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
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.
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.