,i #aaeth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #bdcb ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,may #af1 #bjag,mr4 ,chabot 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,roskam1 ,mrs4 ,walorski1 ,mr4 ,farenthold1 ,mr4 ,franks of ,arizona1 ,mr4 ,des,jarlais1 ,mr4 ,brooks of ,alabama1 ,mr4 ,roe of ,tennessee1 ,mr4 ,latta1 ,mr4 ,sessions1 ,mr4 ,jody ,b4 ,hice of ,georgia1 ,ms4 ,herrera ,beutler1 ,mr4 ,barletta1 ,mr4 ,sam ,johnson of ,texas1 ,mr4 ,marino1 ,mr4 ,huizenga1 ,mr4 ,cramer1 ,mr4 ,faso1 ,mr4 ,hensarling1 ,mr4 ,bishop of ,michigan1 ,mr4 ,abraham1 ,mr4 ,ratcliffe1 ,mr4 ,calvert1 ,mr4 ,emmer1 ,mr4 ,king of ,iowa1 ,mr4 ,bucshon1 and ,mr4 ,walberg7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,volunteer ,organization ,protection ,act of #aiig1 to provide for liability protection for organizations or entities4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,volunteer ,organization ,protection ,act of #bjag4 #b4 ,liability protection for organization or entity ,the ,volunteer ,protection ,act of #aiig1 ,public ,law #aje-ai1 is amended as follows3 7#a7 ,in section #c7;a71 by inserting after relating to volunteers the following3 or volunteer nonprofit organizations4 7#b7 ,in section #c7;b71 in the matter preceding paragraph 7#a71 by inserting after against a volunteer the following3 or a volunteer nonprofit organization4 7#c7 ,in section #d1 in the heading1 by inserting and volunteer nonprofit organizations after volunteers4 7#d7 ,in section #d1 by amending subsection 7c7 to read as follows3 7c7 ,liability protection for organization or entity 7#a7 ,no volunteer nonprofit organization shall be liable for harm caused by an act or omission of a volunteer on behalf of the organization unless-- 7,a7 the organization would be liable for the act or omission under generally applicable laws governing the direct or vicarious liability of organizations2 and 7,b7 the organization itself has expressly authorized the specific conduct constituting the act or omission4 7#b7 ,notwithstanding section #d7;c77#a71 no volunteer nonprofit organization shall be liable for harm caused by an act or omission of the organization or of a volunteer acting on behalf of the organization if-- 7,a7 the organization or the volunteer engaged in the act or omission at the request of or pursuant to an authorization by a ,state or the ,united ,states or any agency or subdivision of either2 and 7,b7 either-- 7i7 the requesting or authorizing governmental entity would have been immune either from suit or from liability in damages if it had engaged in the acts or omissions itself or through employees or independent contractors2 or 7ii7 the governmental employee1 agent1 or contractor who engaged in the acts would have been immune either from suit or from liability in damages by virtue of immunity extended to individual governmental actors4 7#c7 ,except as provided in paragraphs 7#a7 and 7#b71 nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the liability of any nonprofit organization or governmental entity with respect to harm caused to any person4 4 7#e7 ,in section #d7;d71 by striking paragraph 7#b7 and redesignating paragraphs 7#c7 and 7#d7 as paragraphs 7#b7 and 7#c71 respectively4 7#f7 ,in section #d7;e71 in paragraph 7#a71 by adding the following after the period3 ,punitive damages may not be awarded against a volunteer nonprofit organization in an action brought for harm based on the action of a volunteer acting within the scope of the volunteer's responsibilities to the organization unless the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the organization itself expressly authorized the volunteer's action and did so with a conscious1 flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed44 7#g7 ,in section #d7;f71 by inserting or of a volunteer nonprofit organization after liability of a volunteer4 7#h7 ,in section #e-- 7,a7 in subsection 7a7-- 7i7 by inserting or a volunteer nonprofit organization after action against a volunteer2 and 7ii7 by inserting or volunteer nonprofit organization after liability of the volunteer2 and 7,b7 in subsection 7b7-- 7i7 in paragraph 7#a71 by inserting or a volunteer nonprofit organization after who is a volunteer2 and 7ii7 in paragraph 7#b71 by inserting or volunteer nonprofit organization after who is a volunteer4 7#i7 ,in section #f1 by adding at the end the following3 7#g7 ,volunteer nonprofit organization ,an entity is a volunteer nonprofit organization if it is any one or more of the following3 7,a7 ,a nonprofit organization that conducts substantially all of its activities solely through the actions of volunteers or of independent contractors4 ,a nonprofit organization is conclusively presumed to be a volunteer nonprofit organization if the organization has no employees4 7,b7 ,a nonprofit organization is presumed to be a volunteer nonprofit organization if the organization's primary office and the majority of its employees function primarily to provide support to local affiliated organizations that do not have employees and who act in furtherance of the organization's nonprofit mission4 ,this presumption can be rebutted only by a clear and convincing showing that the organization's board expressly authorized its employees to assert active control over the local affiliated organization with respect to the act or omission in question4 7,c7 ,a nonprofit organization that has fewer than #ej employees1 that has annual gross receipts of less than #bjj1jjj1 and that is any of the following3 7i7 ,a public charity that is exempt from taxation under section #eja7;c77#c7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code4 7ii7 ,a private foundation that is exempt from taxation under section #eja7;c77#c7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code but that does not qualify as a public charity4 7iii7 ,a social welfare organization that is exempt from taxation under section #eja7;c77#d7 of the internal revenue code4 7#h7 ,a volunteer nonprofit organization acts itself for purposes of this act only when the person or body who is authorized by the organization's governing documents to act in the name of and on behalf of the organization expressly acts in accordance with those documents4 ,if the organization's governing documents do not identify the person or body who is authorized to act in the name of and on behalf of the organization1 the organization acts itself for the purposes of this ,act only when the person or body whose action is required under the applicable ,state law in order to bind the organization acts strictly in accordance with such ,state law4 4