[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2601 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2601

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a $1,000 refundable 
credit for individuals who are bona fide volunteer members of volunteer 
       firefighting and emergency medical service organizations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2009

  Mr. Hinchey (for himself, Mr. Adler of New Jersey, Mr. Altmire, Mr. 
Andrews, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Kildee, Mrs. Lowey, 
 Mr. Massa, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Nye, Mr. Rodriguez, and Ms. Shea-Porter) 
 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 allow a $1,000 refundable 
credit for individuals who are bona fide volunteer members of volunteer 
       firefighting and 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 ``Supporting Emergency Responders 
Volunteer Efforts Act of 2009'' or the ``SERVE Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER 
              EMERGENCY RESPONSE ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to refundable credits) 
is amended by inserting after section 36A the following new section:

``SEC. 36B. BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RESPONSE 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--In the case of an individual who at any time 
during the taxable year is a bona fide volunteer member of a qualified 
volunteer emergency response organization, there shall be allowed as a 
credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle the amount of $1,000.
    ``(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Bona fide volunteer member of a qualified volunteer 
        emergency response organization.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An individual shall be treated 
                as a bona fide volunteer of a qualified volunteer 
                emergency response organization for purposes of this 
                section if--
                            ``(i) the only compensation received by 
                        such individual for performing qualified 
                        services is in the form of--
                                    ``(I) reimbursement for (or a 
                                reasonable allowance for) reasonable 
                                expenses incurred in the performance of 
                                such services, or
                                    ``(II) reasonable benefits 
                                (including length of service awards), 
                                and nominal fees for such services, 
                                customarily paid by eligible employers 
                                in connection with the performance of 
                                such services by volunteers, and
                            ``(ii) the aggregate amount of such 
                        compensation for the taxable year for providing 
                        qualified services does not exceed an amount 
                        equal to the annual limitation.
                    ``(B) Annual limitation.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A), the annual limitation is an amount 
                equal to the product of--
                            ``(i) the minimum wage in effect under 
                        section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
                        of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) on the first day 
                        of the calendar year beginning in the taxable 
                        year, multiplied by
                            ``(ii) 2,080 hours.
                    ``(C) Service limitation.--An individual shall be 
                treated as a bona fide volunteer described in 
                subparagraph (A) for a taxable year only if such 
                individual has served as a volunteer performing 
                qualified services for more than 6 months in such 
                taxable year and provided more than 40 hours of such 
                service.
                    ``(D) Training and certification requirements.--An 
                individual shall not be treated as a bona fide 
                volunteer described in subparagraph (A) for any period 
                for which the individual fails to meet all applicable 
                training and certification requirements of the 
                qualified volunteer emergency response organization for 
                which such individual volunteers.
                    ``(E) Coordination with exclusion.--Amounts 
                excluded from gross income under section 139B shall not 
                be taken into account for purposes of subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Qualified services.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
        the term `qualified services' means fire fighting and 
        prevention services, emergency medical services, and ambulance 
        services.
            ``(3) Qualified volunteer emergency response 
        organization.--The term `qualified volunteer emergency response 
        organization' has the meaning given such term by section 
        139B(c)(3).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 31, United 
        States Code, is amended by inserting ``36B,'' after ``section 
        36A,''.
            (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part IV of 
        subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 36A 
        the following new item:

``Sec. 36B. Bona fide volunteer members of volunteer emergency response 
                            organizations.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
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