I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 718

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the issuance of

tax-exempt bonds by certain organizations providing rescue and emergency medical services.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1999

Mr. ETHERIDGE (for himself, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. SHOWS, Mr.

BOUCHER, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. BISHOP,

Mr. EHLERS, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. PAUL, Mr. EVANS, Mr.

STRICKLAND, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr.

DELAHUNT, Mr. CLYBURN, Mrs. EMERSON, MR. STENHOLM, Ms.

HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. OLVER, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr.

FROST, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr.

BEREUTER, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. KIND, Mr.

HOLDEN, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. NORWOOD, MR. QUINN, Mr.

GIBBONS, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. HINCHEY, and Mr. NEY) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Way and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit

the issuance of tax-exempt bonds by certain organizations providing rescue and emergency medical services.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Medical

3 Services Enhancement Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. ISSUANCE OF TAX-EXEMPT BONDS BY ORGANIZA5 TIONS PROVIDING RESCUE AND EMERGENCY

6 MEDICAL SERVICES.

7 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Subsection (e) of section 150

8 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read

9 as follows:

10 ‘‘(e) BONDS OF CERTAIN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPART11 MENTS OR EMERGENCY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS.—For

12 purposes of this part and section 103—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A bond of a volunteer fire

14 or other emergency services organization shall be

15 treated as a bond of a political subdivision of a State

16 if—

17 ‘‘(A) such organization is a qualified volun18 teer fire or other emergency services organiza19 tion with respect to an area within the jurisdic20 tion of such political subdivision, and

21 ‘‘(B) such bond is issued as part of an

22 issue 95 percent or more of the net proceeds of

23 which are to be used for the acquisition, con24 struction, reconstruction, or improvement of—

25 ‘‘(i) a firehouse or other building used

26 or to be used by such organization in pro-
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1 viding qualified services (including land

2 which is functionally related and subordi3 nate thereto), or

4 ‘‘(ii) a firetruck, ambulance, or other

5 vehicle used or to be used by such organi6 zation in providing qualified services.

7 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER FIRE OR OTHER

8 EMERGENCY SERVICES ORGANIZATION.—For pur9 poses of this subsection, the term ‘qualified volun10 teer fire or other emergency services organization’

11 means, with respect to a political subdivision of a

12 State, any organization—

13 ‘‘(A) which is organized and operated to

14 provide qualified services for persons in an area

15 (within the jurisdiction of such political subdivi16 sion) which is not provided with any other

17 qualified services of the type provided by such

18 organization, and

19 ‘‘(B) which is required (by written agree20 ment) by the political subdivision to furnish

21 qualified services in such area.

22 For purposes of subparagraph (A), other qualified

23 services provided in an area shall be disregarded in

24 determining whether an organization is a qualified

25 volunteer fire or other emergency services organiza-
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1 tion if such other qualified services are provided by

2 a qualified volunteer fire or other emergency services

3 organization (determined with the application of this

4 sentence) and such organization and the provider of

5 such other services have been continuously providing

6 qualified services to such area since January 1,

7 1999.

8 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT AS PRIVATE ACTIVITY BONDS

9 ONLY FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—Bonds which are

10 part of an issue which meets the requirements of

11 paragraph (1) shall not be treated as private activity

12 bonds except for purposes of sections 147(f) and

13 149(d).

14 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED SERVICES.—For purposes of

15 this subsection, the term ‘qualified services’ means

16 any firefighting, rescue, or emergency medical serv17 ices.’’

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

19 subsection (a) shall apply to obligations issued after the

20 date of the enactment of this Act.

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