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Rep. Kelly Supports Protecting Volunteer Firefighters & Emergency Responders Act

January 9, 2014

Defends Butler’s Volunteer Firefighters Against Obamacare

WASHINGTON — Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) entered the following statement into the congressional record today in support of H.R. 3685, the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act. This bipartisan legislation, introduced by Rep. Lou Barletta (PA-11), would exempt volunteer firefighters and emergency rescue personnel from the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Rep. Kelly is a co-sponsor of the bill.

“Mr. Speaker, I‘d like to thank my good friend and fellow Representative from Pennsylvania, Lou Barletta, for introducing this legislation that is so vital to the safety of millions of people across our state and our country. 

“Merriam-Webster defines a volunteer as ‘a person who does work without getting paid to do it.’ It defines an employee as “a person who works for another person or company for wages or salary.’ Yet the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), defying these clear definitions and common sense, considers volunteer firefighters to be employees and has not clarified whether or not they are subject to the employer mandate under President Obama’s health care law.

“In Butler Township, back home in Western Pennsylvania, more than 17,000 people rely on approximately 130 volunteer firefighters to keep their community safe. Ed Kirkwood, the manager of Butler Township, has stated that by his calculations, taxes in Butler Township would have to be more than doubled to comply with the federal mandate and maintain all of Butler’s volunteer firefighters.

“I’ve spoken time and again about how the unintended consequences of the president’s health care law will hurt Americans. In this particular instance, it threatens to bankrupt communities and endanger public safety all because the IRS doesn’t know the meaning of what it is to be a volunteer firefighter. This is unacceptable. It must be changed, and Mr. Barletta’s bill, H.R. 3685 – the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act – will do just that. I give my emphatic support to this bill and ask that the IRS learn the definition of volunteerism before Pennsylvania communities which rely on these heroes have to pay for its lack of common sense.”

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Issues:Health Care