Federal funding for 988, the free, three-digit dialing code lifeline for suicide and crisis prevention services across the U.S. and Canada, is set to expire on Sept. 30 this year. To maintain this hotline for Oklahomans after funding expires, Rep. Kevin Norwood introduced House Bill 4092, which, if passed, will create a trust fund for 988.
The bill requires the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to oversee the funds for suicide prevention and crisis service activities. Initial efforts to protect funding for 988 began in early 2025 as the expiration of the federal grants grew closer. In response, Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval presented House Bill 1911 on Feb. 3, 2025.
Alonso-Sandoval’s bill proposed a monthly telecommunications fee of 5 cents per phone line to create a direct, consistent stream of funds as federal pandemic-era funds were set to expire. While the bill failed to pass the House Public Health Committee with a 3-5 vote, his work influenced Rep. Norwood to take action and begin his efforts by January.
House Bill 4092 had until Feb. 19 to be passed out of the House subcommittee before moving to the joint House Appropriations Committee and House Budget Committee. Norwood authorized it on Feb. 2, and discussions on passing it began recently.
Now that it has passed the committees unanimously, if passed by the joint committee, it is to then move to the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate for voting before it can be officially signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
With support from federal grants and donations, the nonprofit lifeline has answered 19,832,511 calls nationwide since its establishment on July 16, 2020. The line evolved from a pre-existing national suicide prevention lifeline with support from Vibrant Emotional Health, the lifeline’s administrator, in partnership with funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This January alone, the hotline answered over 7,000 calls statewide– nearly 1,000 more calls than received prior to this surge.
If Oklahoma lawmakers did not efficiently pass House Bill 4092, the hotline would lose monetary support, causing calls to be redirected to 911. The volume of calls would increase the strain on emergency responders across the state. 911 is intended to provide rapid responses to an active crisis, while 988 offers verbal counseling to de-escalate situations before they become emergencies.
To support House Bill 4092, House Bill 4095 was passed unanimously to update Oklahoma’s 211 system, a facility that now includes a statewide health services lifeline and online database. If passed, both bills are set to go into effect Nov. 1, after the last federal funding for 988 expires.
Contact Taylor Brakenhoff at [email protected]
Emma Lynch • Feb 25, 2026 at 8:52 am
This is true I was the phone model