Volunteer Firefighter Equipment Enhancement Act of 1999

Volunteer Firefighter Equipment Enhancement Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit tax-exempt bond financing for the purchase of an ambulance or other emergency response vehicle by a volunteer emergency medical services organization or by a volunteer fire department.

[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1229 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1229

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the types of 
equipment which may be acquired with tax-exempt financing by volunteer 
 fire departments and to provide a comparable treatment for emergency 
                     medical service organizations.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 1999

 Mr. Gejdenson (for himself, Mr. English, Mr. Metcalf, Mr. Shows, Mr. 
Rahall, Mrs. Thurman, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Frost, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Rangel, 
  Mr. Gonzalez, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. McInnis, and Mr. LaTourette) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the types of 
equipment which may be acquired with tax-exempt financing by volunteer 
 fire departments and to provide a comparable treatment for emergency 
                     medical service organizations.

    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 ``Volunteer Firefighter Equipment 
Enhancement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF EQUIPMENT OF VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS ELIGIBLE 
              FOR TAX-EXEMPT FINANCING.

    (a) In General.--Subparagraph (B) of section 150(e)(1) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to bonds of certain volunteer 
fire departments) is amended by striking ``or firetruck'' and inserting 
``firetruck, ambulance, or other emergency response vehicle''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to bonds issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS UNDER TAX-
              EXEMPT BONDS RULES.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (e) of section 150 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
paragraph (4) and by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(3) Comparable treatment for volunteer emergency medical 
        service organizations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An organization which provides 
                volunteer emergency medical services shall be treated 
                for purposes of this subsection as if--
                            ``(i) such organization were a volunteer 
                        fire department, and
                            ``(ii) such services were firefighting 
                        services.
                    ``(B) Special rule.--For purposes of applying this 
                subsection to an organization described in subparagraph 
                (A) which does not provide firefighting services, 
                paragraph (2)(A) shall be applied by substituting 
                `other emergency medical services' for `other 
                firefighting services'.''
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to bonds issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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