HB5905, the “Helping Our Heroes Act,” would amend the Internal Revenue Code to create a new charitable deduction tied to volunteer service performed by certain emergency responders. Under the bill, each hour of qualified volunteer service would be treated as a $20 charitable contribution to the organization receiving the service, up to 300 hours per taxpayer per year. The covered services include firefighting and fire prevention, emergency medical and rescue services, ambulance services, civil air patrol, and search and rescue, including required or authorized training related to those services.
The bill also expands access to the deduction by allowing taxpayers who do not itemize deductions to claim the portion of the charitable deduction attributable to these volunteer hours. The $20-per-hour amount would be indexed for inflation beginning with taxable years after 2026, and the Secretary of the Treasury would be authorized to establish verification rules. The bill excludes services performed during any period in which the individual is a Member of Congress from qualifying as volunteer service under this provision.
Impact
If enacted, the bill would amend sections 170 and 63 of the Internal Revenue Code to treat qualifying volunteer emergency-response hours as deemed charitable contributions and to allow a related above-the-line deduction for non-itemizers. It would create a new federal tax benefit for volunteer firefighters, EMTs, rescue personnel, ambulance volunteers, Civil Air Patrol volunteers, and search-and-rescue volunteers, while also requiring Treasury to define verification procedures and apply an annual cap and inflation adjustment. The bill would apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
Sentiment
The available context shows a generally supportive framing, reflected in the bill’s title and bipartisan introduction by Representatives Bresnahan and Harder. No committee debate or recorded votes are provided, so there is no evidence of formal opposition or amendment activity in the materials supplied. Overall, the measure appears intended as a recognition-and-incentive bill for volunteer emergency responders.
Contention
No committee transcript or vote record is available, so specific points of contention are not documented in the provided materials. Potential issues implicit in the text include the cost and administration of the tax deduction, how volunteer hours would be verified, the $20 valuation per hour, the 300-hour annual cap, and the exclusion of Members of Congress from eligibility. The bill also narrows eligibility to specified emergency-response activities and related training, which could raise questions about which volunteer roles qualify.