I 

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. 

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 ‘‘Supporting Emergency 

5 Responders Volunteer Efforts Act of 2009’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SERVE Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER 

2 MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RE3 SPONSE ORGANIZATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by insert7 ing after section 36A the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 36B. BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUN9 TEER EMERGENCY RESPONSE ORGANIZA10 TIONS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual who 

12 at any time during the taxable year is a bona fide volun13 teer member of a qualified volunteer emergency response 

14 organization, there shall be allowed as a credit against the 

15 tax imposed by this subtitle the amount of $1,000. 

16 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBER OF A

18 QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RESPONSE OR19 GANIZATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall be 

21 treated as a bona fide volunteer of a qualified 

22 volunteer emergency response organization for 

23 purposes of this section if— 

24 ‘‘(i) the only compensation received by 

25 such individual for performing qualified 

26 services is in the form of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) reimbursement for (or a rea2 sonable allowance for) reasonable ex3 penses incurred in the performance of 

4 such services, or 

5 ‘‘(II) reasonable benefits (includ6 ing length of service awards), and 

7 nominal fees for such services, cus8 tomarily paid by eligible employers in 

9 connection with the performance of 

10 such services by volunteers, and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of such 

12 compensation for the taxable year for pro13 viding qualified services does not exceed an 

14 amount equal to the annual limitation. 

15 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—For purposes 

16 of subparagraph (A), the annual limitation is 

17 an amount equal to the product of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the minimum wage in effect 

19 under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 

20 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

21 206(a)(1)) on the first day of the calendar 

22 year beginning in the taxable year, multi23 plied by 

24 ‘‘(ii) 2,080 hours. 


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1 ‘‘(C) SERVICE LIMITATION.—An individual 

2 shall be treated as a bona fide volunteer de3 scribed in subparagraph (A) for a taxable year 

4 only if such individual has served as a volunteer 

5 performing qualified services for more than 6 

6 months in such taxable year and provided more 

7 than 40 hours of such service. 

8 ‘‘(D) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION RE9 QUIREMENTS.—An individual shall not be treat10 ed as a bona fide volunteer described in sub11 paragraph (A) for any period for which the in12 dividual fails to meet all applicable training and 

13 certification requirements of the qualified volun14 teer emergency response organization for which 

15 such individual volunteers. 

16 ‘‘(E) COORDINATION WITH EXCLUSION.— 

17 Amounts excluded from gross income under sec18 tion 139B shall not be taken into account for 

19 purposes of subparagraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED SERVICES.—For purposes of 

21 this paragraph, the term ‘qualified services’ means 

22 fire fighting and prevention services, emergency 

23 medical services, and ambulance services. 

24 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RE25 SPONSE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘qualified volunVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:23 May 24, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2601.IH H2601

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1 teer emergency response organization’ has the mean2 ing given such term by section 139B(c)(3).’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 

5 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

6 ‘‘36B,’’ after ‘‘section 36A,’’. 

7 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

8 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

10 item relating to section 36A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36B. Bona fide volunteer members of volunteer emergency response organizations.’’. 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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