Emergency Reporting Act
Latest action · Apr 21, 2026 Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 375.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 8, 2025
- Passed HouseApr 20, 2026
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Emergency Reporting Act
This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate and report on emergency communications outages (e.g., 9-1-1 outages).
Specifically, the FCC must publish a general report on (1) the volume and nature of 9-1-1 outages that are not required to be reported under current outage notification rules, (2) the value and practicality of including visual information in outage notifications from communications providers, and (3) recommended changes to FCC rules to address these issues.
Separately, the FCC must hold annual public hearings on events for which the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) was activated for at least a week. (DIRS is a reporting system that is activated during severe weather and other events impacting communications service. It enables communications providers to report outages and other degradations to service.) After each such hearing, the FCC must issue a report that includes information about the number, duration, and nature of all associated outages, along with recommendations for improving the resiliency of affected communications services or networks. Such reports must generally be made public on the FCC website.
Recorded votes 1
Newest first. Open one to see how every member voted.
| Roll call | Question | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House 126 | On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass | Passed386–7 | Apr 20, 2026 |
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 8, 2025 to Sep 17, 2025; 1 is an original cosponsor, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-FL | Gus M. Bilirakis | Original | Sep 8, 2025 |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | Sep 17, 2025 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Sep 8, 2025Reported Apr 9, 2026 |
| Communications and Technology Subcommittee | Referred Sep 8, 2025Markup Jan 15, 2026Reported Jan 15, 2026 |
Actions 15
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 21, 2026Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 375.
- Apr 20, 2026Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H2974-2976)
- Apr 20, 2026Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H2976-2978)
- Apr 20, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 386 - 7 (Roll no. 126). (text: CR H2974-2975)
- Apr 20, 2026Mr. Allen moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- Apr 20, 2026DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5200.
- Apr 20, 2026At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
- Apr 20, 2026Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- Apr 9, 2026Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-597.
- Apr 9, 2026Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 517.
- Jan 15, 2026Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jan 15, 2026Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
- Sep 8, 2025Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
- Sep 8, 2025Introduced in House
- Sep 8, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H2974–H2976Text printed H2974Recorded votes H2980enact | Doris O. Matsui D-CA, Jennifer L. McClellan D-VA, Rick W. Allen R-GA | Apr 20, 2026 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Feb 24, 2026H.R. 5200, Emergency Reporting ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on January 21, 2026
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 146, September 8, 2025, page H3893.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 119-47 | LEGISLATIVE IMPROVEMENTS TO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES144 pages | Energy and Commerce Committee | Dec 16, 2025 |
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R48776 | Cellular Network Outage Reporting and Restoration During Disasters Archived | Report | Dec 22, 2025 |
Titles 6
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To direct the Federal Communications Commission to issue reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System and to make improvements to network outage reporting, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Emergency Reporting Act
- Short Title(s) as Reported to House
- Emergency Reporting Act
- Short Title(s) as Passed House
- Emergency Reporting Act
- Short Title(s) from PCS (Placed on Senate Calendar) bill text
- Emergency Reporting Act
- Official Title from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
- To direct the Federal Communications Commission to issue reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System and to make improvements to network outage reporting, and for other purposes.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications.
- Congressional oversight
- Electric power generation and transmission
- Emergency communications systems
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Emergency planning and evacuation
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Natural disasters
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Telephone and wireless communication
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 21, 2026Placed on Calendar Senate
- Apr 20, 2026Engrossed in House
- Apr 9, 2026Reported in House
- Sep 8, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
