Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act

Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude services rendered by bona-fide volunteers providing firefighting and prevention services, emergency medical services, or ambulance services to a state or local government or a tax-exempt charitable organization from the category of services usually rendered by an employee of an applicable large employer subject to the mandate to provide minimum essential health care coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), thus exempting such employers from PPACA requirements with respect to such volunteers.

The bill defines "bona fide volunteer" as an employee of any government entity and any tax-exempt charitable organization whose only compensation is in the form of: (1) reimbursement for (or reasonable allowance for) reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of volunteer services, or (2) reasonable benefits (including length-of-service awards) and nominal fees customarily paid by similar entities for the services of volunteers.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1991 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1991

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that emergency 
 services volunteers are not taken into account as employees under the 
shared responsibility requirements contained in the Patient Protection 
                        and Affordable Care Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 6, 2017

 Mr. Barletta 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 ensure that emergency 
 services volunteers are not taken into account as employees under the 
shared responsibility requirements contained in the Patient Protection 
                        and Affordable Care Act.

    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 ``Protecting Volunteer Firefighters 
and Emergency Responders Act''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY SERVICES, GOVERNMENT, AND CERTAIN NONPROFIT 
              VOLUNTEERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 4980H(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) as 
paragraphs (6), (7), and (8), respectively, and by inserting after 
paragraph (4) the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) Special rules for certain emergency services, 
        government, and nonprofit volunteers.--
                    ``(A) Emergency services volunteers.--Qualified 
                services rendered as a bona fide volunteer to an 
                eligible employer shall not be taken into account under 
                this section as service provided by an employee. For 
                purposes of the preceding sentence, the terms 
                `qualified services', `bona fide volunteer', and 
                `eligible employer' shall have the respective meanings 
                given such terms under section 457(e).
                    ``(B) Certain other government and nonprofit 
                volunteers.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Services rendered as a 
                        bona fide volunteer to a specified employer 
                        shall not be taken into account under this 
                        section as service provided by an employee.
                            ``(ii) Bona fide volunteer.--For purposes 
                        of this subparagraph, the term `bona fide 
                        volunteer' means an employee of a specified 
                        employer whose only compensation from such 
                        employer is in the form of--
                                    ``(I) reimbursement for (or 
                                reasonable allowance for) reasonable 
                                expenses incurred in the performance of 
                                services by volunteers, or
                                    ``(II) reasonable benefits 
                                (including length of service awards), 
                                and nominal fees, customarily paid by 
                                similar entities in connection with the 
                                performance of services by volunteers.
                            ``(iii) Specified employer.--For purposes 
                        of this subparagraph, the term `specified 
                        employer' means--
                                    ``(I) any government entity, and
                                    ``(II) any organization described 
                                in section 501(c) and exempt from tax 
                                under section 501(a).
                            ``(iv) Coordination with subparagraph 
                        (A).--This subparagraph shall not fail to apply 
                        with respect to services merely because such 
                        services are qualified services (as defined in 
                        section 457(e)(11)(C)).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to months beginning after December 31, 2013.
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