FCC must report on big network failures after disasters.

What it does

The bill tells the FCC to hold public meetings each year. After a major event breaks phone networks for a week or longer, the FCC must write reports. The reports show what broke, how many people lost service, and damage. The FCC must study two things. First, should phone companies send pictures or maps to 911 centers when networks go down. Second, does the FCC miss some big failures because its rules set the bar too high.

Who it affects

People learn how phone networks fail during major events. They learn what could work better. Phone companies must let the FCC write down failures that already happen. The bill does not cost people money or take away rights.

One thing to notice

The bill does not make new rules. It only tells the FCC to report facts and study alerts. Public reports about which phone companies have bad failures might push them to spend more on fixing networks.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Sep 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Sep 8, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology”
• Jan 15, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Apr 9, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 517”
• Apr 20, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 386 - 7…”
• Apr 20, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Allen moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 1 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $50,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 85 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.

Doris Matsui, who sponsored the bill, received $1,004,688 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Peace Officers Research Association of California — $50,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• FCC — The agency that makes rules for phone and internet companies.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.