119-hr825

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 825 Referred in Senate

    (RFS) ]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 825

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 25, 2025

 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 
 and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

 AN ACT

 To prohibit individuals convicted of defrauding the Government from 
 receiving any assistance from the Small Business Administration, 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 ``Assisting Small Businesses Not 
Fraudsters Act''.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE PROHIBITED AFTER FRAUD CONVICTION.

    (a) In General.--

Section 16 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
645) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
 ``

    (h) Financial Assistance Prohibition.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--An associate of a small business concern 
 who is finally convicted of any crime involving or relating to 
 financial misconduct or a false statement with respect to a 
 covered loan or grant shall be ineligible to receive any 
 financial assistance from the Administrator, other than 
 financial assistance under 

section 7

    (b) .
 ``

    (2) Business concerns.--A small business concern that has 
 as an associate an individual subject to paragraph

    (1) shall be 
 ineligible to receive any financial assistance from the 
 Administrator, other than financial assistance under 

section 7

    (b) .
 ``

    (3) === Definitions. ===
-In this subsection:
 ``
        (A) Associate.--The term `associate' means, with 
 respect to a small business concern--
 ``
            (i) an officer, director, or owner of 
 more than 20 percent of the equity of, or a key 
 employee of, such small business concern;
 ``
            (ii) any entity not less than 20 percent 
 owned or controlled by one or more individuals 
 referred to in clause
            (i) ; and
 ``
            (iii) any other individual or entity in 
 control of or controlled by such small business 
 concern, except for a licensed small business 
 investment company (as defined in 

section 103

    (3) of the Small Business Investment Act of 
 1958 (15 U.S.C. 662

    (3) )).
 ``
        (B) Covered loan or grant.--The term `covered 
 loan or grant' means--
 ``
            (i) a loan made under--
 ``
            (I) paragraph

    (36) or

    (37) of 
 subsection

    (a) of 

section 7; or
 ``
            (II) subsection

    (b) of such 
 section in response to the COVID-19 
 pandemic; or
 ``
            (ii) a grant made under--
 ``
            (I) section 5003 of the American 
 Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 
 9009c); or
 ``
            (II) section 324 of the Economic 
 Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, 
 Nonprofits, and Venues Act (15 U.S.C. 
 9009a).
 ``
            (C) Finally convicted.--The term `finally 
 convicted' means, with respect to a person, that such 
 person has been convicted of an offense and such 
 conviction--
 ``
            (i) has not been appealed and is no 
 longer appealable because the time for taking 
 an appeal has expired; or
 ``
            (ii) has been appealed and the appeals 
 process for such conviction is completed.''.

    (b) Applicability.--Subsection

    (h) of 

section 16 of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645), as added by subsection

    (a) of this Act, 
shall not apply to any contract or other agreement entered into by the 
Government prior to the date of the enactment of this Act.

 Passed the House of Representatives February 24, 2025.

 Attest:

 KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

 Clerk.