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. AN-
DREWS, 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. 
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 ‘‘Supporting Emergency 
Responders Volunteer Efforts Act of 2009’’ or the 
‘‘SERVE Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER 
MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RE-
SPONSE ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by insert-
ing after section 36A the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 36B. BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUN-
TEER 
EMERGENCY 
RESPONSE 
ORGANIZA-
TIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual who 
at any time during the taxable year is a bona fide volun-
teer member of a qualified volunteer emergency response 
organization, there shall be allowed as a credit against the 
tax imposed by this subtitle the amount of $1,000. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBER OF A 
QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RESPONSE OR-
GANIZATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall be 
treated as a bona fide volunteer of a qualified 
volunteer emergency response organization for 
purposes of this section if— 
‘‘(i) the only compensation received by 
such individual for performing qualified 
services is in the form of— 
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‘‘(I) reimbursement for (or a rea-
sonable allowance for) reasonable ex-
penses incurred in the performance of 
such services, or 
‘‘(II) reasonable benefits (includ-
ing length of service awards), and 
nominal fees for such services, cus-
tomarily paid by eligible employers in 
connection with the performance of 
such services by volunteers, and 
‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of such 
compensation for the taxable year for pro-
viding qualified services does not exceed an 
amount equal to the annual limitation. 
‘‘(B) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—For purposes 
of subparagraph (A), the annual limitation is 
an amount equal to the product of— 
‘‘(i) the minimum wage in effect 
under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 
Standards 
Act 
of 
1938 
(29 
U.S.C. 
206(a)(1)) on the first day of the calendar 
year beginning in the taxable year, multi-
plied by 
‘‘(ii) 2,080 hours. 
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‘‘(C) SERVICE LIMITATION.—An individual 
shall be treated as a bona fide volunteer de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) for a taxable year 
only if such individual has served as a volunteer 
performing qualified services for more than 6 
months in such taxable year and provided more 
than 40 hours of such service. 
‘‘(D) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION RE-
QUIREMENTS.—An individual shall not be treat-
ed as a bona fide volunteer described in sub-
paragraph (A) for any period for which the in-
dividual fails to meet all applicable training and 
certification requirements of the qualified volun-
teer emergency response organization for which 
such individual volunteers. 
‘‘(E) COORDINATION WITH EXCLUSION.— 
Amounts excluded from gross income under sec-
tion 139B shall not be taken into account for 
purposes of subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED
SERVICES.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, the term ‘qualified services’ means 
fire fighting and prevention services, emergency 
medical services, and ambulance services. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RE-
SPONSE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘qualified volun-
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teer emergency response organization’ has the mean-
ing given such term by section 139B(c)(3).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 
31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
‘‘36B,’’ after ‘‘section 36A,’’. 
(2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 36A the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 36B. Bona fide volunteer members of volunteer emergency response orga-
nizations.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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