Restaurant Relief Act
Bill: S.4282 | Sponsor: Sen. Portman, Rob (R-OH)
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Restaurant Relief Act
This bill provides support for restaurants and other businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and extends the moratorium on the implementation of a Department of Health and Human Services rule related to prescription drug pricing.
Specifically, the bill provides additional funding for the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide grants to support the ongoing operations of eligible restaurants and similar establishments. The SBA must report weekly and biweekly information about grant applications, awards, and denials.
The bill also establishes procedures for the SBA to implement and provide administrative support for these grant programs. The SBA must institute an oversight and audit plan to review the use of grants under these programs. The funds provided to the SBA by the bill are designated as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules.
Finally, the bill extends until January 1, 2028, the moratorium on the implementation of the rule revising certain safe harbor protections for prescription drug discounts, drug pricing, and pharmacy benefit manager service fees.

To provide COVID relief for restaurants, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restaurant Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
 TITLE I--RESTAURANT REVITALIZATION FUND REPLENISHMENT AND IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. 101. Appropriation.
Sec. 102. Insufficient funding.
Sec. 103. Data transparency and customer service.
Sec. 104. Oversight and audits.
Sec. 105. Requirement of continuing operation.
            TITLE II--EXTENSION OF SUSPENSION OF REBATE RULE

Sec. 201. Extension of moratorium on implementation of rule relating to 
                            eliminating the anti-kickback statute safe 
                            harbor protection for prescription drug 
                            rebates.
                      TITLE III--BUDGETARY EFFECTS

Sec. 301. Emergency designation.

 TITLE I--RESTAURANT REVITALIZATION FUND REPLENISHMENT AND IMPROVEMENTS

SEC. 101. APPROPRIATION.

    Section 5003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 
9009c) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``$28,600,000,000'' and 
                        inserting ``$68,600,000,000''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``, of which not more 
                        than $250,000,000 shall be for administrative 
                        expenses to carry out this section and of which 
                        $20,000,000 shall be for the Inspector General 
                        of the Small Business Administration for audits 
                        of grants under this section to investigate 
                        fraud and to identify improper payments and 
                        ineligible recipients, and for other necessary 
                        expenses of the Office of the Inspector 
                        General'' before the period at the end; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(i)(II), by striking 
                ``$23,600,000,000'' and inserting ``any remaining 
                amounts not used for a purpose authorized under 
                subparagraph (A) or clause (i) of this subparagraph''; 
                and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and paragraph 
                (3)''; and
                    (B) by striking paragraph (3).

SEC. 102. INSUFFICIENT FUNDING.

    Section 5003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 
9009c) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Insufficient Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--If the Administrator determines that the 
        amounts made available to carry out this section are 
        insufficient to make grants in the amount provided in 
        subsection (c)(4) to each eligible entity that has submitted an 
        application in accordance with the program guidelines in effect 
        on the day before the date of enactment of this subsection, but 
        has not received an award as of such date, the Administrator 
        shall make grants with the available amounts to each such 
        eligible applicant--
                    ``(A) such that the amount of the grant that each 
                such eligible entity would have otherwise received 
                under this section is reduced by an equal percentage;
                    ``(B) by establishing a maximum amount for a grant 
                made under this subsection to ensure that smaller 
                eligible entities still receive grants in the amounts 
                provided under subsection (c)(4); or
                    ``(C) by providing full awards in the amounts 
                provided under subsection (c)(4) below a certain 
                threshold (as the Administrator may establish) and 
                reducing grants above that threshold by an equal 
                percentage.
            ``(2) Reserving funds.--Nothing in paragraph (1) shall 
        prevent the Administrator from--
                    ``(A) reserving funding for applicants that may be 
                determined to be eligible for a grant under this 
                section upon reconsideration; or
                    ``(B) making partial awards to eligible entities on 
                a preliminary basis until the amount of funding 
                required to fund grants to all eligible applicants is 
                established, upon the completion of the reconsideration 
                process.''.

SEC. 103. DATA TRANSPARENCY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE.

    Section 5003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 
9009c), as amended by section 102 of this Act, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(e) Reports.--The Administrator shall--
            ``(1) on a biweekly basis until the amounts made available 
        to carry out this section are fully expended, publish data that 
        shows, for the period beginning on the date on which the 
        Administrator began making grants under this section and ending 
        on the date on which the information is published--
                    ``(A) with respect to applications for grants under 
                this section, the number of those applications--
                            ``(i) that the Administrator has received;
                            ``(ii) that the Administrator has reviewed 
                        or is in the process of reviewing; and
                            ``(iii) with respect to which the 
                        Administrator has made a decision; and
                    ``(B) the number and dollar amount of grants under 
                this section--
                            ``(i) that have been awarded; and
                            ``(ii) that have been disbursed;
            ``(2) on a weekly basis until the amounts made available to 
        carry out this section are fully expended, publish, with 
        respect to the period beginning on the date of enactment of 
        this subsection and ending on the date on which the information 
        is published--
                    ``(A) with respect to each eligible entity to which 
                a grant is made under this section--
                            ``(i) the name of the eligible entity, 
                        including the name or names under which the 
                        eligible entity does business if that name is 
                        different from the name of the eligible entity; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the address of--
                                    ``(I) the eligible entity; and
                                    ``(II) the physical location or 
                                locations for the eligible entity 
                                listed on the application, if different 
                                from the address of the eligible 
                                entity;
                    ``(B) the amount of each grant described in 
                subparagraph (A); and
                    ``(C) the business category listed in subsection 
                (a)(4)(A) to which the eligible entity belongs; and
            ``(3) with respect to an applicant that applies for a grant 
        under this section and is denied by the Administrator--
                    ``(A) make available to the applicant a brief 
                explanation identifying the reason why the 
                Administrator denied the application of the applicant, 
                which shall include, where applicable, a citation to 
                the statutory, regulatory, or guidance provision with 
                which the applicant failed to comply and that was the 
                basis for the denial; and
                    ``(B) establish a reconsideration process through 
                which the applicant may--
                            ``(i) submit to the Administrator 
                        additional information the applicant determines 
                        to be relevant to whether the applicant is 
                        eligible for the grant;
                            ``(ii) challenge the decision of the 
                        Administrator; and
                            ``(iii) receive a second review of the 
                        application submitted by the applicant.''.

SEC. 104. OVERSIGHT AND AUDITS.

    Section 5003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 
9009c), as amended by section 103 of this Act, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(f) Oversight and Audits.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall institute an 
        oversight and audit plan with respect to eligible entities 
        receiving grants under this section, which shall include--
                    ``(A) documentation requirements that are 
                consistent with the eligibility and other requirements 
                under this section, including by requiring an eligible 
                entity that receives a grant under this section to 
                retain records that demonstrate compliance with those 
                requirements; and
                    ``(B) reviews of the use, by eligible entities, of 
                grants made under this section to ensure compliance 
                with the requirements of this section, which shall 
                include--
                            ``(i) the review and audit, by the 
                        Administrator, of grants made under this 
                        section; and
                            ``(ii) in the case of fraud or other 
                        material noncompliance with respect to a grant 
                        made under this section--
                                    ``(I) a requirement that the 
                                applicable eligible entity repay to the 
                                Administrator the amount of the 
                                misspent funds; or
                                    ``(II) the pursuit, by the 
                                Administrator, of legal action to 
                                collect the misspent funds.
            ``(2) Submission of plan.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall 
        submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 
        of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House 
        of Representatives the plan required under paragraph (1), which 
        shall describe--
                    ``(A) the policies and procedures of the 
                Administrator for conducting oversight and audits of 
                grants made under this section; and
                    ``(B) the metrics that the Administrator will use 
                to determine which grants made under this section will 
                be audited under that plan.
            ``(3) Reports.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, and once every 30 days thereafter 
        until the date that is 180 days after the date on which all 
        amounts made available to carry out this section have been 
        fully expended, and upon request thereafter, the Administrator 
        shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and 
        Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 
        Business of the House of Representatives a report on the 
        oversight and audit activities of the Administrator under this 
        subsection, which shall include--
                    ``(A) the total number of grants approved and 
                disbursed under this section;
                    ``(B) the total amount of each grant received by 
                each eligible entity;
                    ``(C) the number of active investigations and 
                audits of grants made under this section;
                    ``(D) the number of completed reviews and audits of 
                grants made under this section, including a description 
                of--
                            ``(i) any findings of fraud or other 
                        material noncompliance with the requirements of 
                        this section;
                            ``(ii) questionable costs identified by the 
                        Administrator; and
                            ``(iii) the total amount recouped from 
                        ineligible recipients; and
                    ``(E) a description of any substantial changes made 
                to the plan required under paragraph (1).
            ``(4) Retroactive application.--This subsection shall apply 
        to grants and decisions made under this section before, on, or 
        after the date of enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 105. REQUIREMENT OF CONTINUING OPERATION.

    For any application for a grant under section 5003 of the American 
Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9009c) that is pending on the date 
of enactment of this Act or for which the applicant has received an 
award notice but the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 
has not disbursed amounts under the grant, the Administrator may not 
disburse amounts under the grant unless the applicant submits a 
statement to the Administrator indicating the applicant is still 
operating, or intends to reopen not later than 180 days after the date 
on which the statement is submitted, the applicable place of business.

            TITLE II--EXTENSION OF SUSPENSION OF REBATE RULE

SEC. 201. EXTENSION OF MORATORIUM ON IMPLEMENTATION OF RULE RELATING TO 
              ELIMINATING THE ANTI-KICKBACK STATUTE SAFE HARBOR 
              PROTECTION FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUG REBATES.

    Section 90006 of division I of the Infrastructure Investment and 
Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7b note) is amended by striking ``January 1, 
2026'' and inserting ``January 1, 2028''.

                      TITLE III--BUDGETARY EFFECTS

SEC. 301. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.

    (a) In General.--The amounts provided under the this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act are designated as an emergency requirement 
pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 
U.S.C. 933(g)).
    (b) House and Senate.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act 
are designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to subsections (a) 
and (b) of section 4001 of S. Con. Res. 14 (117th Congress), the 
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2022.
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