Barletta Statement on Senate Hijacking of Firefighter Bill

Press Release

Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, today issued a statement regarding the fact that the U.S. Senate has, once again, hijacked his legislation meant to protect volunteer firefighters from Obamacare. Barletta's legislation has twice passed the U.S House of Representatives by unanimous votes -- first by 410-to-0, and then by 401-to-0. It is only in the Senate where it runs into difficulty.

The bill became necessary because the Internal Revenue Service was treating volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel as "employees" for federal tax purposes. If that had proved to be the case, the Employer Mandate of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," could have been triggered. If local fire departments were forced to provide health insurance or pay fines under the law, many fire companies would have to shut down.

In this instance, Congress has been attempting to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), while also blocking the president's unlawful executive amnesty. For reasons only Senators can explain, they attached the DHS language to Barletta's firefighter bill. That action by the Senate strips all of Barletta's language and dooms the bill because of political controversy.

The previous time the bill was presented to the Senate, the leaders attached controversial language involving unemployment benefits. That also effectively killed the bill.

Barletta issued the following statement:

"The Senate has once again put their own political concerns ahead of the safety of Americans," Barletta said. "We have gone far beyond dealing with this as a political issue, and it is now a public safety issue. We cannot put politics ahead of public safety."

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