AB 1540 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: LGBTQ+ youth.

Summary

Existing federal law, the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, designates the 3-digit telephone number "988" as the universal number within the United States for the purpose of the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Existing law, the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act, requires, among other things, the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to verify that technology that allows for transfers between 988 centers, as well as between 988 centers and 911 public safety answering points, is available to 988 centers and 911 public safety answering points throughout the state, to appoint a 988 system director, and to verify interoperability between and across 911 and 988. Existing law establishes the 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund and provides that 988 surcharge revenue in the fund is available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the act. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency (agency) to annually determine whether an adequate specialized LGBTQ+ suicide prevention hotline is activated by the federal government under 988. When making this determination, the bill would require the agency to consider specified factors, including, among other things, any factor the agency considers relevant to evaluating the adequacy of press 3 operations. The bill would authorize the agency to, no later than 6 months after its determination, request the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to allow the state to implement the press 3 function at the state level for calls originating in the State of California, which would allow callers to dial "988" and press "3" to be automatically routed to a specialized 988 center. The bill would require OES and the agency to, no later than 12 months following the approval by SAMHSA, ensure that press 3 function technologies are available. This bill would require, no later than 12 months following approval by SAMHSA, the agency to identify and contract with a qualified entity or entities that specialize in LGBTQ+ suicide prevention services. The bill would require the agency to determine the eligibility criteria, establish an application process, and administer funds to the qualified entity, as specified. The bill would require a qualified entity to comply with various requirements, including having a primary objective of reducing suicide rates or addressing mental health crises. The bill would make its implementation subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 5, 2026 Last action Aug 30, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

01/05/26 - Introduced → 02/17/26 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Feb 17, 2026

MODERATE

The amended version adds a second funding source by making moneys in the existing 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund available for the bill's purposes (in addition to the original $5 million General Fund appropriation). It also adds a new subdivision (g) that formally integrates qualified LGBTQ+ suicide prevention entities into California's 988 network, granting them the same technical and operational standing as other 988 centers for transfers and warm handoffs. The coauthor list was expanded.

FISCAL

Added a new paragraph making moneys in the 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund available, upon legislative appropriation, to cover costs under this section. This supplements the original $5 million General Fund appropriation to the Protecting Suicide Prevention Resources for LGBTQ+ Youth Fund.

The fiscal determination changed from 'Appropriation: yes' to 'Appropriation: no,' likely reflecting that the primary funding mechanism now draws on an existing fund rather than constituting a new appropriation.

REQUIREMENT

Added new subdivision (g) to Section 53123.7 establishing that contacts routed to qualified entities through the LGBTQ+ youth routing constitute 988 contacts under California's comprehensive 988 system. Qualified entities are recognized as part of California's 988 network for all state administrative, operational, and interoperability purposes, and may initiate and receive transfers and warm handoffs with 988 centers and county crisis continuum entry points on the same basis as other 988 centers.

TECHNICAL

Expanded the list of coauthors, adding Assembly Members Lee, Addis, Boerner, Bonta, Harabedian, Schiavo, Wallis, and Zbur, and Senators Menjivar and Padilla.

06/15/26 - Amended Senate → 08/27/26 - Amended Senate · 9 edits · Aug 27, 2026

MAJOR

The August 27 Senate amendment to AB 1540 makes several substantive changes: it renumbers the new section from 53123.7 to 53123.8, removes a fixed June 1, 2027 deadline in favor of a relative 6-month window, shifts the SAMHSA request from a mandatory OES action to a permissive agency action, adds specific factors for evaluating federal press 3 adequacy, requires qualified entities to become designated 988 centers by December 31, 2029, and adds new funding conditions including a requirement that other federal grants not be jeopardized.

SCOPE

The new section is renumbered from Government Code Section 53123.7 to Section 53123.8, likely to avoid a numbering conflict with another bill.

Senator Rubio was added as a Senate coauthor of the bill.

TIMELINE

The fixed deadline of June 1, 2027 for requesting SAMHSA approval was removed. The requirement is now simply 'no later than 6 months after the agency's determination,' making the timeline relative rather than absolute.

REQUIREMENT

The obligation to request SAMHSA approval changed from a mandatory action by OES to a permissive action ('the agency may request'), giving CHHS discretion over whether to make the request.

New adequacy factors were added for the agency's annual determination of whether the federal press 3 option is adequate, including whether LGBTQ+ individuals can access it, whether federal guidance discourages access, and whether LGBTQ+ organizations are prohibited from operating or supporting the service.

Qualified entities must now become a 'designated 988 center' by December 31, 2029, in addition to becoming a '988 center.' This adds a future compliance milestone tied to state designation requirements under Section 53123.7.

Specific privacy policy requirements (no caller identifying information required, prohibition on sharing data outside the 988 system) were removed and replaced with a general requirement to comply with CMIA, HIPAA, and all other applicable state laws protecting sensitive personal and medical information.

The requirement for qualified entities to have 'dedicated trained staff or volunteers' was softened to simply 'trained staff or volunteers,' removing the word 'dedicated.'

FISCAL

A new subdivision (f) conditions implementation on: (1) an appropriation by the Legislature, (2) OES obtaining and maintaining federal approvals for the press 3 function, and (3) the agency determining in consultation with the Department of Health Care Services that other federal funding sources, including SAMHSA grants, are not jeopardized.

03/19/26 - Amended Assembly → 06/15/26 - Amended Senate · 8 edits · Jun 15, 2026

MODERATE

The Senate amendment fundamentally restructures AB 1540 by making state implementation of LGBTQ+ suicide prevention services under 988 contingent on an annual determination by the California Health and Human Services Agency that the federal government has not activated an adequate specialized hotline. The bill removes the state grant program, expenditure reporting requirements, procurement exemptions, and detailed 988 network integration provisions from the Assembly version, replacing them with a leaner framework focused on requesting federal action and contracting with qualified entities within 12 months of SAMHSA approval.

REQUIREMENT

A new annual determination requirement: the California Health and Human Services Agency must determine whether an adequate specialized LGBTQ+ suicide prevention hotline is activated by the federal government under 988. All state implementation obligations are now contingent on the agency finding that no such federal service exists.

Annual expenditure and outcomes reporting requirements for qualified entities are removed, including requirements to report total budget, personnel counts, contacts served, outcomes, and system performance measures such as capacity and wait times.

TIMELINE

The Assembly version set fixed deadlines (July 1, 2027 for transfer technology; December 1, 2027 for text/chat). The Senate version replaces these with a two-step process: OES must request SAMHSA enablement by June 1, 2027 (6 months after the agency's determination), then ensure technologies are available within 12 months of SAMHSA approval.

FISCAL

The Assembly version required CHHS to administer a grant program by July 1, 2027 for qualified entities specializing in suicide prevention and to fund state 988 call centers for implementation costs including staffing and routing. This entire grant program is removed.

TECHNICAL

Provisions recognizing qualified entities as part of California's 988 network for administrative, operational, and interoperability purposes, including the ability to initiate and receive transfers and warm handoffs with 988 centers and county crisis continuum entry points, are removed.

ENFORCEMENT

Contracting and procurement exemptions allowing the agency to enter exclusive or nonexclusive contracts exempt from Government Code Chapter 6, Section 19130, Public Contract Code Part 2, and Department of General Services review are removed.

ELIGIBILITY

Qualified entity requirements are simplified. The Assembly version required compliance with SAMHSA minimum application requirements, specific policy provisions, and capability to report metrics. The Senate version replaces these with a requirement to comply with CMIA, HIPAA, and other applicable state privacy laws, while retaining the primary objective and LGBTQ+ mission requirements.

The Assembly version specified eligible entity types (community-based organizations, nonprofits, behavioral health providers, counties, city mental health authorities, tribal entities, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education) and prioritization for California-based applicants with law enforcement or mobile crisis connections. These are removed.

02/17/26 - Amended Assembly → 03/19/26 - Amended Assembly · 8 edits · Mar 19, 2026

MODERATE

The March 19 amendment makes three major policy changes: it removes the creation of a new $5 million dedicated fund and instead relies on the existing 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund (subject to future legislative appropriation); it adds a requirement for OES to request federal SAMHSA approval for a 'press 3' routing function by June 1, 2027; and it makes the technology deployment timeline contingent on federal approval rather than a fixed date. The bill also requires qualified entities to formally become '988 centers' under existing law.

FISCAL

The creation of the 'Protecting Suicide Prevention Resources for LGBTQ+ Youth Fund' with a $5,000,000 appropriation from the General Fund was removed entirely. The bill no longer appropriates any money directly.

Funding is now sourced from the existing 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund, but only 'upon appropriation by the Legislature,' meaning no money is guaranteed until a future budget act provides it.

TIMELINE

The deadline for text/chat technology availability changed from a fixed date of December 1, 2027 to '12 months following approval by SAMHSA or its contracted 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Administrator,' making the timeline dependent on federal action.

REQUIREMENT

OES must, no later than June 1, 2027, request that federal SAMHSA enable a 'press 3' function for calls originating in California, allowing callers to dial 988 and press 3 to be routed to a specialized call center.

The California Health and Human Services Agency must, no later than 12 months following SAMHSA approval, identify and contract with a qualified entity or entities that specialize in LGBTQ+ suicide prevention services.

ELIGIBILITY

A qualified entity must now become a '988 center' as defined in Section 53123.1.5, making it eligible for funding and subject to all requirements under the 988 article.

TECHNICAL

The text/chat feature is now specified as working by texting 'PRIDE' to 988, rather than being described generically.

SCOPE

The bill's appropriation status changed from 'yes' to 'no,' reflecting that no new money is being appropriated in this bill itself.

Floor votes · Senate Aug 30, 2026 · Assembly May 27, 2026

How they voted

35–0

Passed · 5 other

Total votes 40

Aug 30, 2026

D Democratic30

30 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican10

5 Yea 5

50% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 30, 2026

Introduced

In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

lower

Aug 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 34. Noes 0.).

upper

Aug 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (August 13).

upper

Aug 3, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jul 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (July 1). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (June 23). Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

upper

Jun 15, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E.M.

upper

Jun 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on E.M. and HEALTH.

upper

May 27, 2026

Assembly · Passed

Assembly Vote: pass (63-8-8)

assembly

May 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 64. Noes 8.).

lower

May 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 1.) (May 14).

lower

May 6, 2026

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on C. & C.

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on C. & C. (Ayes 12. Noes 3.) (March 17).

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and C. & C.

lower

Jan 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee February 5.

lower

1 primary · 23 co-sponsors