,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #efea  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #ah1 #bjad
 ,mr4 ,ruiz introduced the following    
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,ways and ,means  ,a      
,,bill  ,to amend the ,internal ,revenue
 ,code of #aihf to provide an exemption 
to the employer health insurance mandate
 for small businesses which are         
experiencing hardship4  #a4 ,short title
 ,this ,act may be cited as the ,small  
,business ,hardship ,relief ,act4  #b4  
,hardship exemption to employer health  
insurance mandate for small businesses  
7a7 ,in general ,section #dihj;,h of the
 ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is   
amended by adding at the end the        
following new subsection3  7e7 ,hardship
 exemption for small businesses  7#a7   
,in general ,subsections 7a7 and 7b7    
shall not apply to any small business   
for any month if such small business is 
experiencing a hardship with respect to 
the calendar year in which such month   

begins4  7#b7 ,hardship ,a small        
business shall be treated for purposes  
of this subsection as experiencing a    
hardship for any calendar year if such  
business demonstrates to the            
satisfaction of the ,secretary that such
 business--  7,a7 missed two or more    
consecutive loan payments during such   
year1  7,b7 is a debtor in a title #aa  
case 7as defined in section             
#ajh7;d77#b77 the pendency of which     
includes any portion of such year1  7,c7
 received a notice from a utility during
 such year that such utility is         
preparing to stop providing services to 
such business by reason of nonpayment of
 amounts owed for utility service1  7,d7
 received a notice of eviction of       
foreclosure during such year1  7,e7     
experienced a fire1 flood1 other natural
 or human-caused disaster that resulted 
in substantial damage to property of the
 business during such year1 or  7,f7    
experiences such other hardship during  
such year as the ,secretary may         

determine for purposes of this          
subsection4  7#c7 ,limitation to #e     
years of exemptions ,paragraph 7#a7     
shall not apply to any small business   
for any calendar year if such paragraph 
has applied to such small business for  
any #e previous calendar years4  7#d7   
,small business ,for purposes of this   
subsection--  7,a7 ,in general ,the term
 small business means1 with respect to  
any calendar year1 an employer who      
employed an average of not more than    
#ajj full-time employees on business    
days during the preceding calendar year4
  7,b7 ,application of certain rules for
 determining employer size2 treatment of
 full-time equivalents as full-time     
employees ,rules similar to the rules of
 subparagraphs 7,c7 and 7,e7 of         
subsection 7c77#b7 shall apply for      
purposes of this subsection4  4  7b7    
,effective date ,the amendment made by  
subsection 7a7 shall apply to months    
beginning after the date of the         
enactment of this ,act4  7c7 ,hardship  

exemption not ,to be used as sole       
criteria for audit ,notwithstanding any 
other provision of law1 whether the     
hardship exemption provided under       
section #dihj;,h of the ,internal       
,revenue ,code of #aihf 7as added by    
this section7 applies with respect to a 
taxpayer shall not be taken into account
 by the ,internal ,revenue ,service as  
the sole factor in determining whether  
to audit such taxpayer4  7d7 ,treasury  
study on additional indications of      
business hardship  7#a7 ,study ,the     
,secretary of the ,treasury shall       
conduct a study regarding the additional
 hardships which would be appropriate to
 add to the list of hardships in        
paragraph 7#b7 of section #dihj;,h7e7 of
 the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf  
7as added by this section71 consistent  
with the purposes of such section4  7#b7
 ,determination of additional hardships 
,not later than #f months after the date
 of the enactment of this ,act1 the     
,secretary of the ,treasury shall1 with 

respect to any hardship which the       
,secretary determines should be added to
 such list of hardships1 add such       
hardship to such list by making the     
determination described in subparagraph 
7,f7 of such section4  7#c7 ,report ,not
 later than #f months after the date of 
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of the ,treasury shall       
provide a written report to ,congress   
with respect to the study conducted     
under paragraph 7#a74 ,such report shall
 include a description of each hardship 
considered for inclusion in such list of
 hardships1 whether the ,secretary made 
the determination to include such       
hardship in such list1 and the reasons  
that such hardship was or was not so    
included1 as the case may be4  7#d7     
,references to ,secretary of the        
,treasury ,any reference in this        
subsection to the ,secretary of the     
,treasury shall include a reference to  
any designee of such ,secretary4