Bill · H.R. 5200· House(119-HR-5200)
Emergency Reporting Act
- Introduced
- 9/8/2025
- Last activity
- 4/21/2026 — Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 375.
- Sponsored by
- Doris Matsui
- Cosponsors
- - 1 - 1
- Introduced
- Passed House
- Awaiting Senate
- On Senate calendar
What this bill would do
The Emergency Reporting Act directs the Federal Communications Commission to issue reports following the activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System. The Commission must hold annual public hearings regarding events where the System was active for at least 7 days. These hearings may include various stakeholders such as government representatives, residents, and emergency managers. Following these hearings, the Commission is required to publish reports detailing the number and duration of service outages. Additionally, the Act mandates an investigation into improvements for network outage reporting. This includes looking at the value of visual information for public safety and the impact of current reporting thresholds.
Yes· 3 of 6
Does this make what the government does easier for the public to see?+6
The bill increases transparency by mandating public hearings and the publication of detailed reports on service outages on the FCC website.
Does this improve help for people hit by a disaster?+5
The bill improves disaster response capabilities by requiring reports and investigations into communication network outages and their impact on emergency services.
Does this get reliable internet to more people?+4
The act promotes internet reliability by investigating outage reporting and recommending resiliency improvements for broadband and mobile services.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
What Congress actually voted on
One recorded vote has been taken on this bill.
- The House: a fast-track vote, needing two-thirds to passPassed 386–7
The House sets aside its normal procedure to move quickly: no amendments, little debate, and a two-thirds bar instead of a simple majority. It is used for measures expected to be uncontroversial, so a bill that fails here failed despite broad expectations that it would not.
04/20/2026 · Roll call 126 · recorded as “On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass”
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
-
Increased Transparency and Accountability: The Commission must hold annual public hearings and publish reports regarding service outages that occur during major events (Section 2(a)(1) and 2(a)(2)). This allows the public to understand the number and duration of outages affecting broadband, mobile, and VoIP services.
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Improved Public Safety Awareness: The Act requires an investigation into the value of providing visual information to public safety agencies to improve situational awareness during outages (Section 2(b)(1)).
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Enhanced Emergency Communication Insights: The Commission is tasked with investigating the volume and nature of 9-1-1 outages that might currently go unreported (Section 2(b)(2)).
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Resiliency Planning: The Commission is required to include recommendations on how to improve the resiliency of affected communications services or networks within its reports (Section 2(a)(2)(D)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
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Potential Burden on Service Providers: The Act directs an investigation into the balance between the value of visual information for public safety and the "burden and practicality" for service providers to include such information in outage notifications (Section 2(b)(3)).
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Information Privacy Restrictions: While reports are meant to be published on the Commission's website, certain information will be excluded if it is exempt from public disclosure or submitted with a request for confidential treatment (Section 2(a)(4)(B)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Improves Disaster Relief And F E M A+5Improves Public Transit+1
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Government Transparency+6
- Education And Technology
- Improves Internet Access+4
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Rural Residents+1Good For Urban Residents+1
- 4/21/2026
- Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 375.
- 4/20/2026
- Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- Passed/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)
- 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)
- Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H2976-2978)
- At 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.
- DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5200.
- Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H2974-2976)
- Mr. Allen moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- 4/9/2026
- Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-597.
- Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 517.
- 1/15/2026
- Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
- 9/17/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 9/8/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in House
Gus BilirakisRepublican · Florida
Nanette BarragánDemocrat · California