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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Security 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. TAX INCENTIVES TO FACILITATE TRAINING OR DIS-
ASTER RESPONSE BY INDIVIDUALS SERVING 
AS VOLUNTEER FIRST RESPONDERS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) Seventy percent of our Nation’s firefighters 
are volunteers, as are many emergency medical serv-
ice and police personnel. 
(2) States rely heavily on the services of these 
volunteer first responders. 
(3) Many career first responders begin as vol-
unteers. 
(4) Volunteer first responders need the same 
preparation and training as career first responders. 
Advanced training is frequently required before vol-
unteer first responders can be fully integrated in a 
State homeland security plan. 
(5) The training and duties of volunteer first 
responders sometimes conflict with their regular em-
ployment for significant periods of time, such as in 
cases of out-of-State training and disaster response. 
In these cases employers may need to hire tem-
porary replacement workers on incur other related
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costs while the volunteer responders are away from 
work. The burden of temporarily replacing these em-
ployees is particularly great for small and single-em-
ployer businesses. 
(b) VOLUNTEER FIRST RESPONDER CREDIT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of 
subchapter A of chapter 1 (relating to business-re-
lated credits), as amended by this Act, is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 45G. CREDIT TO EMPLOYERS OF VOLUNTEER FIRST 
RESPONDERS. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 
the volunteer first responder employee credit is an amount 
equal to 50 percent of the sum of— 
‘‘(1) the employment credit with respect to all 
qualified volunteer first responder employees of the 
taxpayer, 
‘‘(2) in the case of a small business employer, 
the replacement credit with respect to all qualified 
volunteer first responder employees of the taxpayer, 
plus 
‘‘(3) the self-employment credit of a qualified 
volunteer first responder self-employed taxpayer. 
‘‘(b) EMPLOYMENT CREDIT.—For purposes of this 
section—
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‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The employment credit 
with respect to any qualified volunteer first re-
sponder employee of the taxpayer is an amount 
equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(A) the actual compensation amount with 
respect to such employee for such taxable year, 
or 
‘‘(B) $30,000. 
‘‘(2) ACTUAL COMPENSATION AMOUNT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘actual com-
pensation amount’ means the amount of com-
pensation paid or incurred by the taxpayer with 
respect to a qualified volunteer first responder 
employee on any day when such employee was 
absent from employment for the purpose of par-
ticipating in a qualified activity. 
‘‘(B) COMPENSATION.—The term ‘com-
pensation’ means any remuneration for employ-
ment, whether in cash or in kind, which is paid 
or incurred by a taxpayer and which is deduct-
ible from the taxpayer’s gross income under 
section 162(a)(1). 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—No credit shall be allowed 
under this subsection with respect to any day that 
a qualified volunteer first responder employee who
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takes part in a qualified activity was not scheduled 
to work (for reason other than to participate in a 
qualified activity). 
‘‘(c) REPLACEMENT CREDIT.—For purposes of this 
section— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The replacement credit 
with respect to any qualified volunteer first re-
sponder employee of the taxpayer is an amount 
equal to the sum of— 
‘‘(A) the qualified compensation with re-
spect to each qualified replacement employee of 
the taxpayer paid by the taxpayer during the 
taxable year, and 
‘‘(B) the qualified overtime wages paid by 
the taxpayer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The amount of the credit 
allowed by reason of this subsection shall not exceed 
$12,000 for any taxable year. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED
COMPENSATION.—The term 
‘qualified compensation’ means— 
‘‘(A) compensation which is normally con-
tingent on the qualified replacement employee’s 
presence for work and which is deductible from 
the taxpayer’s gross income under section 
162(a)(1),
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‘‘(B) compensation which is not character-
ized by the taxpayer as vacation or holiday pay, 
or as sick leave or pay, or as any other form 
of pay for a nonspecific leave of absence, and 
‘‘(C) group health plan costs (if any) with 
respect to the qualified replacement employee. 
‘‘(4) QUALIFIED REPLACEMENT EMPLOYEE.— 
The term ‘qualified replacement employee’ means an 
individual who is hired to replace a qualified volun-
teer first responder employee, but only with respect 
to the period during which such employee partici-
pates in a qualified activity, including time spent in 
travel status. 
‘‘(5) QUALIFIED OVERTIME WAGES.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘qualified overtime 
wages’ means overtime wages paid to an employee of 
the taxpayer (other than a qualified replacement em-
ployee) for duties normally performed by a qualified 
volunteer first responder employee, but only with re-
spect to the period during which such qualified vol-
unteer first responder employee participates in a 
qualified activity, including time spent in travel sta-
tus. 
‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.— 
The amount of credit otherwise allowable under sec-
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volunteer first responder employee or qualified 
volunteer first responder self-employed tax-
payer, but only to the extent that such duties 
take not less than 1 day to perform. 
‘‘(3) SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYER.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘small busi-
ness employer’ means, with respect to any tax-
able year, any employer who employed an aver-
age of 200 or fewer employees on business days 
during such taxable year. 
‘‘(B) CONTROLLED
GROUPS.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (A), all persons treated 
as a single employer under subsection (b), (c), 
(m), or (o) of section 414 shall be treated as a 
single employer.’’. 
(2) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 
CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the 
end of paragraph (14), by striking the period at the 
end of paragraph (15) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 
by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(16) the volunteer first responder employee 
credit determined under section 45G.’’.
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(3) TRANSITION RULE.—Section 39(d) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(11) NO
CARRYBACK
OF
VOLUNTEER
FIRST 
RESPONDER
EMPLOYEE
CREDIT
BEFORE
ENACT-
MENT.—No portion of the unused business credit for 
any taxable year which is attributable to the volun-
teer first responder employee credit determined 
under section 45G may be carried back to a taxable 
year beginning before January 1, 2004.’’. 
(4) DENIAL
OF
DOUBLE
BENEFIT.—Section 
280C(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re-
lating to rule for employment credits) is amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘ or compensation’’ after 
‘‘salaries’’, and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘45G,’’, after ‘‘45A(a),’’. 
(5) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 
sections for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A 
of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by adding at the end the following new 
item: 
‘‘Sec. 45G. Credit to employers of volunteer first responders.’’. 
(6) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin-
ning after December 31, 2003.
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(c) DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN EXPENSES OF VOLUN-
TEER FIRST RESPONDERS.— 
(1) DEDUCTION FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 
(A) DEDUCTION ALLOWED.—Section 162 
(relating to certain trade or business expenses) 
is amended by redesignating subsection (q) as 
subsection (r) and inserting after subsection (p) 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(q) TREATMENT
OF EXPENSES
OF VOLUNTEER 
FIRST RESPONDERS.—For purposes of subsection (a)(2), 
in the case of an individual who participates in a qualified 
activity (within the meaning of section 45G(e)(2)) as a 
volunteer first responder (within the meaning of section 
224) at any time during the taxable year, such individual 
shall be deemed to be away from home in the pursuit of 
a trade or business for any period during which such indi-
vidual is away from home in connection with such partici-
pation.’’. 
(B) DEDUCTION ALLOWED WHETHER OR 
NOT TAXPAYER ELECTS TO ITEMIZE.—Section 
62(a)(2) (relating to certain trade and business 
deductions of employees) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) CERTAIN EXPENSES OF VOLUNTEER 
FIRST
RESPONDERS.—The deductions allowed
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by section 162 which consist of expenses, deter-
mined at a rate not in excess of the rates for 
travel expenses (including per diem in lieu of 
subsistence) authorized for employees of agen-
cies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
United States Code, paid or incurred by the 
taxpayer in connection with participation in 
qualified activities (as defined in section 
45G(e)(2)) as a volunteer first responder for 
any period during which such individual is more 
than 100 miles away from home in connection 
with such qualified activities.’’. 
(2) DEDUCTION FOR TRAINING EXPENSES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter 
B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to additional itemized deduction 
for individuals) is amended by redesignating 
section 224 as section 225 and by inserting 
after section 223 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 224. CERTAIN EXPENSES OF VOLUNTEER FIRST RE-
SPONDERS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a volunteer first 
responder, there shall be allowed as a deduction an 
amount equal to the expenses paid or incurred by the vol-
unteer first responder necessary for training with respect
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to duties performed in connection with the volunteer posi-
tion of such volunteer first responder. 
‘‘(b) VOLUNTEER FIRST RESPONDER.—For purposes 
of this section, the term ‘volunteer first responder’ means 
an individual who holds a volunteer position as a fire-
fighter, law enforcement official, or emergency medical 
service provider.’’. 
(B) DEDUCTION ALLOWED WHETHER OR 
NOT TAXPAYER ELECTS TO ITEMIZE.—Section 
62(a) of such Code (relating to adjusted gross 
income) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section: 
‘‘(20) VOLUNTEER FIRST RESPONDER TRAIN-
ING EXPENSES.—The deduction allowed by section 
224.’’. 
(C) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—The 
table of sections for part VII of subchapter B 
of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by strik-
ing the item relating to section 224 and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘Sec. 224. Certain expenses of volunteer first responders. 
‘‘Sec. 225. Cross reference.’’. 
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin-
ning after December 31, 2003.
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SEC. 3. CRITICAL NEED GRANTS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to a report by the Council on 
Foreign Relations Independent Task Force, first re-
sponders in the United States are underfunded and 
unprepared for future natural, technological, and 
human-caused disasters. 
(2) Local firefighters, police officers, and emer-
gency medical personnel are responsible for disaster 
prevention, mitigation, and response. 
(3) It is essential that first responders have 
basic safety equipment that is in good working order 
and customized, if appropriate, to do their jobs as 
safely and effectively as possible. 
(4) All first responder operation centers need 
basic communications equipment, including— 
(A) multiple touch-tone phone lines; 
(B) a fax machine with a dedicated phone 
line; 
(C) a computer with a high-speed connec-
tion to the Internet; and 
(D) personal communication devices for 
shift supervisors, their commanders, and all 
first responders in a work unit. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es-
tablish a competitive grant program within the Depart-