[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3146 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3146
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include service as a
volunteer firefighter or volunteer emergency medical technician as a
public service job for purposes of eligibility for the Public Service
Loan Forgiveness Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 1, 2025
Mr. Goldman of New York (for himself and Mr. Fields) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include service as a
volunteer firefighter or volunteer emergency medical technician as a
public service job for purposes of eligibility for the Public Service
Loan Forgiveness Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Helping Emergency Responders
Overcome Student Debt Act'' or the ``HEROES Act''.
SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR VOLUNTEER FIRST RESPONDERS.
Section 455(m)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1087e(m)(3)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) volunteer work as a qualified
volunteer firefighter or qualified volunteer
emergency medical technician in accordance with
subparagraph (C).''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Qualified volunteer firefighter; qualified
emergency medical technician.--
``(i) The term `qualified volunteer
firefighter' means an individual who--
``(I) provides firefighting
services, fire prevention services,
emergency medical services, or other
related emergency response services on
behalf of a legally recognized fire
department or public safety
organization; and
``(II) is not otherwise directly
employed on a full-time basis by the
same fire department or public safety
organization for which they provide
such services.
``(ii) The term `qualified volunteer
emergency medical technician' means an
individual who--
``(I) is trained and certified,
licensed, or otherwise authorized under
applicable state or local laws to
provide emergency medical care, pre-
hospital care, or ambulance services in
response to medical emergencies;
``(II) performs such care or
services on behalf of an ambulance
service, fire department, healthcare
facility, or public safety
organization; and
``(III) is not otherwise directly
employed on a full-time basis by the
same ambulance service, fire
department, healthcare facility, or
public safety organization for which
they provide such care or services.
``(iii) The Secretary shall--
``(I) determine the minimum
volunteer time required for a qualified
volunteer firefighter or a qualified
volunteer emergency medical technician
to be treated as an individual employed
in a full-time job for purposes of this
subsection; and
``(II) ensure that such minimum
volunteer time is not less than the
amount of volunteer time that is
required for the qualified volunteer
firefighter or a qualified volunteer
emergency medical technician to be
considered an active member of the
relevant ambulance service, fire
department, healthcare facility, or
public safety organization.
``(D) Public safety organization.--The term `public
safety organization' means any State, local, or tribal
governmental agency or nonprofit organization that has
the principal purpose of protecting the safety of life,
health, or property.''.
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary of Education shall promulgate, after consultation
with public safety organizations (which shall include firefighter and
emergency responder organizations), regulations to carry out the
amendments made by section 2, including regulations relating to--
(1) the minimum volunteer time required for a qualified
volunteer firefighter and qualified volunteer emergency medical
technician to be treated as an individual employed in a full-
time job for purposes of section 455(m) of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)); and
(2) the process of tracking and verifying that volunteer
time.
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