I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5905 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable deduc-
tion for the service of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical and 
rescue personnel. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 4, 2025 
Mr. BRESNAHAN (for himself and Mr. HARDER of California) 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 provide 
a charitable deduction for the service of volunteer fire-
fighters and emergency medical and rescue personnel. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Our Heroes 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ALLOWANCE OF CHARITABLE DEDUCTION FOR THE 
SERVICE OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS AND 
EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND RESCUE PER-
SONNEL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 170 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (q) as sub-
section (r), and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (p) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(q) SERVICE OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS AND 
EMERGENCY MEDICAL PERSONNEL TREATED AS CHARI-
TABLE CONTRIBUTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each hour of qualified 
services rendered by an individual as a bona fide vol-
unteer shall be treated for purposes of this section 
as a contribution of $20 to the organization to which 
such services are rendered. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 300 hours 
of qualified services shall be taken into account 
under paragraph (1) with respect to any individual 
for any taxable year. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section— 
‘‘(A) BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER.—An indi-
vidual shall be treated as a bona fide volunteer 
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if the only compensation received by such indi-
vidual for performing qualified services is in the 
form of— 
‘‘(i) reimbursement for (or a reason-
able allowance for) reasonable expenses in-
curred in the performance of such services, 
or 
‘‘(ii) reasonable benefits (including 
length of service awards), and fees for such 
services, customarily paid by eligible em-
ployers in connection with the performance 
of such services by volunteers. 
‘‘(B) QUALIFIED
SERVICES.—The term 
‘qualified services’ means fire fighting and pre-
vention services, emergency medical and rescue 
services, ambulance services, civil air patrol, 
and search and rescue services. Such term shall 
include all training and training-related activi-
ties related to the services described in the pre-
ceding sentence which are required or author-
ized by the organization referred to in para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(4) VERIFICATION.—A contribution to which 
this subsection applies shall be verified in such man-
ner as the Secretary may provide. 
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‘‘(5) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the case of 
any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 
2026, the $20 amount contained in paragraph (1) 
shall be increased by an amount equal to— 
‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter-
mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 
year in which the taxable year begins deter-
mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2025’ for 
‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 
thereof. 
Any increase determined under the preceding sen-
tence which is not a multiple of $1 shall be rounded 
to the nearest multiple of $1. 
‘‘(6) EXCLUSION
FOR
MEMBERS
OF
CON-
GRESS.—Services rendered during any period with 
respect to which such individual is a Member of 
Congress (as defined in section 2106 of title 5, 
United States Code) shall not be treated as qualified 
services for purposes of this subsection.’’. 
(b) ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION TO INDIVIDUALS 
WHO DO NOT ELECT TO ITEMIZE DEDUCTIONS.—Sec-
tion 63(b) of such Code is amended by striking paragraph 
(4) and inserting the following new paragraph: 
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‘‘(4) so much of the deduction allowed under 
section 170 for the taxable year as does not exceed 
the amount of such deduction which would be deter-
mined if only contributions treated as made under 
section 170(q) by reason of services rendered during 
such taxable year were taken into account.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2025. 
Æ 
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