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SENATE BILL NO. 917
A bill to amend 1974 PA 258, entitled
"Mental health code,"
(MCL 330.1001 to 330.2106) by adding sections 165a and 165b.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 165a. (1) The 988 crisis lifeline system fund is created 1
in the state treasury. 2
(2) The state treasurer shall deposit money and other assets 3
received from any other source in the fund. The state treasurer 4
shall direct the investment of money in the fund and credit 5
interest and earnings from the investments to the fund. 6
April 22, 2026, Introduced by Senators BAYER, POLEHANKI, MCMORROW, SHINK,
SANTANA, CHANG, KLINEFELT, IRWIN and CAVANAGH and referred to Committee on
Housing and Human Services.
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(3) The department of treasury is the administrator of the 1
fund for audits of the fund. The department of treasury shall 2
administer the fund in collaboration with the department. 3
(4) In accordance with the national suicide hotline 4
designation act of 2020, Public Law 116-172, the department shall 5
expend money from the fund, on appropriation, for any of the 6
following purposes: 7
(a) To implement, maintain, staff, and improve the 988 crisis 8
lifeline system. The funds provided may be proportional to the 9
volume of contact or usage for a 988 call center. 10
(b) To enhance technological infrastructure of the 988 crisis 11
lifeline system as necessary to achieve operational and clinical 12
standards and best practices as determined by the department. 13
(c) To the extent that subdivisions (a) and (b) are fully 14
funded, to support or enhance statewide 988 services, including, 15
but not limited to, the statewide 988 lifeline center, the Michigan 16
crisis and access line, other behavioral health and substance use 17
disorder lines provided by the Michigan crisis and access line, and 18
other crisis services in this state, including mobile crisis and 19
crisis stabilization units. 20
(d) To the extent that subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) are 21
fully funded, providing acute behavior health crisis outreach and 22
stabilization services as required to directly respond to the 988 23
crisis lifeline system. Stabilization services include funding for 24
residential treatment, additional services and supports, and peer 25
crisis respite. 26
(5) Funds provided under subsection (4) must be used to 27
provide services that comply with all of the following: 28
(a) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 29
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Administration's national guidelines. 1
(b) Michigan's behavioral health crisis continuum, as 2
implemented through department policy, guidance, contracts, and 3
rules. 4
(c) Rules adopted by the department. 5
(6) The 988 telecommunications fee under section 165b must be 6
used to supplement, not supplant, any federal, state, or local 7
funding for suicide prevention or behavioral health crisis 8
services. 9
(7) Money in the fund at the close of a fiscal year remains in 10
the fund and does not revert to the general fund. 11
(8) All crisis services must operate in compliance with rules 12
adopted by the department. 13
Sec. 165b. (1) In accordance with the national suicide hotline 14
designation act of 2020, Public Law 116-172, a seller or provider 15
shall collect a 988 telecommunications fee from each consumer who 16
is a resident of this state and is any of the following: 17
(a) A subscriber of a commercial landline telephone. 18
(b) A subscriber of a mobile telephone. 19
(c) A point of sale purchaser of a prepaid telephone service. 20
(2) Beginning July 1, 2027, except as otherwise provided in 21
subsection (4) and subject to subsection (3), the amount of the 988 22
telecommunications fee is 25 cents per line per month. If a 23
consumer has multiple access points or access lines, the 988 24
telecommunications fee is imposed separately on each of the first 25
10 access points or access lines and then as 1 charge for each 10 26
access points or access lines per billed account. 27
(3) At the end of each calendar year after 2027, the state 28
treasurer shall adjust the fee in subsection (2) by an amount 29
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determined by the state treasurer to reflect the cumulative annual 1
percentage change in the Consumer Price Index. The state treasurer 2
shall make the calculations required by this subsection before 3
December 15 of each year and publish a cumulative list of each 4
adjusted amount since the year in which this section takes effect 5
stating the year for which each adjusted amount is effective. 6
(4) For a consumer described in subsection (1)(c), the amount 7
of the 988 telecommunications fee is 6% per retail transaction. 8
(5) The 988 telecommunications fee must be separately stated 9
on an invoice, receipt, or other similar document that is provided 10
to a consumer by the seller, or otherwise disclosed to the 11
consumer. 12
(6) A 988 telecommunications fee is the liability of the 13
consumer and not of the seller or of any provider. 14
(7) The seller or provider shall remit the 988 15
telecommunications fee monthly to the state treasurer, who shall 16
deposit it in the 988 crisis lifeline system fund created in 17
section 165a. 18
(8) A seller or provider may retain 2% of the 988 19
telecommunications fees that are collected by the seller or 20
provider to reimburse the seller or provider for its direct costs 21
in collecting and remitting the 988 telecommunications fee. 22
(9) The department of treasury shall review the 988 crisis 23
lifeline system fund created in section 165a for collection and 24
remittance compliance under this section and produce a report. The 25
report must contain findings on at least all of the following: 26
(a) The amount of money owed to the 988 crisis lifeline system 27
fund created in section 165a under this section. 28
(b) The amount of money remitted to the 988 crisis lifeline 29
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system fund created in section 165a under this section. 1
(c) Any other pertinent information to locate and address 2
noncompliance with this section as determined by the department of 3
treasury. 4
(d) Any other pertinent information on the telecommunications 5
service marketplace that may help accurately predict revenue under 6
this section. 7
(10) By not later than July 1, 2029, the department of 8
treasury shall issue a report to the legislature regarding the 9
findings under subsection (9). In addition to the required 10
information under subsection (9), the report must contain 11
recommendations to the legislature to increase compliance with this 12
section. 13
(11) To determine whether a seller or provider has correctly 14
collected and remitted the 988 telecommunications fee due under 15
this section, the department of treasury may examine the books, 16
records, and papers and audit the accounts of a seller or provider 17
or any other records to the same extent as provided under 1941 PA 18
122, MCL 205.1 to 205.31. An examination or audit performed by the 19
department under this section must be done in accordance with the 20
procedures under section 21 of 1941 PA 122, MCL 205.21. An 21
assessment, decision, or order of the department of treasury issued 22
as a result of an examination or audit under this section is 23
subject to appeal as provided under section 22 of 1941 PA 122, MCL 24
205.22. An assessment or claim for a refund is subject to the time 25
periods specified under section 27a(2) to (4) of 1941 PA 122, MCL 26
205.27a. 27
(12) As used in this section: 28
(a) "Consumer" means a person who purchases telecommunications 29
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services. 1
(b) "Consumer Price Index" means the most comprehensive index 2
of consumer prices available for this state from the Bureau of 3
Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor. 4
(c) "988 telecommunications fee" means the fee that is 5
required to be collected by a seller or provider from a consumer 6
under subsection (1). 7
(d) "Provider" means a person that provides telecommunications 8
services under a license issued by the Federal Communications 9
Commission. 10
(e) "Retail transaction" means the purchase of a 11
telecommunications service from a seller for any purpose other than 12
resale. 13
(f) "Seller" means a person that sells prepaid wireless 14
telecommunications service to another person. 15