Responsible Relief for Americans Act
Latest action · Sep 30, 2020 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 26, 2020
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Responsible Relief for Americans Act
This bill revises and establishes economic assistance measures in response to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).
Specifically, the bill provides funding for and authorizes the Small Business Administration (SBA) to guarantee paycheck protection loans made to small businesses. Recipients of such loans are eligible for forgiveness of amounts expended for specified costs such as payroll. Small businesses may request an advance of up $10,000 on an SBA disaster loan for which they have applied in response to COVID-19.
Further the bill
- requires the SBA to temporarily pay the principal, interest, and any associated fees that are owed on certain SBA loans;
- repeals provisions that require an employer to provide paid sick leave for employees who are unable to work due to COVID-19;
- repeals provisions authorizing the use of certain funds to provide educational assistance and training for U.S. workers;
- provides additional time for federal contractors to carry out their responsibilities and guarantees payment continuation for federal contractors who are delayed or interrupted because of COVID-19;
- increases and expands the tax deduction for certain trade or business income;
- authorizes borrowers with federally backed mortgages who are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 to request forbearance;
- revises provisions relating to health savings accounts (HSAs), including to allow increased participation in HSAs and to increase the limit on contributions to HSAs;
- expands reporting requirements for pharmaceutical manufacturers; and
- extends the deadline for filing 2019 individual income tax returns from April 15, 2019, to November 15, 2019.
Cosponsors 5
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 26, 2020 to Mar 31, 2020; 4 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-MD | Andy Harris | Original | Mar 26, 2020 |
| R-TX | Chip Roy | Original | Mar 26, 2020 |
| R-TX | Randy K. Weber, Sr. | Original | Mar 26, 2020 |
| R-PA | Scott Perry | Original | Mar 26, 2020 |
| R-FL | Ted S. Yoho | Mar 31, 2020 |
Committees 10
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| House | Committee on House Administration | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| House | Small Business Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| House | Financial Services Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| House | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| Economic Opportunity Subcommittee | Referred Sep 30, 2020 | |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Sep 30, 2020 | |
| House | Agriculture Committee | Referred Mar 26, 2020 |
| Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development Subcommittee | Referred Aug 13, 2020 |
Actions 5
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 30, 2020Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
- Sep 30, 2020Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Aug 13, 2020Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit.
- Mar 26, 2020Introduced in House
- Mar 26, 2020Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, Oversight and Reform, House Administration, Energy and Commerce, Small Business, the Judiciary, Financial Services, Veterans' Affairs, and Agriculture, 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.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 60, March 26, 2020, page H1729.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R46963 | SBA Disaster Loan Interest Rates: Overview and Policy Options | Report | Mar 2, 2026 |
Related bills 9
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 216 | Main Street Tax Certainty Act | Related bill | Jan 3, 2019 |
| S 1149 | Main Street Tax Certainty Act | Related bill | Apr 11, 2019 |
| S 1564 | Continued Encouragement for Consumer Lending Act | Related bill | May 21, 2019 |
| HR 2971 | Freedom for Small Businesses Act of 2019 | Related bill | May 23, 2019 |
| S 3112 | Personalized Care Act of 2019 | Related bill | Dec 19, 2019 |
| HR 3182 | CECL Consumer Impact and Study Bill of 2019 | Related bill | Jun 28, 2019 |
| HR 4947 | Small Business Prosperity Act of 2019 | Related bill | Oct 31, 2019 |
| HR 5596 | Personalized Care Act of 2020 | Related bill | Jan 14, 2020 |
| HR 6304 | Small Business Repayment Relief Act of 2020 | Related bill | Mar 19, 2020 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To provide tax and regulatory relief and health care flexibility to individuals and businesses affected by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Responsible Relief for Americans Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Economics and Public Finance.
- Accounting and auditing
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
- Appropriations
- Bank accounts, deposits, capital
- Banking and financial institutions regulation
- Business expenses
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Congressional oversight
- Consumer credit
- Corporate finance and management
- Credit and credit markets
- Disaster relief and insurance
- Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
- Economic performance and conditions
- Economics and Public Finance
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Employee benefits and pensions
- Employee leave
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Government corporations and government-sponsored enterprises
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Government studies and investigations
- Health care costs and insurance
- Health care coverage and access
- Health technology, devices, supplies
- Housing and community development funding
- Housing finance and home ownership
- Income tax deductions
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Inflation and prices
- Interest, dividends, interest rates
- Landlord and tenant
- Manufacturing
- Prescription drugs
- Public contracts and procurement
- Religion
- Small Business Administration
- Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
- Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
- Transfer and inheritance taxes
- Unemployment
- Wages and earnings
- Women in business
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 26, 2020Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
