Klobuchar, Blackburn Bipartisan Bill to Enhance 9-1-1 Emergency Response System Passes Senate

The legislation would improve Americans' ability help when dialing 9-1-1, including during natural disasters, and make important updates to the classification of 9-1-1 dispatchers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced that their bipartisan Enhancing First Response Act, which would make important updates to our 9-1-1 emergency reporting system to improve Americans' ability to reach help when they dial 9-1-1, including during natural disasters, has passed the Senate.

The legislation will also reclassify 9-1-1 dispatchers as protective service workers, ensuring their job classification appropriately recognizes the lifesaving nature of their work. This legislation is also co-sponsored by Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ted Budd (R-NC), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). This bill now goes to the House of Representatives for a vote.

"Americans need reliable communications networks, especially 9-1-1, and this is a crucial step toward ensuring that reliability," said Klobuchar. "Our bipartisan legislation will save lives by improving Americans' abilities to connect to 9-1-1, including during major disasters, and strengthening the resiliency of our 9-1-1 system against outages and disruptions. It also recognizes 9-1-1 dispatchers for their critical roles during times of crisis by ensuring they are classified as the first responders that they are."

"Ensuring Americans can reach help when they dial 9-1-1 during natural disasters is paramount," said Blackburn. "The Emergency Reporting Act takes necessary steps to prevent 9-1-1 service disruptions, properly recognize dispatchers for their lifesaving work, and further study how we can make improvements to the 9-1-1 emergency response system."

"America's public safety telecommunicators are our 'first' first responders," said Mel Maier, CEO and executive director of APCO. "They answer our calls for help and engage in skilled real-time decision-making that save lives. The Enhancing First Response Act recognizes that these 9-1-1 professionals play an essential role in protecting our communities. We are grateful to Senators Klobuchar and Blackburn for their leadership and commitment to public safety. We thank the Senate for passing this important legislation and urge the House to act so that public safety telecommunicators get the recognition they deserve."

"9-1-1 professionals in every community are critically important public safety personnel. They serve as America's first first responders every day. On behalf of the tens of thousands of 9-1-1 professionals nationwide, NENA applauds today's action by the U.S. Senate. This long-overdue action will help ensure the nation's public safety telecommunicators are finally recognized as a protective service occupation," said John Provenazano, CEO of NENA. "We are hopeful the House of Representatives will pass this common-sense change as soon as possible. I want to thank Senators Amy Klobuchar and Marsha Blackburn for their tireless efforts to recognize the important work of our 9-1-1 professionals."

Specifically, the Enhancing First Response Act would:

• Require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue a report after major natural disasters on the extent to which people were unable to reach 9-1-1 during the disaster and subsequent recovery efforts, and make recommendations to improve the resiliency of 9-1-1 systems to prevent future service disruptions;
• Require the FCC to study the unreported 9-1-1 outages and develop recommendations to improve outage reporting and communication between mobile carriers experiencing network outages and 9-1-1 centers;
• Update the classification of 9-1-1 dispatchers from clerical workers to protective service workers in the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) to better reflect the life-saving work they perform each day. The SOC is a tool used by federal agencies to classify the workforce into useful, occupational categories; and
• Require the FCC to report on the extent to which multi-line telephone system manufacturers and vendors have complied with Kari's Law, which Senator Klobuchar worked to pass into law in 2018 to require the manufacturers of multi-line telephone systems to create systems that allow callers to reach 9-1-1 without dialing a prefix or postfix.

###

Permalink: https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2025/9/klobuchar-blackburn-bipartisan-bill-to-enhance-9-1-1-emergency-response-system-passes-senate