I
105TH 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 be-
half of nonprofit organizations and governmental entities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 4, 1997
Mr. PORTER (for himself, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BAKER, Mr. BARRETT of Ne-
braska, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. BLILEY, Mr.
BOEHLERT, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. CANADY
of Florida, Mrs. CARSON, Ms. CHRISTIAN-GREEN, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr.
COYNE, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Ms. DANNER, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr.
DICKEY, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. DUNN, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. EHRLICH, Mrs. EM-
ERSON, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. EVANS, Mr.
FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr.
FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. FROST, Ms. FURSE, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr.
GILCHREST, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. GOSS, Mr. GREEN-
WOOD, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HERGER,
Mr. HOBSON, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HORN, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut,
Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KIM, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. LEACH, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr.
MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MCKEON, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr.
MCINTOSH, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts,
Mr. NEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PARKER, Mr.
PAYNE, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PICKETT, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. QUINN, Mr.
RAMSTAD, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SAN-
FORD, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHAYS,
Mr. SISISKY, Mr. SKEEN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. STARK, Mr. STUMP, Mrs.
THURMAN, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WALSH, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr.
WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WELLER, Mr. WICKER, Mr. WOLF, Mr.
CASTLE, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania, Ms. JACKSON-
LEE of Texas, and Mr. MARTINEZ), introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To encourage the States to enact legislation to grant immu-
nity from personal civil liability, under certain cir-
cumstances, to volunteers working on behalf of nonprofit
organizations and governmental entities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Volunteer Protection Act of 1997’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 3. No preemption of State tort law.
Sec. 4. Limitation on liability for volunteers.
Sec. 5. Certification requirement and adjustment of Social Services Block
Grant Program allotments.
Sec. 6. Definitions.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares
that—
(1) the willingness of volunteers to offer their
services is deterred by potential personal liability for
simple mistakes made in the course of volunteer
service;
(2) as a result, many nonprofit public and pri-
vate organizations and governmental entities, includ-
ing voluntary associations, social service agencies,
educational institutions, local governments, founda-
tions, and other civic programs, have been adversely
affected through the withdrawal of volunteers from
boards of directors and service in other capacities;
(3) the contribution of these programs to their
communities is thereby diminished, resulting in
fewer and higher cost programs than would be ob-
tainable if volunteers were participating; and
(4) because Federal funds are expended on use-
ful and cost-effective social service programs which
depend heavily on volunteer participation, protection
of voluntarism through clarification and limitation of
the personal liability risks assumed by the volunteer
in connection with such participation is an appro-
priate subject for Federal encouragement of State
reform.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro-
mote the interests of social service program beneficiaries
and taxpayers and to sustain the availability of programs
and nonprofit organizations and governmental entities
which depend on volunteer contributions by encouraging
reasonable reform of State laws to provide protection from
personal financial liability to volunteers serving with non-
profit organizations and governmental entities for actions
undertaken in good faith on behalf of such organizations.
SEC. 3. NO PREEMPTION OF STATE TORT LAW.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt the
laws of any State governing tort liability actions.
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY FOR VOLUNTEERS.
(a) LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR VOLUNTEERS.—Ex-
cept as provided in subsections (b) and (d), any volunteer
of a nonprofit organization or governmental entity shall
incur no personal financial liability for any tort claim al-
leging damage or injury from any act or omission of the
volunteer on behalf of the organization or entity if—
(1) such volunteer was acting in good faith and
within the scope of such volunteer’s official functions
and duties with the organization or entity; and
(2) such damage or injury was not caused by
willful and wanton misconduct by such volunteer.
(b) CONCERNING RESPONSIBILITY OF VOLUNTEERS
WITH RESPECT
TO ORGANIZATIONS.—Nothing in this
section shall be construed to affect any civil action brought
by any nonprofit organization or any governmental entity
against any volunteer of such organization or entity.
(c) NO EFFECT ON LIABILITY OF ORGANIZATION.—
Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the
liability of any nonprofit organization or governmental en-
tity with respect to injury caused to any person.
(d) EXCEPTIONS TO VOLUNTEER LIABILITY PRO-
TECTION.—A State may impose one or more of the follow-
ing conditions on and exceptions to the granting of liabil-
ity protection to any volunteer of an organization or entity
required by subsection (a):
(1) The organization or entity must adhere to
risk management procedures, including mandatory
training of volunteers, as defined by the Secretary of
Health and Human Services by regulation.
(2) The organization or entity shall be liable for
the acts or omissions of its volunteers to the same
extent as an employer is liable, under the laws of
that State, for the acts or omissions of its employ-
ees.
(3) The protection from liability does not
apply—
(A) if the volunteer was operating a motor
vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other vehicle for
which the State involved requires the operator
or vehicle owner to maintain insurance;
(B) in the case of a suit brought by an ap-
propriate officer of a State or local government
to enforce a Federal, State, or local law; and
(C) to the extent the claim would be cov-
ered under any insurance policy.
(4) The protection from liability shall apply
only if the organization or entity provides a finan-
cially secure source of recovery for individuals who
suffer injury as a result of actions taken by a volun-
teer on behalf of the organization or entity. A finan-
cially secure source of recovery may be an insurance
policy within specified limits, comparable coverage
from a risk pooling mechanism, equivalent assets, or
alternative arrangements that satisfy the State that
the entity will be able to pay for losses up to a speci-
fied amount. Separate standards for different types
of liability exposure may be specified.
SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT AND ADJUSTMENT
OF SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT PRO-
GRAM ALLOTMENTS.
(a) CERTIFICATION
AND BLOCK GRANT ALLOT-
MENTS.—In the case of any State which certifies, not later
than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services that it
has enacted, adopted, or otherwise has in effect State law
which substantially complies with section 4(a), the Sec-
retary shall increase by 1 percent the fiscal year allotment
which would otherwise be made to such State to carry out
the Social Services Block Grant Program under title XX
of the Social Security Act.
(b) CONTINUATION
OF INCREASE.—Any increase
made under subsection (a) in an allotment to a State shall
remain in effect only if the State makes a certification
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, not later
than the end of each 1-year period occurring successively
after the end of the 2-year period described in subsection
(a), that it has in effect State law which substantially com-
plies with section 4(a).
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘volunteer’’ means an individual
performing services for a nonprofit organization or
a governmental entity who does not receive—
(A) compensation (including reimburse-
ment or allowance for expenses), or
(B) any other thing of value in lieu of com-
pensation,
in excess of $300, and such term includes a volun-
teer serving as a director, officer, trustee, or direct
service volunteer;
(2) the term ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means
any organization described in section 501(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax
under section 501(a) of such Code;
(3) the term ‘‘damage or injury’’ includes phys-
ical, nonphysical, economic, and noneconomic dam-
age; and
(4) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, any other
territory or possession of the United States, or any
political subdivision of any such State, territory, or
possession.
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