The Local 9–8–8 Response Act of 2023 aims to improve how calls, texts, and chats reach the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. The bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to issue regulations within 90 days ensuring that all 9–8–8 contacts are routed to the nearest crisis center based on the caller's location, while still protecting their privacy by not revealing their exact coordinates. The legislation also requires mobile service providers to transmit all calls and text messages to 9–8–8, including from phones that aren't fully activated on a service plan. Additionally, the bill requires multi-line telephone systems in businesses and institutions to be configured to allow direct dialing to 9–8–8 within two years of enactment, with an exception for older systems that cannot be updated without hardware or software improvements. The bill does not specify any new federal funding allocations.
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