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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 911

To encourage the States to enact legislation to grant immunity from personal

civil liability, under certain circumstances, to volunteers working on behalf of nonprofit organizations and governmental entities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 16, 1993

Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. ANDREWS of Maine, Mr. BACCHUS of Florida,

Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BROWDER, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. COX, Mr. DOOLEY, Mr.

DURBIN, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FROST, Mr. GALLEGLY,

Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. GOSS, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. GUNDERSON, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HALL, Mr. HENRY, Mr. HERGER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. HYDE, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of

Texas, Mr. KING, Mr. KLUG, Mr. KYL, Mr. LIGHTFOOT, Mr. MACHTLEY,

Mr. MAZZOLI, Mr. MCCANDLESS, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCCLOSKEY, Mr.

MCDADE, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MCKEON, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Mr.

MOAKLEY, Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PICKETT, Mr. QUINN, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. SCHIFF,

Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SKAGGS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. STARK,

Mr. SUNDQUIST, Mr. WALSH, Mr. WELDON, Mr. WOLF, and Mr.

MCNULTY) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on the Judiciary and Ways and Means

A BILL

To encourage the States to enact legislation to grant immunity from personal civil liability, under certain circumstances, to volunteers working on behalf of nonprofit

organizations and governmental entities.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Volunteer Protection

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares

8 that—

9 (1) within certain States, the willingness of vol10 unteers to offer their services has been increasingly

11 deterred by a perception that they thereby put per12 sonal assets at risk in the event of liability actions

13 against the organization they serve;

14 (2) as a result of this perception, many non15 profit public and private organizations and govern16 mental entities, including voluntary associations, so17 cial service agencies, educational institutions, local

18 governments, foundations, and other civic programs,

19 have been adversely affected through the withdrawal

20 of volunteers from boards of directors and service in

21 other capacities;

22 (3) the contribution of these programs to their

23 communities is thereby diminished, resulting in

24 fewer and higher cost programs than would be ob25 tainable if volunteers were participating; and
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1 (4) because Federal funds are expended on use2 ful and cost-effective social service programs which

3 depend heavily on volunteer participation, protection

4 of voluntarism through clarification and limitation of

5 the personal liability risks assumed by the volunteer

6 in connection with such participation is an appro7 priate subject for Federal encouragement of State

8 reform.

9 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro10 mote the interests of social service program beneficiaries

11 and taxpayers and to sustain the availability of programs

12 and nonprofit organizations and governmental entities

13 which depend on volunteer contributions by encouraging

14 reasonable reform of State laws to provide protection from

15 personal financial liability to volunteers serving with non16 profit organizations and governmental entities for actions

17 undertaken in good faith on behalf of such organizations.

18 SEC. 3. NO PREEMPTION OF STATE TORT LAW.

19 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt the

20 laws of any State governing tort liability actions.

21 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY FOR VOLUNTEERS.

22 (a) LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR VOLUNTEERS.—Ex23 cept as provided in subsections (b) and (d), any volunteer

24 of a nonprofit organization or governmental entity shall

25 incur no personal financial liability for any tort claim al-
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1 leging damage or injury from any act or omission of the

2 volunteer on behalf of the organization or entity if—

3 (1) such individual was acting in good faith and

4 within the scope of such individual’s official func5 tions and duties with the organization or entity; and

6 (2) such damage or injury was not caused by

7 willful and wanton misconduct by such individual.

8 (b) CONCERNING RESPONSIBILITY OF VOLUNTEERS

9 WITH RESPECT TO ORGANIZATIONS.—Nothing in this

10 section shall be construed to affect any civil action brought

11 by any nonprofit organization or any governmental entity

12 against any volunteer of such organization or entity.

13 (c) NO EFFECT ON LIABILITY OF ORGANIZATION.—

14 Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the

15 liability of any nonprofit organization or governmental en16 tity with respect to injury caused to any person.

17 (d) EXCEPTIONS TO VOLUNTEER LIABILITY PRO18 TECTION.—A State may impose one or more of the follow19 ing conditions on and exceptions to the granting of liabil20 ity protection to any volunteer of an organization or entity

21 required by subsection (a):

22 (1) The organization or entity must adhere to

23 risk management procedures, including mandatory

24 training of volunteers.
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1 (2) The organization or entity shall be liable for

2 the acts or omissions of its volunteers to the same

3 extent as an employer is liable, under the laws of

4 that State, for the acts or omissions of its em5 ployees.

6 (3) The protection from liability does not apply

7 if the volunteer was operating a motor vehicle or was

8 operating a vessel, aircraft, or other vehicle for

9 which a pilot’s license is required.

10 (4) The protection from liability does not apply

11 in the case of a suit brought by an appropriate offi12 cer of a State or local government to enforce a Fed13 eral, State, or local law.

14 (5) The protection from liability shall apply

15 only if the organization or entity provides a finan16 cially secure source of recovery for individuals who

17 suffer injury as a result of actions taken by a volun18 teer on behalf of the organization or entity. A finan19 cially secure source of recovery may be an insurance

20 policy within specified limits, comparable coverage

21 from a risk pooling mechanism, equivalent assets, or

22 alternative arrangements that satisfy the State that

23 the entity will be able to pay for losses up to a speci24 fied amount. Separate standards for different types

25 of liability exposure may be specified.
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1 SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT AND ADJUSTMENT

2 OF SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT ALLOT3 MENTS.

4 (a) CERTIFICATION AND BLOCK GRANT ALLOT5 MENTS.—In the case of any State which certifies, not later

6 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,

7 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services that it

8 has enacted, adopted, or otherwise has in effect State law

9 which substantially complies with section 4(a), the Sec10 retary shall increase by 1 percent the fiscal year allotment

11 which would otherwise be made to such State to carry out

12 the Social Services Block Grant Program under title XX

13 of the Social Security Act.

14 (b) CONTINUATION OF INCREASE.—Any increase

15 made under subsection (a) in an allotment to a State shall

16 remain in effect only if the State makes a certification

17 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, not later

18 than the end of each 1-year period occurring successively

19 after the end of the 2-year period described in subsection

20 (a), that it has in effect State law which substantially com21 plies with section 4(a).

22 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

23 For purposes of this Act—

24 (1) the term ‘‘volunteer’’ means an individual

25 performing services for a nonprofit organization or

26 a governmental entity who does not receive com-
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1 pensation, or any other thing of value in lieu of com2 pensation, for such services (other than reimburse3 ment for expenses actually incurred or honoraria not

4 to exceed $300 per year for government service),

5 and such term includes a volunteer serving as a di6 rector, officer, trustee, or direct service volunteer;

7 (2) the term ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means

8 any organization described in section 501(c) of the

9 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax

10 under section 501(a) of such Code;

11 (3) the term ‘‘damage or injury’’ includes phys12 ical, nonphysical, economic, and noneconomic dam13 age; and

14 (4) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several

15 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

16 of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American

17 Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, any other

18 territory or possession of the United States, or any

19 political subdivision of any such State, territory, or

20 possession.

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