Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and Retention Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4036 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a better defined recruitment and retention incentive program for volunteer emergency service workers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. KING of New York (for himself and Mr. PASCRELL) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a better defined recruitment and retention incentive pro- gram for volunteer emergency service workers. 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 ‘‘Volunteer Emergency 4 Services Recruitment and Retention Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4036.IH H4036 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4036 IH SEC. 2. ELECTIVE TREATMENT OF LENGTH OF SERVICE 1 AWARD PLANS AS ELIGIBLE DEFERRED COM- 2 PENSATION PLANS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 457(e) of the Internal 4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 5 the following new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(19) ADDITIONAL SPECIAL RULES APPLICABLE 7 TO LENGTH OF SERVICE AWARD PLANS.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible de- 9 ferred compensation plan’ includes, at the elec- 10 tion of its sponsor, any length of service award 11 plan described in paragraph (11)(A)(ii) which 12 meets the requirements of paragraph (11)(B). 13 Any such election, once made, shall be irrev- 14 ocable. 15 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES.—In the case of a 16 length of service award plan whose sponsor has 17 elected to have such plan treated as an eligible 18 deferred compensation plan— 19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Such sponsor shall 20 be treated as an eligible employer de- 21 scribed in subsection (e)(1)(A), and, except 22 as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii), such 23 plan shall be administered in a manner 24 consistent with the requirements of this 25 section. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4036.IH H4036 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4036 IH ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM DEFERRAL 1 AMOUNT.—Subsection (b)(2) shall be ap- 2 plied by substituting ‘the limitation on ac- 3 cruals in effect under paragraph (11)(B)’ 4 for ‘the lesser of—’ and all that follows 5 through ‘compensation,’ in subparagraph 6 (B) thereof. 7 ‘‘(iii) DISTRIBUTION REQUIRE- 8 MENTS.—Subsection (d)(1)(A) shall be ap- 9 plied by deeming a severance from employ- 10 ment to have occurred for purposes of 11 clause (ii) thereof on the payment date 12 under the terms of the plan.’’. 13 (b) EXEMPTION FROM EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT IN- 14 COME SECURITY ACT OF 1974.—For purposes of the Em- 15 ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, a length 16 of service award plan described in section 17 457(e)(11)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 18 whose sponsor has elected under section 457(e)(19) of 19 such Code to have such plan treated as an eligible deferred 20 compensation plan shall not be treated as an employee 21 pension benefit plan or a pension plan under section 3(2) 22 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1002(2)). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4036.IH H4036 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4036 IH (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 1 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 2 December 31, 2019. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4036.IH H4036 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS