988 Lifeline Location Improvement Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill asks the government to find ways to send a caller's exact location to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Currently, 988 operators do not always get the same precise location data that 911 operators receive during an emergency.
• The plan requires the Federal Communications Commission and the Government Accountability Office to study the technical challenges of tracking locations. This includes looking at how to help people who use American Sign Language video services and the Veterans Crisis Line.
• A major part of the study will focus on protecting caller privacy. Experts will look at how to share location data with help centers without putting a person's private information at risk.
• The studies will also estimate the costs for phone companies and local crisis centers to update their technology. The GAO must finish its report within six months, and the FCC must start its official inquiry within nine months of the bill passing.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.