Title: To establish a Small Business Financial Assistance Program to support small businesses during the COVID-19 emergency, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to establish a Small Business Financial Assistance Program to provide loans and loan guarantees to small businesses.
Such loans shall be zero-interest loans, provided a recipient does not involuntarily terminate any employee during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency. If a recipient demonstrates that its full-time employment has not decreased after one year, the Treasury shall forgive the remaining outstanding principal and interest on such loan or loan guarantee. Further, the Treasury may, upon request, provide applicants with a cash advance on such loans.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6333 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6333

 To establish a Small Business Financial Assistance Program to support 
small businesses during the COVID-19 emergency, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2020

 Mrs. Beatty introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a Small Business Financial Assistance Program to support 
small businesses during the COVID-19 emergency, 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. SMALL BUSINESS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish a 
Small Business Financial Assistance Program under which the Secretary 
shall provide loans and loan guarantees to small businesses.
    (b) Application.--In making loans and loan guarantees under this 
section, the Secretary shall--
            (1) provide a simple application process for borrowers; and
            (2) establish clear and easy to understand underwriting 
        standards for such loans.
    (c) Zero-Interest Loans.--Loans made by or guaranteed by the 
Secretary under this section shall be zero-interest loans, if the small 
business receiving such loan does not involuntarily terminate any 
employee of the small business during the COVID-19 emergency.
    (d) Advance.--
            (1) In general.--Upon request from an applicant for a loan 
        under this section, the Secretary may provide to such applicant 
        an advance, in cash, to such applicant.
            (2) Amount.--An advance provided under paragraph (1) shall 
        be in an amount equal to the revenue of the applicant for the 
        period beginning January 1, 2020, and ending January 31, 2020.
            (3) Procedures.--
                    (A) Review.--The Secretary shall have 1 week from 
                the receipt of a request for an advance under paragraph 
                (1) to conduct a risk assessment of the applicant to 
                determine whether to approve or deny such request.
                    (B) Approval.--If the Secretary does not deny a 
                request under subparagraph (A), the advance shall be 
                directly deposited into the account identified by the 
                applicant.
                    (C) Remaining funds.--Not later than 4 weeks after 
                approving a request of an applicant under subparagraph 
                (A), the Secretary shall disburse the remaining funds 
                to such applicant.
    (e) Forgiveness.--If a small business that receives a loan or loan 
guarantee under this section demonstrates to the Secretary that the 
number of full-time employees of such small business on the date such 
small business submitted an application under this section is greater 
than or equal to the number of full-time employees of such small 
business on the date that is 1 year after the date of such submission, 
the Secretary shall forgive the remaining outstanding principal and 
interest on such loan or loan guarantee.
    (f) Funding.--The Secretary shall use $50,000,000,000 from the 
Exchange Stabilization Fund, without further appropriation, to carry 
out this section.
    (g) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) COVID-19 emergency.--The term ``COVID-19 emergency'' 
        means the period that--
                    (A) begins on the declaration of the emergency 
                declared on March 13, 2020, by the President under the 
                Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
                Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) relating to the 
                Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; and
                    (B) ends on the termination by the Federal 
                Emergency Management Agency of such emergency.
            (2) Small business.--The term ``small business'' means--
                    (A) a small business concern (as defined under 
                section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632);
                    (B) a family farm; and
                    (C) an independent contractor.
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