On October 2, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Health and Human Services committee voted unanimously in favor of House Bill 2533, cosponsored by state representatives Tarah Probst and Tarik Khan. HB2533 would create a public awareness campaign for 988, the suicide and crisis lifeline; current data shows only 25% of the public has awareness of this service.
In the Health and Human Services Committee, Representative Probst shared the story of Christian J. Hall, a 19-year-old who was killed by police after he called 911 during a mental health crisis in December of 2020. Christian's parents have advocated tirelessly for 988. This year, both the Philadelphia City Council and the Allegheny City Council passed resolutions urging the Pennsylvania Senate to fund 988. Christian's story ignited a statewide movement to not only fund 988 adequately, but to do so with cultural competence and expanded language to make 988 accessible to more people. 988 was funded using Federal money that will soon run out. Other states have enacted a small cell phone tax to fund 988, but Pennsylvania is behind. House Bill 1305, which sits in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, has been waiting for consideration for over 15 months. HB2533 is headed to the Senate next, where it’s future is unpredictable.
“Law enforcement officers many times respond to 911 calls from people experiencing a mental health crisis. Greater awareness of 988 would redirect crisis calls away from 911 and toward appropriate mental health resources and help,” Probst said.
Probst said the public education campaign described in HB2533 would include advertising in multiple languages to meet the diverse community needs of Pennsylvania residents. In addition, the campaign would provide information about the warning signs of suicide and provide preventative measures.
During the debate in the House Health and Human Services Committee, Republican Representative Charity Grimm Krupa commented that she doesn’t believe HB2533 references Veterans, but this could not be further from the truth. Representative Probst responded that expanding language on public awareness campaigns does help Veterans, because not all Veterans speak English exclusively. It is also worth pointing out that 988 has a Veterans Crisis Line, and callers are prompted to press 1 for this service. Since 988’s inception in 2022, they have received over 1,638,138 calls and messages from Veterans, totaling about 10% of the overall calls and messages sent to 988; this is a significant portion of calls and messages received by 988. Representative Krupa’s comments were not only ignorant but were patently false. Despite this, HB2533 passed unanimously from the Health and Human Services Committee.
This week, HB2533 successfully passed the House Appropriations Committee and was subsequently moved to the House Floor for a vote on Wednesday where it received unanimous support from both the Democratic and Republican Caucuses. Should HB2533 pass successfully from the House, it will then join the 988 funding bill, HB1305, in the Senate. The Republican lead Senate has successfully prevented a vote on HB1305, and 988 advocates expect them to table HB2533 as well. Kristine Bush, District Director to State Senator Rosemary Brown, commented this month that 988 is already funded 100% by the Federal Government, but as that money runs out, mental health advocates are asking the State legislature to fund 988, just as other states are doing in lieu of the Federal money. 
Pennsylvania residents who wish to see the funding bill and the public awareness campaign bill advance in the Senate can contact the chair of the Senate Mental Health Caucus, Senator Rosemary Brown (R), or contact members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.