan ac-
tion that was timely filed and either— 
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‘‘(A) has not been appealed and is no 
longer appealable because the time for taking 
an appeal has expired; or 
‘‘(B) has been appealed and the appeals 
process for such conviction is completed. 
‘‘(2) 
APPEALS.—Notwithstanding 
paragraph 
(1), the authority under this section shall continue 
with respect to a claim for an award under this sec-
tion for which a determination is being appealed or 
is appealable under subsection (e) as of the date de-
scribed in such paragraph until a determination for 
such award is no longer being appealed or appeal-
able under subsection (e). 
‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COVID LOAN ACTION.—The term ‘COVID 
loan action’ means a criminal charge or civil enforce-
ment action described in— 
‘‘(A) section 7(a)(36)(W); 
‘‘(B) section 7(a)(37)(P); 
‘‘(C) section 7(b)(17); 
‘‘(D) section 1110(e)(9) of the CARES Act 
(15 U.S.C. 9009(e)(9)); or 
‘‘(E) section 331(i) of the Economic Aid to 
Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and 
Venues Act (15 U.S.C. 9009b(i)). 
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‘‘(2) 
FINAL
CONVICTION; 
FINALLY
CON-
VICTED.—The terms ‘final conviction’ and ‘finally 
convicted’ mean, with respect to a person, that such 
person has been convicted of an offense and such 
conviction— 
‘‘(A) has not been appealed and is no 
longer appealable because the time for taking 
an appeal has expired; or 
‘‘(B) has been appealed and the appeals 
process for such conviction is completed. 
‘‘(3) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘Inspec-
tor General’ means the Inspector General of the Ad-
ministration. 
‘‘(4) 
ORIGINAL
INFORMATION.—The 
term 
‘original information’ means information that— 
‘‘(A) is derived from the independent 
knowledge or analysis of a whistleblower; 
‘‘(B) is not known to the Administrator or 
Inspector General from any source other than 
the whistleblower, unless the whistleblower is 
the original source of the information; 
‘‘(C) is not exclusively derived from an al-
legation made in a judicial or administrative ac-
tion, in a governmental report, hearing, audit, 
or investigation, or from the news media, unless 
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the whistleblower is a source of the information; 
and 
‘‘(D) was provided to the Inspector Gen-
eral— 
‘‘(i) after the date of the enactment of 
this Act; or 
‘‘(ii) by a means other than a hotline 
for reporting fraud, waste, and abuse that 
is maintained by the Inspector General. 
‘‘(5) WHISTLEBLOWER.—The term ‘whistle-
blower’ means an individual who submits informa-
tion to the Office of Whistleblower Awards that such 
individual reasonably believes relates to financial 
misconduct or fraudulent misrepresentation by a re-
cipient of financial assistance from the Adminis-
trator.’’. 
SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than six months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
of the Small Business Administration shall issue rules nec-
essary to carry out the requirements of section 49 of the 
Small Business Act, as added by this Act. 
(b) CONTRIBUTION DETERMINATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad-
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(B) if the Inspector General indicates that 
whether a piece of original information was the 
basis, in whole or in part, of a COVID loan ac-
tion may not be disclosed, such original infor-
mation shall be deemed to have not been the 
basis, in whole or in part, of such COVID loan 
action. 
(2) COVID LOAN ACTION; FINAL CONVICTION; 
ORIGINAL
INFORMATION
DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the terms ‘‘COVID loan action’’, ‘‘final con-
viction’’, and ‘‘original information’’ have the mean-
ings given such terms in subsection (k) of section 49 
of the Small Business Act, as added by section 2. 
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Union Calendar No. 425 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7412 
[Report No. 119–499] 
A BILL 
To amend the Small Business Act to establish the 
Office of Whistleblower Awards, and for other 
purposes. 
FEBRUARY 20, 2026 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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