First Responders Retirement Parity Act

The "First Responders Retirement Parity Act" aims to expand eligibility for governmental pension plans to certain emergency response providers. It achieves this by amending Section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and Section 3(32) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) . Specifically, the bill clarifies that a pension plan will not lose its designation as a governmental plan solely because it permits participation by employees of a public safety agency . These agencies must be tax-exempt under sections 501(c) and 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. The covered employees must be emergency response providers , such as firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics, who primarily perform firefighting or out-of-hospital emergency medical services for a political subdivision of a State under a contractual agreement with their agency. Conforming amendments are also made to related sections of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, with the changes taking effect for plan years beginning after the Act's enactment.