Rep. Doris Matsui joins bipartisan effort for $500 million federal suicide prevention funding

Mathew Miranda, The Sacramento Bee on Sep 8, 2026

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Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., joined mental health services leaders Tuesday to announce legislation that seeks to provide hundreds of millions in federal funding for the infrastructure of a national suicide and crisis line.

The bill, unveiled earlier this month, is intended to build on the nationwide rollout of 988 — a three-digit suicide and crisis lifeline that launched four years ago. Among the components in the legislation are funding for mobile crisis teams, the implementation of a suicide prevention awareness campaign and a requirement for all health insurance plans to cover crisis services.

“The 988 Implementation Act is about making sure that every person across the country who calls gets an answer and gets the services that they need,” Matsui said at a news conference inside the future WellSpace Health Wellness campus in South Sacramento.

The campus broke ground in April at a long vacant office complex on Stockton Boulevard and will primarily serve patients who are insured through Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. Upon completion, the 13-acre facility will offer multiple services including a behavioral health crisis communication center, crisis receiving center, 32-bed inpatient center for patients with serious mental illness and 200-bed residential rehabilitation center.

The need for such services is only growing, said WellSpace CEO Jonathan Porteus. Counselors from the Sacramento-based healthcare system work with more than 150,000 contacts across the state each year. A Sacramento County study found that the region has a shortage of beds for patients who are at the end of a hospital stay but are not ready to live independently, according to previous reporting from The Sacramento Bee.

“Sustained funding is essential to make that vision possible,” Porteus said. “It supports the trained counselors, technology and capacity necessary to answer every connection and ensure that help is available whenever someone reaches out.”

Nationwide, the 988 lifeline has received more than 26 million calls, texts and chats since July 2022, when it was changed from its pre-existing 10-digit number.

The change has proven effective in reducing suicide rates. In a study published earlier this year by Journal of American Medical Association, suicide deaths among children and young adults fell 11% with the largest declines seen in states where 988 use increased most.

“As we continue to fight this mental health crisis in America, the need to invest in what works,” Matsui said. “988 works.”

Matsui, alongside other U.S. House members, has co-introduced versions of this bill since 2022. This year’s version is estimated at roughly $550 million with most of the money proposed for technology, training and operations for 250 regional and local lifeline call centers across the country.

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