Putting First Responders First Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1278 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow first responders to continue to exclude service-connected disability pension payments after reaching the age of retirement. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 2, 2019 Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, and Mr. TESTER) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Finance A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow first responders to continue to exclude service-connected dis- ability pension payments after reaching the age of retire- ment. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Putting First Respond- 4 ers First Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1278.IS S1278 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1278 IS SEC. 2. CONTINUED EXCLUSION OF FIRST RESPONDER 1 SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY PAYMENTS 2 AFTER AGE OF RETIREMENT. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Internal Rev- 4 enue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subsection 5 (d) as subsection (e) and by inserting after subsection (c) 6 the following new subsection: 7 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST RESPONDER SERV- 8 ICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY PAYMENTS AFTER AGE OF 9 RETIREMENT.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual 11 who receives a service-connected disability excludible 12 amount, gross income shall not include such amount 13 of any retirement pension or annuity which— 14 ‘‘(A) is received by such individual with re- 15 spect to the service to which the service-con- 16 nected disability excludible amount relates, 17 ‘‘(B) is determined by reference to the in- 18 dividual’s age, length of service, or contribu- 19 tions, and 20 ‘‘(C) does not exceed the service-connected 21 disability excludable amount (determined on an 22 annualized basis under such regulations or 23 other guidance as the Secretary may prescribe). 24 ‘‘(2) SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY EXCLUD- 25 IBLE AMOUNT.—For purposes of this subsection, the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1278.IS S1278 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1278 IS term ‘service-connected disability excludible amount’ 1 means an amount received by an individual which 2 ceases upon reaching retirement age and is not in- 3 cludible in gross income under subsection (a)(1) by 4 reason of a service-connected disability as a law en- 5 forcement officer (as such term is defined in section 6 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 7 Streets Act of 1968), an employee in fire protection 8 activities (as such term is defined in section 3(y) of 9 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938), or an indi- 10 vidual who provides out-of-hospital emergency med- 11 ical care (including emergency medical technician, 12 paramedic, or first responder).’’. 13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 14 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 15 the date of the enactment of this Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1278.IS S1278 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS