Update on the 911 SAVES Act & Telecommunicator Reclassification

On July 10, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed an amended version of the 911 SAVES Act (H.R. 6319), which would direct the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to consider reclassifying 9-1-1 professionals as "Protective Service" personnel in the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.

NENA is obviously disappointed that this version of the bill strays from the language of previous iterations, which would have explicitly directed OMB to reclassify 9-1-1 professionals into the "Protective Service Occupation" category. However, this same approach was applied to any bill that dealt with a requested reclassification; all of them were changed from "directing" OMB to act to asking OMB to "consider" action. 

Click here to write to your Senators to keep the legislative momentum for 911 SAVES moving forward and see the introduction of a companion bill in the Senate!

Also, the Office of Management and Budget recently announced their review of the Standard Occupational Classification manual. On behalf of our members, NENA will be filing comments recommending the reclassification of 9-1-1 telecommunicators into the "Protective Service Occupation" category. While it is not essential that you submit your own comments, NENA offers this commenting-guidance document to anyone wishing to do so; this will ensure your submission is effective and provides the specific, objective, and research-based information that OMB looks for when considering a reclassification request. 

Click here to read more.