[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 44 (Monday, March 16, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H1647-H1649]
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. 1191) 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, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1191

       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 gentlewoman from California (Ms. Linda T. 
Sanchez) 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. 1191, 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.
  This is a very commonsense bill aimed at protecting our volunteer 
firefighters across America. I want to congratulate the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) for bringing this issue to our attention. 
It is something that he, as a former mayor, is very familiar with.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) for the purposes of explaining his 
bill.

[[Page H1648]]

  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 
1191, the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders 
Act.
  I had hoped by now that we would not have to be on the floor of this 
body talking about my legislation once again. This is the third time I 
have brought this bill to the floor of the House.
  It is intended to protect volunteer firefighters and emergency 
services personnel from ObamaCare. The first two times I introduced it, 
it passed the House by a combined vote of 811-0.
  I know that there are very few pieces of legislation that attract 
such amazing bipartisan support, and for that, I thank my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle. Today, I come asking for your support again.
  Let me tell you why this bill is necessary. In 2013, a firefighter 
from back home named Bob Timko approached me at a parade in 
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He told me about a serious problem 
regarding volunteer firefighters and the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.
  Because the Internal Revenue Service specifically considered 
volunteer firefighters employees for Federal tax purposes, there was 
the fear that they would fall under the employer mandate of the ACA. If 
volunteer fire companies were subject to the employer mandate, they 
could be liable for crippling new health care costs, causing many to 
have to close their doors.
  Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the threshold for the employer mandate 
is 50 employees. That raised the question of how volunteer firefighters 
would be counted. Would they be counted as employees just under the 
fire company, or would they be counted as municipal employees?
  If that were the case, many volunteer fire companies could easily 
achieve 50 employees. If they did, these companies could be forced to 
pay health insurance costs for their volunteers or pay a fine.
  This is very important in my home State of Pennsylvania. Ninety-seven 
percent of our fire companies depend either mostly or entirely on 
volunteers. Across the country, 87 percent of fire companies depend on 
volunteers.
  As a former mayor, I can tell you that volunteer firefighters are 
part of the essential fabric of our communities. These are people who 
risk their lives every day to protect their friends, families, and 
people they don't even know. I can tell you that no one becomes a 
volunteer firefighter because they want health insurance. While they 
are on duty, they are, of course, covered by workman's compensation 
insurance.
  Our volunteer firefighters have a hard enough time raising money 
needed for basic equipment. They cannot afford to pay for health 
insurance--or pay a fine--on top of it.
  Last year, the IRS finally decided--after months of pressure from 
Members of the House, from firefighters, and from the media--that they 
will not consider volunteer firefighters ``employees'' for Federal tax 
purposes, but I don't think we should leave something as important as 
public safety in the hands of unelected bureaucrats at the IRS. Our 
brave volunteer emergency personnel deserve certainty.
  As I said, this is the third time we have had this bill before this 
body. The first time, in 2014, it passed the House of Representatives 
410-0. When it got to the Senate, they used it to attach unrelated 
language about emergency unemployment insurance. The bill died.
  The second time, just earlier this year, it passed the House of 
Representatives 401-0. This time, the Senate stripped all of my 
language out of the bill. It got turned into a 1-week funding measure 
for the Department of Homeland Security.
  This is a bill that deserves to become law. This legislation has the 
strong support of the National Volunteer Fire Council, the 
International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the Congressional Fire 
Services Institute.
  I appreciate their support and the work of all the men and women they 
represent who protect us every day in our hometowns. We all agree that 
public safety is too important of an issue to play politics with.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill, and I ask all Members to 
vote ``yes.''
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am heartened that my Republican colleagues are acting 
on legislation to improve the Affordable Care Act, rather than to 
simply repeal it.
  Technical corrections have long been part of the legislative process 
for such fundamental pieces of legislation, and this bill does the 
same.
  Volunteer first responders are absolutely critical to the safety and 
security of communities across the country. Seventy percent of all 
firefighters across the country are volunteers. For the communities 
aided by volunteer first responders, the services donated annually by 
these volunteers are estimated to be worth more than $140 billion.
  This legislation allows communities to continue to benefit for the 
time and commitment of our firefighters and other first responders.

                              {time}  1700

  Treasury has responded to the concerns that Mr. Barletta and many 
other Members raised through their final regulations. But this 
legislation makes permanent the reasonable solution that the 
administration put forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I will insert into the Record a letter from the 
Department of the Treasury specifically outlining the regulations that 
address those concerns.
  This bill is bipartisan, and it is noncontroversial. It, as I said, 
codifies a regulation that has already been issued by the 
administration.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.

                                   Department of the Treasury,

                                 Washington, DC, January 10, 2014.
     Hon. Steve Israel,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Israel: I am writing regarding your 
     interest in how the employer shared responsibility provisions 
     of the Affordable Care Act will apply to volunteer 
     firefighters and volunteer emergency medical personnel. In 
     particular, you have urged the Treasury Department to 
     consider not requiring the volunteer hours of these personnel 
     to be counted in determining an employer's full-time 
     employees or full-time equivalent employees for purposes of 
     the employer shared responsibility rules. We appreciate your 
     efforts and leadership on behalf of the volunteer emergency 
     responder community, and want to assure you that we share 
     your concern that emergency volunteer service be accorded 
     appropriate treatment.
       Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations providing 
     guidance on the employer shared responsibility provisions 
     under section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) in 
     December 2012 and invited public comments. Numerous comments 
     were received from individuals and local fire and EMS 
     departments that rely on volunteers, from the International 
     Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), and from Members of 
     Congress. The comments generally suggested that the final 
     employer responsibility rules not count volunteer hours of 
     nominally compensated volunteer firefighters and emergency 
     medical personnel in determining an employer's full-time 
     employees or full-time equivalent employees.
       Treasury and the IRS carefully reviewed those comments and 
     spoke with IAFC representatives to gain a better 
     understanding of the specific issues presented by volunteer 
     firefighters and volunteer emergency personnel under the 
     employer responsibility provisions. Treasury and the IRS also 
     reviewed pertinent rules that apply to such volunteer 
     personnel under other laws. These include the statutory 
     provisions applicable to bona fide volunteers for different 
     purposes under Code section 457(e)(11) (relating to deferred 
     compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-
     exempt organizations) and rules governing the treatment of 
     volunteers for purposes of the wage and hour laws. As a 
     result of that review and further analysis concerning the 
     appropriate treatment of volunteer firefighters and volunteer 
     emergency personnel under section 4980H, the forthcoming 
     final regulations generally will pot require volunteer hours 
     of bona fide volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency 
     medical personnel at governmental entities or tax-exempt 
     organizations to be counted when determining an employer's 
     full-time employees or full-time equivalent employees.
       The forthcoming final regulations, which we expect to be 
     issued very shortly, should provide timely guidance for the 
     volunteer emergency responder community. Under the transition 
     relief announced by Treasury in July of 2013, no employer 
     shared responsibility payments will be assessed for 2014; 
     such payments will be assessed only for 2015 and subsequent 
     years (see IRS Notice 2013-45).
       I hope this information is helpful. And thank you for the 
     important insights you have provided with this issue. If you 
     have

[[Page H1649]]

     any questions, please contact me, or ask a member of your 
     staff to contact Sandra Salstrom at 202-622-1900.
           Sincerely,
                                            Alastair M. Fitzpayne,
                      Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs.
  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  I want to thank Mr. Barletta for bringing this to our attention. This 
is a problem with the law and, therefore, the law needs to change. It 
is insufficient that we have some regulatory forbearance from the 
administrative branch because the law has to be changed, and that is 
why this legislation is necessary.
  Again, I just wanted to thank Mr. Barletta for his leadership on this 
issue. We need to do right by our volunteer firefighters, and this does 
that.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 284. I 
have heard from many stakeholders in eastern Connecticut about this 
issue, and believe that this bill is a commonsense approach to making 
needed improvements to the competitive bidding process for durable 
medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies.
  Requiring bidding entities to meet state licensure requirements in 
product category areas and obtaining reasonable bid surety bonds for 
each area are sensible prerequisites to improving the competitive 
acquisition program. Requiring vendor bidders to be licensed, means 
that they have attained basic standards of education and training, 
which patients can rely on. These reforms will ensure that the 
competitive DME bidding process produces a more stable supply chain of 
life saving equipment for Medicare patients.
  I am proud to support this legislation, and urge bipartisan support 
for this bill today.
  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. 1191, as amended.
  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. BARLETTA. 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.

                          ____________________