Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the 988 Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee advances telecom fee to fund 988 crisis system after hours of testimony
Summary
The Senate Health Committee voted to release S3013, a bill that would add a small monthly telecommunications surcharge to fund New Jersey's 988 crisis continuum. Advocates urged the fee to sustain mobile crisis teams and crisis receiving centers; business groups opposed the regressive charge and urged use of general revenues.
Trenton ' The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on Feb. 16 advanced S3013, a bill to create a telecommunications surcharge intended to fund New Jersey's 988 behavioral health crisis continuum, after several hours of testimony from family members, crisis advocates and business groups.
Matt Camarda, advocacy and public policy director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in New Jersey, told the committee demand for 988 has risen sharply: "In 2022, the number of calls that came in just calls was 53,000. And in 2025, the number of calls that came in was over a 104,000. So almost double." He urged legislators to support a dedicated funding stream for call, response and stabilization services.
Family members and advocates described gaps in the current crisis continuum and a need for a reliable revenue source to open crisis receiving and stabilization centers and sustain mobile crisis outreach response teams (MCORTs). "If New Jersey fails to fully fund this continuum, we will lose these centers," Camarda said, adding that centers have been delayed because federal startup funds expired and no state commitment has been secured.
Supporters framed the proposed fee as a modest, administratively simple way to guarantee recurring dollars. "Forty cents a month, $4.80 a year ' a small price to pay for services that could save lives," Stacy Ross, a family member and NAMI volunteer, told the committee as she described repeated calls to 911 and the difference a mobile crisis response could have made.
Business groups opposed the surcharge as regressive and urged alternatives. Chris Charmingholtz, chief government affairs officer for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, said his organization supports 988 but objected to singling out telecom as the funding source and argued the state budget could instead prioritize the program. "We agree it's appropriate to fund it, but we just don't think this new tax is the appropriate way to do so," he said.
Lawmakers acknowledged the trade-offs in debate. Several senators said they preferred a permanent line-item appropriation but supported the measure as a reliable source of funding amid fiscal uncertainty. Chairman Vitale said a dedicated revenue stream "is dependable" and could prevent regional crisis centers from opening and then closing if year-to-year budget priorities change.
The committee recorded the motion to release S3013 for further consideration. The bill drew a long list of organizations on both sides, including NAMI, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, HPAE and chambers of commerce; many submitted written testimony or asked to be placed on the record without speaking.
Next steps: S3013 has been released from committee and will proceed through the legislative process for further consideration and potential floor action.
