Sponsors (2)
The bill improves recognition and workforce data for public-safety telecommunicators—potentially boosting recruitment, support, and targeted policies—at the cost of administrative burdens, possible short-term data disruptions, and potential new expenses for governments and taxpayers, with uncertain immediate pay or program changes if OMB declines to act.
Public safety telecommunicators (911 dispatchers and similar) would gain formal occupational recognition (separate or reclassified SOC code), which raises status and is likely to improve recruitment, retention, training focus, and job-quality discussions for this workforce.
Agencies, policymakers, and planners would get clearer workforce data from an aligned or new SOC code, enabling better-targeted pay, staffing, training, and funding decisions for emergency-response staffing.
Acknowledging duty-related trauma for telecommunicators could increase provision of mental-health and critical-incident support (e.g., CISD), improving psychological recovery and resilience for affected workers.
Local governments, employers, and taxpayers could face added costs if agencies expand mental-health or critical-incident services without dedicated new funding.
Reclassifying or creating a new SOC code would impose administrative burdens on OMB and federal, state, and local agencies that maintain or adopt SOC-based systems and reporting.
If OMB declines the new code, telecommunicators may receive only an explanation rather than any immediate policy, pay, or program changes, delaying tangible benefits.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Directs OMB to consider creating a separate SOC code for public safety telecommunicators within protective service occupations and to report to Congress if it declines.
Introduced January 16, 2025 by Norma Judith Torres · Last progress January 16, 2025
Directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to consider creating a distinct Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code for public safety telecommunicators as a subset of protective service occupations at the next SOC revision; if OMB declines to create the separate code, OMB must report its reasons to two congressional committees within 60 days after announcing the final SOC revision. The bill also records findings about the high-stress, lifesaving nature of telecommunicators' work and the potential for trauma-related effects such as PTSD.