H.R. 2382: First Responders Retirement Parity Act

The bill titled the "First Responders Retirement Parity Act" proposes amendments to existing laws that govern governmental pension plans. Its main purpose is to expand the types of employees eligible for participation in these pension plans specifically for certain emergency response personnel. Here’s a breakdown of the key provisions:

1. Inclusion of Emergency Response Providers

The bill seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that governmental pension plans can include participation from public safety agencies that employ emergency response providers. This includes:

• Firefighters
• Emergency medical technicians (EMTs)
• Paramedics

These changes will allow employees of such agencies, who primarily perform firefighting services or out-of-hospital emergency medical services, to be part of governmental pension plans without being disqualified.

2. Specific Definitions and References

The legislation references definitions from the Homeland Security Act of 2022, specifically identifying individuals as “emergency response providers” if their work entails direct emergency services as outlined in that Act.

3. Amendments to Existing Legislation

The bill includes amendments to two key pieces of legislation:

• The Internal Revenue Code of 1986
• The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)

These amendments specify that pension plans will not lose their status as governmental plans solely because they allow employees of public safety agencies to participate, thus providing clarity and encouraging the inclusion of these first responders in retirement benefits.

4. Conforming Amendments

The legislation also includes several conforming amendments to ensure consistency across related laws. For instance:

• Amendments to ERISA to acknowledge public safety agency employees.
• Modifications to sections related to employee benefits to reflect the inclusion of emergency response providers.

5. Effective Date

The amendments proposed in this bill would take effect for pension plans starting in plan years after the bill becomes law, establishing a clear timeline for when these changes would apply.

Relevant Companies

None found.