[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 825 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 825
To prohibit individuals convicted of defrauding the Government from
receiving any assistance from the Small Business Administration, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 28, 2025
Mr. Williams of Texas (for himself, Mr. Mfume, and Ms. Simon)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Small Business
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
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