Congressional Record, Volume 161 Issue 5 (Monday, January 12, 2015)

[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 5 (Monday, January 12, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H201-H204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

PROTECTING VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY RESPONDERS ACT

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 33) 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.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 33

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.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.

General Leave

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 33, currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I am here bringing forward Mr. Barletta's bill, and it is really
simple. One of the cornerstones of our civil society--one of the great
pieces of the American story--is volunteerism but, in particular,
volunteerism among our first responders.

[[Page H202]]

So many of us represent congressional districts that thrive on and
exist on and preserve their safety on volunteer firefighters and first
responders. Unfortunately, in the Affordable Care Act, there is a huge
glitch. Under ObamaCare, volunteer firefighters and first responders
are counted in many ways as if they were full-time equivalent
employees, and therefore, volunteer fire departments are getting hit
with enormous fines, mandates, and taxes.
It shouldn't be that way. It is causing a huge paperwork burden, not
to mention a fiscal drain on the budgets of these small fire
departments and emergency responding agencies in our communities and in
rural areas all across America. This legislation fixes this.
I want to thank Congressman Barletta for introducing this because he
clearly understands as a former mayor and as someone who represents
Pennsylvania, which I know has a lot of volunteer firefighters just
like we do in rural Wisconsin, that these are the lifeblood of our
communities.
The last thing that they need to do when they are so concerned about
preserving public safety and health is to worry about all of these
ObamaCare mandates. Mr. Barletta's bill preserves the freedom to
operate for our 780,000 public service volunteer firefighters. It
removes this mandate and exempts them from this onerous mandate, so
they can continue providing the public service that they have been
right now.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Barletta), the author of this legislation.
Mr. BARLETTA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 33, the
Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act.
This is a good, truly bipartisan bill that protects our first
responders, our volunteer firefighters, and emergency services
personnel. It protects them by ensuring that they are not considered
employees under the employer mandate provision of ObamaCare.
If they were, some fire companies would be forced to pay for the
volunteers' health insurance or pay a fine, driving many fire
departments out of business. As a former mayor, I know how important
volunteer fire companies are to the health and safety of a community.
Simply put, this is a public safety issue.
I first learned about this issue from a volunteer firefighter, Bob
Timko, back home, and I began a crusade to clear this up for volunteer
firefighters and localities and the residents of Pennsylvania and every
other State.
As you know, the employer mandate of ObamaCare kicks in for employers
with 50 or more employees. Now, some fire companies may hear about this
and immediately think, ``Well, we only have 25 volunteers, so we are
safe. We don't have 50.''
That may not necessarily be the case. Some fire companies are
considered part of their local government. If you take the number of
firefighters, paid and unpaid, and add them to the number of other
public employees, such as highway workers, police, code enforcement
officers, health officers, and clerical workers, you can easily reach
50, even in a small town.
This would be a very big deal in my home State of Pennsylvania, where
97 percent of our fire companies are either completely or mostly
volunteers. Nationally, almost 92 percent of fire companies use at
least some volunteers, and over 86 percent depend on all or mostly
volunteers.
Those numbers come from the 2012 National Fire Department Census
conducted by the United States Fire Administration. If your district is
like mine, then volunteer firefighters are ingrained in your community.
We won an initial battle on this issue. After I raised it with the
IRS and brought pressure to bear through this legislation, they finally
relented and changed their rules regarding the Federal tax status of
volunteer firefighters.
However, this is too important of a public safety issue to be left to
the changing positions of unelected Federal bureaucrats at the IRS.
Their arbitrary regulatory guidance could easily be changed back.
Our people back home deserve better. We owe our emergency service
volunteers, who risk their lives every day, rock-solid certainty. This
legislation says, once and for all, that volunteer firefighters are
just that--volunteers--and should not be subjected to the employer
mandate. It takes away the power of the IRS to change the rules.
I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their
continued support. Last year, this bill passed the Ways and Means
Committee by a strong bipartisan vote of 37-0, and it passed the House
by a very rare unanimous vote of 410-0. Not one single Member,
Republican or Democrat, opposed it.
I want to thank Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader McCarthy, Majority
Whip Scalise, the Ways and Means Committee, and their staffs. We all
recognize that my bill is a simple, bipartisan solution to an
unforeseen consequence of the President's health care law.
This bill has the strong support of the National Volunteer Fire
Council, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the
Congressional Fire Services Institute. I want to thank my partners, as
well as the men and women they represent, for their help.
To be clear, forcing volunteer fire companies to comply with
ObamaCare will not extend health insurance to the uninsured; rather, it
will close firehouses, placing people at risk.
I strongly urge the passage of this bill.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I want to start off by certainly extending congratulations to
Representative Barletta for his persistency in continuing to bring this
legislation forward. As he has pointed out, it has been bipartisanly
supported, and it deserves passage. It passed unanimously, as he
indicated, in both the Ways and Means Committee and also unanimously on
this floor, which is no small order.
Of course, it comes in the midst of controversy. I say
``controversy'' because--well, our distinguished chairman is to be
congratulated as well for not only bringing this bill forward, but also
for the great victory that was won by the Green Bay Packers yesterday.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. In a moment, because I do want to continue
my praise of the Aaron Rodgers look-alike.
Today, our distinguished chairman announced that he is not running
for President. We think that it is so that his look-alike, Aaron
Rodgers, may fill that void. I know that it was an outstanding victory
by the Packers yesterday, but it was not without controversy on our own
committee.
I know that Kenny Marchant, Kevin Brady, and Sam Johnson are very
concerned about this, but as the chairman said, ``The rules are the
rules,'' and we should proceed from there.

{time} 1745

But I also want to thank all of those, and especially the chairman,
who raised the point about volunteer firefighters. All of us have that
visual in our minds, of course, of those going up the stairs so that
people can come down the stairs. And since September 11, and noting
that volunteer firefighters cover more than 70 percent of this country,
this clearly is a bill that was worthy of the unanimous approval and
consent that it received and, as I indicated, is bipartisanly supported
by our entire delegation.
I want to commend the gentleman from Connecticut, Representative
Courtney, who will speak later, and also the gentlewoman from
Connecticut, Representative Esty, and also the National Volunteer Fire
Council, which has been 1,000 percent behind this and also other tax
issues that are going to be coming before our committee that have been
bipartisanly supported as well by Representative Reichert, Tom Latham,
and others. And I know that we share the bipartisan spirit in this.
I also would like to say that, along with firefighters, the many
people who are emergency medical volunteers could benefit from a number
of volunteer tax breaks that we could provide as well. I look forward
to working with our distinguished chairman and, again, commend the
gentleman from Pennsylvania, Representative Barletta.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to say
that I

[[Page H203]]

appreciate the kind words from the gentleman from Connecticut.
This is bipartisan. It is wonderful when we can work together and
find common ground to get things done and find common ground where the
completion of a pass is the completion of a pass, it is a rule.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. We are especially gratified, though, in a
true show of compassionate conservatism that you reached out to the
chief fan of the Jersey Cowboys--excuse me--the Dallas Cowboys, Chris
Christie, to provide him with both a hug and a sincere gesture from
Wisconsin.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Reclaiming my time, all in good jest.
With that, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Kelly), a member of the full committee.
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support
of H.R. 33, and I want to thank Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader
McCarthy for allowing this legislation to come forward so early in this
Congress.
I agree with the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson). People
always say: I wish you guys could get along; just get something done.
This is something that we overwhelmingly believe in and we are going to
get done.
I think that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) has
explained very clearly that it has to become statute. It can't be left
to be some nebulous fact that is rolling around out there.
Now, these people who do this work--and in Pennsylvania, 97 percent,
almost eight out of every 10 firefighters come from the volunteer
aspect of it; they are not paid. Yet because of some type of allowance
they are given, they fall under the Affordable Care Act, and this would
destroy volunteer fire departments as we know them. So what Mr.
Barletta has very thoughtfully done is he has put forth a piece of
legislation that would guarantee that these folks don't have to worry
about that.
Now, I have got to tell you, in the little town that I grew up in and
live in, Butler, Pennsylvania, so many people volunteer their time to
do the volunteer fire fighting. They are also the EMS. They are the
first responders.
Last spring, one of our volunteer firemen by the name of Ryan
Sekerski, on his way home from work, he heard over his scanner that a
fuel truck had overturned. The driver was trapped inside that truck. He
then went to the scene of the accident, got his equipment that was in
the trunk of his car, got out, and saved that driver's life. These are
the people that we are talking about.
When you come to the people's House, America's House, America's
Congress, we look at the things that we can do together, things that
just make sense. While we may disagree on some other aspects of what it
is that we try to get done, on this, we are solid. This just makes
sense for America. This makes sense for all those that lay their life
on the line anytime there is an emergency or a fire. They do it
voluntarily.
Hundreds and thousands of hours in training go into this. They spend
time away from their families. They take time away from personal time,
where they could be doing other things, to get trained so that they can
help other Americans who may need their help. It is absolutely
incredible. It is so American. It is something we look at with a great
sense of pride.
And we went to the IRS and said: Listen, what we really need now is a
statute that guarantees that these volunteer fire departments will not
be put under pressure, where they would have to go out of business.
This is not a health care issue, not as far as it is supplying health
care or paying a fine for those that volunteer; but this is a health
care issue for every single American for whom these people supply
necessary services on a voluntary basis to save their lives and their
property.
So I think the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) is a
champion on this issue. He was in the last Congress and the fact that
it has come forward again--it is so overwhelmingly supported by both
sides of our House that it truly is America's Congress. It truly is
America's issue. It truly is an issue that makes sense for all of us.
It is maybe our small way of thanking all those folks that do that
every day without any pay, just because of the greatness in their
hearts.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I really deeply appreciate
the words of my colleague and fellow member of the Ways and Means
Committee. Again, I want to commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Barletta).
I want to submit for the Record a letter from the Department of the
Treasury that, at the bequest of a number of Members bipartisanly
submitted and they made the changes to the rules.

B. Exclusions From Definition of Hour of Service

Commenters requested that hours of service performed in
certain capacities not be counted as an hour of service. The
final regulations adopt the following changes in response to
these comments.

1. Volunteer Employees

Commenters requested that hours of service performed in the
capacity of a volunteer for a government entity or tax-exempt
organization not be counted as hours of service for purposes
of section 4980H. Under the definition of hour of service
outlined in these regulations, an hour of service is
generally defined as an hour for which an employee is paid or
entitled to payment. Accordingly, hours worked by a volunteer
who does not receive (and is not entitled to receive)
compensation in exchange for the performance of services are
not treated as hours of service for purposes of section
4980H.
Commenters noted, however, that some volunteers receive
compensation in the form of expense reimbursements, stipends,
contributions to employee benefit plans, or nominal wages.
Local governments, for instance, noted that many volunteer
firefighters or other emergency responders are paid a salary
or an hourly wage, generally at a rate lower than the rate
paid to non-volunteers performing services in a similar
capacity. Other volunteer firefighters or emergency
responders may receive expense reimbursements or other fees
each time they respond to a call. Commenters generally
expressed concern that volunteer service would be discouraged
if volunteer hours were required to be counted when
determining whether the individual is a full-time employee
for purposes of section 4980H.
In response to these concerns, the final regulations
provide that hours of service do not include hours worked as
a ``bona fide volunteer.'' For this purpose, the definition
of ``bona fide volunteer'' is generally based on the
definition of that term for purposes of section
457(e)(11)(B)(i), which provides special rules for length of
service awards offered to certain volunteer firefighters and
emergency medical providers under a municipal deferred
compensation plan. For purposes of section 4980H, however,
bona fide volunteers are not limited to volunteer
firefighters and emergency medical providers. Rather, bona
fide volunteers include any volunteer who is an employee of a
government entity or an organization described in section
501(c) that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a)
whose only compensation from that entity or organization 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.

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I think it is both
appropriate and right that we codify this and put it into a law.
With that, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut, Joe
Courtney, one of the chief sponsors who, along with Elizabeth Esty,
helped engineer this bill.
Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to congratulate the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) for his leadership on this
legislation, which has been noted.
As we are standing here today, there are probably thousands of calls
happening all across the country for fire suppression, for medical
emergencies, for people with all types of difficulties that
volunteers--people who don't have to step up and train and spend all
the hours and be available at the expense of their family time and
their work time--will respond to these calls.
And for a lot of communities that rely on volunteers, the issue of
recruitment and retention and just trying to make the environment
conducive for people to make that act of volunteering is a challenge
that I think all of us hear about from our volunteer fire departments
and first responders all across the Nation.
So when this issue of the Affordable Care Act being possibly a
requirement for the shared responsibilities of employers was out there,
again, I applaud Mr. Barletta for stepping up, introducing this
legislation, and following

[[Page H204]]

up with mail to the IRS Commissioner. They did respond almost exactly a
year ago, saying that the regulations would not count bona fide
volunteers in terms of the 50-employee count. But as was noted, I think
it is always better to have it in statute rather than rely on the whims
of administrative agencies that can change with the change of
administration. So again, I think this is an example of how the country
really wants us to operate.
Again, if you look at the Affordable Care Act, since its passage, we
have worked together to eliminate the 1099 filing requirement; we have
worked together to make sure that our military families, through
TRICARE, would have age 26 coverage, which was left out when the bill
was initially filed; and here today, we are following up again with an
example of commonsense fixes to the legislation, which is what I think
the country really is looking for.
I would also note that the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson)
has legislation to restore tax exclusions which were on the books a
number of years ago to help volunteer fire departments use property tax
exemptions and equipment donations that had been treated as income by
the IRS in past years.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. I yield the gentleman an additional
minute.
Mr. COURTNEY. Unfortunately, those tax exemptions expired. And I
know, again, the gentleman--and I am sure with bipartisan support--is
going to introduce measures to bring those back and, again, allow these
departments that are struggling to retain and recruit to have the tools
so that they can make it easier, rather than having to file 1040s and
drive people crazy around tax filing time for things like boots and
coats and a property tax exemption being treated as taxable income.
So again, I look forward to the passage of this legislation with the
huge bipartisan margin that we saw last year; and given the
administration's response to our entreaties, again, I fully expect that
there will be a bill signing ceremony at the White House, assuming it
gets through the Senate. Again, with that, I would urge passage.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for
time other than to close.
May I inquire of the gentleman from Connecticut?
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. I have no further requests for time.
Joe Courtney said, ``Don't forget to mention the Patriots,'' so I
would be remiss if I didn't.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I want to thank Representative Courtney also for recognizing the
Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act, as I
mentioned earlier, which is something that has been bipartisanly
cosponsored in the past by Representatives Reichert, Latham, myself,
and others.
The distinguished chairman and I, who are classmates, who came into
this Congress together--he has also been a great proponent and advocate
for making sure that these volunteers, who never were intended in both
the case of Mr. Barletta and also in the case of the IRS, something
that is administratively burdening for the IRS, this is, as Mr. Kelly
so passionately said, something that is common sense, that we ought to
work on together, and that we ought to provide the relief for, those
who provide more than 70 percent of the volunteer aid across this
country, especially when it comes to fighting fires. And our National
Volunteer Fire Council is supportive of this as is the Fire Chiefs
Association. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues across
the aisle to ensure this.
Again, with that, I commend and congratulate the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) and thank him for his fine work in this
area, and I look forward to supporting him on future endeavors.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself just a few moments
to say to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), I appreciate him
for his comity, for the bipartisan nature of this.
I would say to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney), first,
they have to get through some tough luck--Andrew Luck, in particular--
in order to make it to where they want to go.
With that, for the purpose of closing on his own bill, I would like
to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Barletta).
Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues on
both sides. There are very few times when you have a vote here that is
unanimous, and it is for a simple reason. It is that everyone here
understands and appreciates what these men and women in our communities
are willing to do to make the community safe.
You know, as a mayor, I have come to appreciate the volunteer
firefighters more than I could ever imagine. Many times, I have watched
them stand out in the middle of a road with a boot, trying to raise
money so that they could buy gear or equipment or get more training.
The volunteers ask very little of their community compared to what they
are willing to give, and that is the ultimate sacrifice. They are
willing to give their lives for people that they don't even know. They
are willing to walk into a burning fire.
I can remember one night, our local fire department in Hazleton,
Pennsylvania, they ran in, and they came out with a little baby whose
life they saved. And I also remember a day when they couldn't save a
life and how it affected every one of those men and women as if it were
their own child. They have a lot to worry about, and what they
shouldn't worry about is where they are going to get money to provide
health insurance or pay a fine. I am sure this was an unintended
consequence, and we here recognize that.
So again, I want to thank the chairman and my colleagues for standing
with me and saluting the real American heroes, the men and women who
volunteer to save us, our first responders.
Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 33.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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