119-hr3146

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3146 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

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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