WASHINGTON – U.S.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, today applauded final passage of the COVID-19
Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act, bipartisan legislation they introduced to
temporarily extend COVID-19 bankruptcy relief provisions enacted as part of the
March 2020 CARES Act. The bill now heads to President Biden for
signature.
“As
businesses and individuals continue to struggle with the economic challenges of
the ongoing pandemic, Congress is committed to providing the tools and
flexibility for them to once again be successful. Last year, we passed
temporary bankruptcy relief provisions to help those facing bankruptcy during
the pandemic. This included increasing limits in my 2019 bill to streamline
bankruptcy laws for small businesses. This bill extends that relief for an
additional year,” Grassley said.
“Extending
these temporary bankruptcy provisions until March 2022 provides vital relief to
families and small businesses facing hardships during this pandemic. I’m glad
we got this done on a bipartisan basis to help Americans in need,”
Durbin said.
The
bill extends for an additional year CARES Act bankruptcy provisions that
are set to expire tomorrow. These provisions do the following:
·
Allow more small businesses to file for
streamlined Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings under Grassley’s
Small
Business Reorganization Act of 2019 by increasing the maximum debt limit
for those procedures from $2.7m to $7.5m.
·
Amend the definition of income for Chapters 7
and 13 (which govern individual bankruptcy filings) to exclude federal
COVID-related relief payments from being treated as “income” for purposes of
filing bankruptcy.
·
Clarify that the calculation of disposable
income for purposes of confirming a Chapter 13 plan does not include
COVID-related relief payments.
·
Permit individuals and families in Chapter 13
to seek payment plan modifications for plans confirmed before the date of
enactment of this extender bill if they are experiencing a material financial
hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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