Enhancing First Response Act
Sponsored By: Senator Amy Klobuchar
Passed Senate
Summary
Better outage reporting and emergency communications for 911 centers and first responders. This bill would push the Federal Communications Commission to improve how communications outages are tracked and how information gets to 911 centers and responders after disasters.
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- After activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System the FCC would hold at least one public hearing lasting no fewer than seven days and, within 120 days of each hearing, publish a report detailing outages by service type, approximate users and affected infrastructure, calls or outages that impede caller location or number information, and recommendations to improve resiliency and recovery.
- The FCC would study, within one year, the value of including visual information in outage notifications for Public Safety Answering Points and assess how many 911 outages may go unreported under current thresholds, then recommend any rule changes needed to balance public safety and provider burden.
- The Office of Management and Budget would categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification within 30 days, and the FCC would publish, within 180 days, an assessment of Kari’s Law compliance by multi-line telephone system manufacturers and vendors with enforcement and legislative recommendations.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Public reports on outages after disasters
The FCC would hold one public hearing each year on disasters when its outage system ran 7 or more days. Hearings would last at least seven days and include governments, providers, utilities, schools, other agencies, and first responders. Within 120 days after the hearing, the FCC would post a report on its website. It would list outage counts and durations for broadband, VoIP, mobile voice, and mobile data. It would estimate users and infrastructure affected and flag 911 problems with caller number, location, or call routing. The FCC would include resiliency and recovery steps, and would not release company-specific or confidential data. Within one year of enactment, the FCC would also publish a study on visual alerts for 911, unreported outages, provider burden, and rule changes.
Limits on FCC power over broadband
The bill would not give the FCC extra authority over broadband providers beyond what this Act clearly states. It would not itself create new rules, funding, or duties.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Amy Klobuchar
MN • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN]
TN • R
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Dan Sullivan
AK • R
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Shelley Capito
WV • R
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
MA • D
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC]
NC • R
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]
ME • I
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Sen. Thune, John [R-SD]
SD • R
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ]
AZ • D
Sponsored 2/25/2025
Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]
ID • R
Sponsored 3/12/2025
Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
WA • D
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov