Bill Summary
This bill, called the "Expanding Assistance to Farmers Act of 2020", amends the Small Business Act and the CARES Act to include rental payments for certain business-related items in the Paycheck Protection Program. This means that agricultural enterprises, such as farms, can use these funds to cover rental payments for equipment, land, and buildings. The bill also specifies that these rental payments must have been made before February 15, 2020 to be eligible for forgiveness. This legislation also amends the definitions and provisions of the CARES Act to include these rental payments as part of the expected forgiveness amount and the criteria for forgiveness. The term "covered lease" is also changed to "covered rent" in the text of the CARES Act.
Possible Impacts
1. The Expanding Assistance to Farmers Act of 2020 could affect farmers by including rental payments for certain business-related items in the paycheck protection program. This could provide financial relief for farmers who may be struggling to pay rent on equipment, land, or buildings used for their agricultural enterprise.
2. The Small Business Act amendment could affect agricultural enterprises by expanding the eligibility for rental payments to be included in the paycheck protection program. This could potentially benefit small businesses in the agricultural industry by providing financial assistance for rent payments.
3. The CARES Act amendment could affect small businesses in the agricultural industry by allowing for rental payments to be forgiven as part of the loan forgiveness program. This could help alleviate financial strain for these businesses by not requiring them to pay back rent payments made during the covered period.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7619 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7619
To amend the Small Business Act and the CARES Act to include rental
payments for certain business-related items in the paycheck protection
program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 16, 2020
Mr. Bishop of North Carolina (for himself and Ms. Finkenauer)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Small Business
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act and the CARES Act to include rental
payments for certain business-related items in the paycheck protection
program, 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 ``Expanding Assistance to Farmers Act
of 2020''.
SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF RENTAL PAYMENTS ON CERTAIN BUSINESS-RELATED ITEMS
IN THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM.
(a) Paycheck Protection Program.--Section 7(a)(36)(F)(i) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)(F)(i)) is amended--
(1) in subclause (VI), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subclause (VII), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subclause:
``(VIII) rental payments made by an
agricultural enterprise (as defined in
section 18(b)) on property used solely
for such agricultural enterprise, which
shall include payments for equipment
(including tractors, combines, forage
harvesters, planters, sprayers, hay
rakes and wagons, field equipment,
irrigation equipment, tools, and
supplies), land, and buildings.''.
(b) Forgiveable Expenses.--
(1) Covered rental payments made by an agricultural
enterprise.--Section 1106(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-
136) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (7)(D), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(9) the term `covered rental payments made by an
agricultural enterprise' means rental payments made pursuant to
an agreement in force before February 15, 2020, by an
agricultural enterprise (as defined in section 18(b) the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 647(b)) on property used solely for
such agricultural enterprise, which shall include payments for
equipment (including tractors, combines, forage harvesters,
planters, sprayers, hay rakes and wagons, field equipment,
irrigation equipment, tools, and supplies), land, and
buildings.''.
(2) Definition of expected forgiveness amount.--Section
1106(a)(7) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136) is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the
end; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(E) covered rental payments made by an
agricultural enterprise; and''.
(3) Forgiveness.--Section 1106(b) of the CARES Act (Public
Law 116-136) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
``(5) Covered rental payments made by an agricultural
enterprise.''.
(4) Conforming amendments.--Section 1106 of the CARES Act
(Public Law 116-136) is amended--
(A) in subsection (e)--
(i) in paragraph (2), by striking
``payments on covered mortgage obligations,
payments on covered lease obligations, and
covered utility payments'' and inserting
``payments described under subsection (b)
(other than payroll costs)''; and
(ii) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ``,
make interest payments'' and all that follows
through ``or make covered utility payments''
and inserting ``or make payments described
under subsection (b)''; and
(B) in subsection (h), by striking ``payments for
payroll costs, payments on covered mortgage
obligations, payments on covered lease obligations, or
covered utility payments'' each place it appears and
inserting ``payments described under subsection (b)''.
(5) Technical amendment.--Section 1106 of the CARES Act
(Public Law 116-136), is amended by striking ``covered lease''
each place such term appears and inserting ``covered rent''.
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