The House of Representatives this afternoon passed the Senate-amended version of H.R. 1651, the “COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of 2021.” The legislation will extend personal and small business bankruptcy relief provisions that were part of last year's CARES Act through March 2022. Some of the key provisions of last year's relief packages were the increased debt limit to $7.5 million for small business debtors electing to file under subchapter V and allowing individuals to seek COVID-19–related hardship modifications, among other changes. The legislation was amended and passed unanimous consent by the Senate on Wednesday night to only include the CARES Act bankruptcy provisions. The amendment struck section 2(c) from the bill, which was the section extending the bankruptcy provisions of December's “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021” (CAA) that are due to sunset on December 27. While the COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act originally proposed the CAA provisions to expire at the same time as the CARES bankruptcy provisions on March 27, 2022, the amendment means that the CAA provisions will still expire in eight months. H.R. 1651 now heads to President Biden’s desk for signature.
Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced S. 473 on February 25 to extend the bankruptcy provision sunsets, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., introduced H.R. 1651, the House companion, on March 8. ABI on March 5 sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leadership supporting S. 473, the "COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act," to extend, for another year, bankruptcy-relief provisions due to sunset in the 2020 CARES Act and December 2020 omnibus appropriations bill. “There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath will continue to put significant strain on U.S. small businesses in the near future and perhaps for years to come,” ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss wrote in the letter to Sens. Durbin and Grassley. “By extending the increased debt limit of the SBRA, the COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act offers much-needed relief to a growing number of U.S. small businesses who find themselves in need of reorganizing in order to stay in business.” Click here to read ABI’s letter.
