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H.R. 5905

U.S. House•In House Committee

Summary

H.R. 5905, the Helping Our Heroes Act, was introduced in the House on Nov 4, 2025 by Rep. Robert Bresnahan (R) with 6 co-sponsors. It was referred to Ways And Means, and last saw action on Nov 4, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Record

Text

H.R. 5905 has 6 co-sponsors.

hb5905/introduced-in-house.txt
119 HR 5905 IH: Helping Our Heroes Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-11-04
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 5905  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   November 4, 2025   Mr. Bresnahan  (for himself and  Mr. Harder of California ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Ways and Means    A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable deduction for the service of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical and rescue personnel.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Helping Our Heroes Act  .
2.
Allowance of charitable deduction for the service of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical and rescue personnel
(a)
In general
 Section 170  of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—
(1)
by redesignating subsection (q) as subsection (r), and
(2)
by inserting after subsection (p) the following new subsection:
(q)
Service of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel treated as charitable contribution
(1)
In general
Each hour of qualified services rendered by an individual as a bona fide volunteer shall be treated for purposes of this section as a contribution of $20 to the organization to which such services are rendered.
(2)
Limitation
Not more than 300 hours of qualified services shall be taken into account under paragraph (1) with respect to any individual for any taxable year.
(3)
Definitions
For purposes of this subsection—
(A)
Bona fide volunteer
An individual shall be treated as a bona fide volunteer if the only compensation received by such individual for performing qualified services is in the form of—
(i)
reimbursement for (or a reasonable allowance for) reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of such services, or
(ii)
reasonable benefits (including length of service awards), and fees for such services, customarily paid by eligible employers in connection with the performance of such services by volunteers.
(B)
Qualified services
The term  qualified services  means fire fighting and prevention services, emergency medical and rescue services, ambulance services, civil air patrol, and search and rescue services. Such term shall include all training and training-related activities related to the services described in the preceding sentence which are required or authorized by the organization referred to in paragraph (1).
(4)
Verification
A contribution to which this subsection applies shall be verified in such manner as the Secretary may provide.
(5)
Inflation adjustment
In the case of any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 2026, the $20 amount contained in paragraph (1) shall be increased by an amount equal to—
(A)
such dollar amount, multiplied by
(B)
the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable year begins determined by substituting  calendar year 2025  for  calendar year 2016  in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.
 Any increase determined under the preceding sentence which is not a multiple of $1 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $1.
(6)
Exclusion for Members of Congress
Services rendered during any period with respect to which such individual is a Member of Congress (as defined in section 2106 of title 5, United States Code) shall not be treated as qualified services for purposes of this subsection.
 .
(b)
Allowance of deduction to individuals who do not elect To itemize deductions
Section 63(b) of such Code is amended by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following new paragraph:
(4)
so much of the deduction allowed under section 170 for the taxable year as does not exceed the amount of such deduction which would be determined if only contributions treated as made under section 170(q) by reason of services rendered during such taxable year were taken into account.
 .
(c)
Effective date
The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-11-04
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable deduction for the service of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical and rescue personnel.

Sponsors

Rep. Robert Bresnahan (R) sponsors H.R. 5905, and 6 members have co-sponsored it, 1 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 5905 went before 1 committee: Ways and Means.

Ways and Means
Ways and Means
Referred To · Nov 4, 2025 · 1,160 Bills

Actions

H.R. 5905 has taken 2 actions since Nov 4, 2025.

ChamberAction
Nov 4, 2025
House
Introduced in House
Nov 4, 2025
House
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.Ways and Means Committee

Votes

H.R. 5905 has not gone to a roll call.

Titles

H.R. 5905 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Helping Our Heroes Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • Helping Our Heroes Act — Display Title
  • To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable deduction for the service of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical and rescue personnel. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

4 clients hired 3 firms and 7 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 5905 in 6 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Health Issues, Budget/Appropriations, Consumer Issues/Safety/Products, Chemicals/Chemical Industry, Communications/Broadcasting/Radio/TV, Copyright/Patent/Trademark, Disaster Planning/Emergencies, Homeland Security.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL—District of Columbia13—
AMERICAN KRATOM ASSOCIATIONTrade group focused on education and advocacy for kratom.Virginia11$50K
GLOBAL KRATOM COALITIONAlliance of kratom consumers, experts, and industry leaders.California11$40K
BOTANIC TONICS LLCBeverage DistributionCalifornia11—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL13—
TROUTMAN STRATEGIES22$40K
KOUNTOUPES DENHAM CARR & REID, LLC11$50K

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
RYAN WOODWARD113
CHRISTOPHER BAXTER122
LINDSAY AUSTIN122
RYAN DIFFLEY122
TOM TILTON122
LESLIE ZELENKO111
MARY BEAL111

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AMERICAN KRATOM ASSOCIATIONKOUNTOUPES DENHAM CARR & REID, LLC2025 first_quarter$50K1st Quarter - Report
GLOBAL KRATOM COALITIONTROUTMAN STRATEGIES2025 first_quarter$40K1st Quarter - Report
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCILNATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL2026 second_quarter$10K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCILNATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL2026 first_quarter$10K1st Quarter - Report
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCILNATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL2025 fourth_quarter$10K4th Quarter - Report
BOTANIC TONICS LLCTROUTMAN STRATEGIES2025 second_quarter—2nd Quarter - Termina…

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 5905 under Taxation, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 5905’s is Taxation.

hr5905/policy-areas.txt
TaxationAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 5905, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 184 (Tuesday, November 4, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. BRESNAHAN:H.R. 5905.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1[Page H4573]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com