[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2370 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2370

To amend title 11, United States Code, to make bankruptcy organization 
   more efficient for small business debtors, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 26, 2012

Mr. Whitehouse (for himself and Mr. Grassley) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 11, United States Code, to make bankruptcy organization 
   more efficient for small business debtors, 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 ``Small Business Reorganization 
Efficiency and Clarity Act''.

SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY IN CONFIRMATION.

    Section 1129(e) of title 11, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``45 days'' and inserting ``90 days''.

SEC. 3. CLARITY IN PERIODIC REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 308(b) of title 11, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by adding ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ``; and'' at the end and 
        inserting a period; and
            (3) by striking paragraph (6).

SEC. 4. RETAINING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Section 327 of title 11, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a person is not disqualified 
for employment under this section by a small business debtor solely 
because such person holds a claim of less than $5,000 that arose prior 
to the date of commencement of the case.''.
    (b) Adjustments to Dollar Amount.--Section 104 of title 11, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ``327(g),'' after ``303(b),''.

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS SELECTION.

    Section 1112(b)(4) of title 11, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (O) and (P) as 
        subparagraphs (P) and (Q), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (N) the following:
                    ``(O) failure of a small business debtor to 
                designate itself as a small business debtor;''.

SEC. 6. REPORT.

    Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation with the 
Administrative Office of United States Courts and the Executive Office 
of United States Trustees, shall submit a report to Congress 
detailing--
            (1) the number and percentage of all cases filed under 
        chapter 11 of title 11, United States Code, in which the debtor 
        is a small business debtor, as that term is defined in section 
        101(51D) of title 11, United States Code;
            (2) the number of cases and rates of confirmations for 
        small business debtors in cases filed under chapter 11 of title 
        11, United States Code, as compared with--
                    (A) all debtors in cases filed under that chapter 
                11;
                    (B) all debtors in cases filed under that chapter 
                11 that are not small business debtors;
                    (C) debtors in cases filed under that chapter 11 
                that--
                            (i) are not small business debtors; and
                            (ii) have less than $5,000,000 in debt;
                    (D) debtors in cases filed under that chapter 11 
                that--
                            (i) are not small business debtors; and
                            (ii) have less than $10,000,000 in debt;
                    (E) debtors in cases filed under chapter 12 of 
                title 11, United States Code; and
                    (F) debtors in cases filed under that chapter 13 
                that are business cases;
            (3) the number of cases filed under chapter 11 of title 11, 
        United States Code, in which the debtor has less than 
        $2,190,000 in debt outstanding, but does not designate itself a 
        small business debtor;
            (4) recommendations for improving the confirmation rate for 
        small business debtors; and
            (5) an analysis on whether the definition of the term 
        ``small business debtor'' should be amended to include 
        businesses with--
                    (A) less than $5,000,000 in debt; and
                    (B) less than $10,000,000 in debt.
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