STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Urges FCC to take all necessary action to designate 9-8-8 to be used for nationwide suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Assembly Resolution urging the Federal Communications Commission to take all necessary action to designate 9-8-8 to be used for a nationwide suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline.
Whereas, Suicide prevention assistance is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL), which has a 10-digit number: 1-800-273-8255 (TALK); and
Whereas, The NSPL is a national network of 163 crisis centers and is funded by the federal Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); and
Whereas, Calls to the NSPL are routed from anywhere in the United States to the closest certified crisis center and, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in 2018, trained NSPL counselors answered over 2.2 million calls and over 100,000 online chats; and
Whereas, The National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act of 2018, in part, required the FCC, in consultation with the SAMHSA, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the North American Numbering Council, to study and report to the United States Congress on the feasibility of using a simple, easy-to-remember, three-digit number for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system; and
Whereas, On August 15, 2019, the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics announced that they sent its report to Congress, which recommends that the FCC consider designating 9-8-8 as the three-digit number to be used for a nationwide suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline; and
Whereas, The FCC report found that a three-digit number "would likely make it easier for Americans in crisis to access potentially life-saving resources"; and
Whereas, In response to the report's findings and recommendations, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stated that he intends to move forward on the report's recommendation and launch a rulemaking proceeding in which the FCC would consider designating a three-digit number, specifically 9-8-8, for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline; and
Whereas, It is altogether fitting and proper for this House to respectfully urge the FCC to take all necessary action to designate a three-digit number, namely 9-8-8, to be used for a nationwide suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House respectfully urges the Federal Communications Commission to take all necessary action to designate 9-8-8 to be used for a nationwide suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to each Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, the presiding officers of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and to each member of Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take all necessary action to designate 9-8-8 to be used for a nationwide suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. Currently, suicide prevention assistance is available through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which uses a 10-digit number: 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). In an August 15, 2019 report to the United States Congress, the FCC found that the feasibility of using a simple, easy-to-remember, three-digit number, namely 9-8-8, for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system would likely make it easier for Americans in crisis to access potentially life-saving resources.