Advanced, Local Emergency Response Telecommunications Parity Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Advanced, Local Emergency Response Telecommunications Parity Act or the ALERT Parity Act
This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to facilitate the provision of emergency communication services (e.g., 9-1-1 calls and emergency alerts) in unserved areas. An unserved area is one that has no commercial mobile service capable of providing emergency services because of a lack of infrastructure, destruction of infrastructure, a power outage, or other reason.
The FCC must establish a process for companies to apply for approval to access the electromagnetic spectrum in order to provide emergency services in unserved areas. To obtain approval, a company must demonstrate that it (1) has a technical proposal for providing services, (2) will not use the spectrum to provide additional services, and (3) has the capability to provide the services rapidly. The company must also demonstrate that the services can withstand earthquakes, hurricanes, and other major disasters. The FCC must publish a list of approved providers online.
Additionally, the bill provides protections for authorized users of the spectrum. For example, a provider with FCC approval to provide emergency services to an area under this bill may only access the spectrum if (1) the entity that is typically authorized to use it expressly consents in writing to the approved provider's use, and (2) the approved provider's use does not interfere with the authorized entity's use. Authorized entities that receive a request for consent must reasonably engage with the provider submitting the request.
The bill also limits the liability of an approved provider for certain harms resulting from the transmission of (or failure to transmit) emergency alerts or the release of subscriber information when delivering an alert.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on April 26, 2023. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 27, 2023: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Bill Johnson (R-OH) introduced it on March 3, 2023, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 3, 2023, 1287 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1232 days ago, on April 27, 2023.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers