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Senate Bill 2757
116th Congress(2019-2020)
HELP for Small Businesses Act
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Introduced
Introduced in Senate on Oct 31, 2019
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S. 2757 (Reported-in-Senate)

Calendar No. 628

116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2757

[Report No. 116–326]


To waive the imposition of a civil fine for certain first-time paperwork violations by small business concerns.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

October 31, 2019

Mr. Lankford (for himself, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Inhofe) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

December 15, 2020

Reported by Mr. Johnson, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To waive the imposition of a civil fine for certain first-time paperwork violations by small business concerns.

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 “Harmless Error Lesser Penalty for Small Businesses Act” or the “HELP for Small Businesses Act”.

SEC. 2. Paperwork violations by small businesses.

(a) In general.—Section 3512 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(c) Small businesses.—

“(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

“(A) FIRST-TIME VIOLATION.—The term ‘first-time violation’ means a violation by a small business concern of a requirement regarding collection of information by an agency, where the small business concern has not previously violated any similar requirement regarding collection of information by that agency.

“(B) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘small business concern’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).

“(2) FIRST-TIME VIOLATION.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph (C), in the case of a first-time violation by a small business concern of a requirement regarding the collection of information by an agency, the head of the agency shall not impose a civil fine on the small business concern.

“(B) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of determining whether to impose a civil fine on a small business concern under subparagraph (A), the head of an agency shall not take into account any violation by the small business concern of a requirement regarding collection of information by another agency.

“(C) EXCEPTION.—The head of an agency may impose a civil fine on a small business concern for a first-time violation if the head of the agency determines that—

“(i) the violation has the potential to impede or interfere with the detection of criminal activity;

“(ii) the violation is a violation of an internal revenue law or a law concerning the assessment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue, or receipt;

“(iii) the violation was not corrected on or before the date that is 180 days after the date on which the head of the agency provided the small business concern with actual notice of the violation in writing; or

“(iv) except as provided in paragraph (3), the violation—

“(I) presents a danger to the public health or safety; or

“(II) has the potential to cause serious harm to the public interest.

“(3) DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH OR SAFETY OR POTENTIAL HARM TO PUBLIC INTEREST.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which the head of an agency determines under paragraph (2)(C)(iv) that a violation presents a danger to the public health or safety or has the potential to cause serious harm to the public interest, the head of the agency may determine not to impose a civil fine on the small business concern if the violation is corrected not later than 24 hours after the head of the agency provides the owner of the small business concern with actual notice of the violation in writing.

“(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining whether to impose a civil fine under subparagraph (A), the head of an agency shall take into account the nature and seriousness of the violation, including—

“(i) whether the violation is technical or inadvertent or involves willful or criminal conduct; and

“(ii) whether the small business concern had made a good faith effort to comply with applicable laws and to remedy the violation within the 24-hour time period described in that subparagraph.”.

(b) Technical and conforming amendment.—Section 3512(b) of title 44, United States Code, is amended by striking “this section” and inserting “subsection (a)”.

SECTION 1. Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Harmless Error Lesser Penalty for Small Businesses Act” or the “HELP for Small Businesses Act”.

SEC. 2. Paperwork violations by small businesses.

(a) In general.—Section 3512 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(c) Small businesses.—

“(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

“(A) FIRST-TIME VIOLATION.—The term ‘first-time violation’ means a violation by a small business concern of a requirement regarding collection of information by an agency, where the small business concern has not previously violated any similar requirement regarding collection of information by that agency.

“(B) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘small business concern’, with respect to a calendar year, means a business concern that employed an average of not more than 50 full-time employees on business days during the preceding calendar year.

“(2) FIRST-TIME VIOLATION.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph (C), in the case of a first-time violation by a small business concern of a requirement regarding the collection of information by an agency, the agency shall not impose a civil fine on the small business concern.

“(B) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of determining whether to impose a civil fine on a small business concern under subparagraph (A), an agency shall not take into account any violation by the small business concern of a requirement regarding collection of information by another agency.

“(C) EXCEPTION.—An agency may impose a civil fine on a small business concern for a first-time violation if the agency determines that—

“(i) the violation has the potential to impede or interfere with the detection of criminal activity;

“(ii) the violation is a violation of an internal revenue law or a law concerning the assessment or collection of any tax, debt, revenue, or receipt;

“(iii) the violation was not corrected on or before the date that is 30 days after the date on which the agency provided the small business concern with actual notice of the violation in writing;

“(iv) the violation presents, or has the potential to present—

“(I) a danger to public health;

“(II) a danger to safety; or

“(III) a danger, or risk of harm, to the environment; or

“(v) the violation has the potential to cause serious harm, injury, or death.

“(3) AGENCY TRACKING OF FIRST-TIME VIOLATIONS.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall promulgate regulations requiring an agency to track each first-time violation of a requirement regarding the collection of information by the agency.

“(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In promulgating regulations under subparagraph (A), the Director shall ensure that an agency—

“(i) does not make data compiled under the regulations available to the public; and

“(ii) maintains the data described in clause (i) in a format that is consistent across agencies.

“(4) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each year, any agency that waived a civil fine under paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection during the preceding year and any agency (as defined in section 221 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; Public Law 104–121)) that waived or reduced a civil penalty under section 223 of that Act during the preceding year shall submit a report to Congress that describes, for each such waiver or reduction—

“(A) the specific requirement that was violated, including the provision of law that authorizes the agency to impose the civil fine or civil penalty for the violation;

“(B) the amount of the civil fine or civil penalty that the agency could have imposed; and

“(C) the industry in which the small business concern or small entity that committed the violation operates.

“(5) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—In the event of a conflict between section 223 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; Public Law 104–121) and this subsection, this subsection shall control.

“(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to relieve a small business concern from the obligation to comply with all legal requirements.”.

(b) Technical and conforming amendments.—

(1) Section 3512(b) of title 44, United States Code, is amended by striking “this section” and inserting “subsection (a)”.

(2) Section 223(c) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; Public Law 104–121) is amended—

(A) by striking “Agencies shall” and inserting the following:

“(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Agencies shall”; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

“(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Agencies shall submit annual reports to Congress in accordance with section 3512(c)(4) of title 44, United States Code.”.

Calendar No. 628

116th CONGRESS
     2d Session
S. 2757
[Report No. 116–326]
A BILL
To waive the imposition of a civil fine for certain first-time paperwork violations by small business concerns.
December 15, 2020
Reported with an amendment