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U.S. Senator Santorum Introduces Legislation to Expand Charitable and Volunteer Opportunities
May 25, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Christine Shott, (202) 224-0610
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today introduced the Expanding Charitable and Volunteer Opportunities Act, which provides commonsense liability protections for individuals and companies who wish to donate to and volunteer for charitable purposes. Charitable liability protection efforts are part of the Senate Republican Poverty Alleviation Agenda led by Senator Santorum.
This legislation builds on the success of the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 (P.L. 104-210) and the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (P.L. 105-101), which provide commonsense protections for individuals who do volunteer work for non-profit organizations or government entities from liability for ordinary negligence in the course of their volunteer work and those organizations that donate food to the needy, respectively.
The Expanding Charitable and Volunteer Opportunities Act first prevents a business from being subject to civil liability when a piece of equipment or facility has been loaned by a business entity to a nonprofit organization for charitable purposes, unless the business has engaged in gross negligence or intentional misconduct. This provision passed the House of Representatives as part of broader legislation in the 107th Congress.
The bill also provides similar liability protections for those who contribute equipment to volunteer firefighter companies. By reducing the threat of civil liability, those wishing to donate equipment that would otherwise be wasted can do so without the fear of a lawsuit if the equipment fails to operate properly, through no fault of the contributor. Similar stand-alone legislation passed the House of Representatives in 2004 by a vote of 397 to 3.
“As I make my way around my home state, I have tried to identify communities in need of assistance and commonsense ways in which the federal government can ease the burden for non-government entities who seek to assist those in need,†said Senator Santorum.
Finally, the Expanding Charitable and Volunteer Opportunities Act encourages physicians to volunteer their services to community health centers by extending to them medical liability protections. Volunteer physicians would receive medical liability protections so they may continue to efficiently offer primary and preventive health care services to everyone, including low-income, underinsured, and uninsured families.
“I am introducing this legislation to help encourage businesses to share their resources with charitable organizations, to recycle usable firefighting equipment to fire companies who are need, and to ensure that volunteer physicians are not penalized for offering their medical services free of charge to those in need. With the help of my colleagues in the Senate we can see that this commonsense legislation helps communities in Pennsylvania and the entire country,†said Senator Santorum.
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