Romney, Hassan, Warner, Ernst Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Fight Pandemic Relief Fraud

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Subcommittee Chair, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) today introduced the COVID Spending Transparency Act of 2024, bipartisan legislation that would extend the term of the Treasury Department's Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR)-currently scheduled to sunset at the end of March 2025-for another five years.

SIGPR was created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 to oversee spending of government funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several federal inspectors general, including SIGPR, have collectively uncovered waste, fraud, and abuse in the pandemic assistance loan programs amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars. SIGPR currently has 42 open cases, with 28 of those cases amounting to more than $499 million in CARES Act funding.

"The CARES Act was critically important for the country at a critical time, but it's become clear that the oversight of funds tied to the CARES Act and other COVID relief legislation is still needed," Senator Romney said. "It would be unwise to let the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery expire when there is still work to be done to recover federal funds. Our legislation would extend this important office for five years in order to continue to give the inspector general the tools needed to continue rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal programs from the COVID pandemic."

"The CARES Act provided critical funds to help save lives, support families, and keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic - but we know that some bad actors took advantage of it. We need to keep working to recover fraudulently obtained or used CARES Act federal funding," said Senator Hassan. "The Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery plays a crucial role in overseeing these funds, and we must extend the position so that it can continue to combat waste, fraud, and abuse."

"The CARES Act provided crucial support to businesses during the COVID pandemic, but it also opened the door for potential misuse. This legislation would ensure that those receiving COVID relief funds are using them appropriately," Senator Warner said. "It's crucial the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery continues their important work, and has the resources to do so."

"With hundreds of billions of dollars of waste and fraud, it is evident that the screening process for pandemic swindlers had more holes than Swiss cheese. We need to give the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery the time, resources, and jurisdiction to track down every last cent of COVID fraud," said Senator Ernst.

Background:

In November 2023, Senators Romney and Hassan led a HSGAC Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee hearing examining federal COVID-era spending. During the hearing, Romney advocated for extending SIGPR past its expiration date of March 28, 2025.

The CARES Act created the Main Street Lending Program, which offered loans to small and medium-sized businesses. The Main Street Lending Program issued loans for small and medium-sized businesses and set up a payment plan of 15% in the third and fourth years, with a majority of payment of 70% due in the fifth year. The expiration of SIGPR coincides with the maturing of loans under the Treasury Department's Main Street Lending Program.

To date, SIGPR has recovered over $60 million in taxpayer funds, which surpasses its budget appropriated by Congress. SIGPR's investigations have resulted in 53 federal indictments, 44 arrests, 16 guilty pleas, with 3 additional guilty pleas filed with the court, and 4 sentencings which have generated $11.2 million in seizure or forfeiture orders, $11.9 million in court ordered restitution, and a $350,000 civil settlement.

Text of the bill can be found here.

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