H.R. 8542 · 117th Congress

Mental Health Justice Act of 2022

Introduced on Jul 27, 2022 by Katie Porter (D-CA-45). Latest action (Sep 27, 2022): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Jul 27, 2022
Cosponsors
0
Policy area
Health
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to States, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Urban Indian organizations, and political subdivisions thereof to hire, employ, train, and dispatch mental health professionals to respond in lieu of law enforcement officers in emergencies involving one or more persons with a mental illness or an intellectual or developmental disability, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Congressional oversight
  • Correctional facilities and imprisonment
  • Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
  • Criminal justice information and records
  • Disability and paralysis
  • Drug trafficking and controlled substances
  • Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
  • Emergency communications systems
  • Employment and training programs
  • First responders and emergency personnel
  • Government information and archives
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Health personnel
  • Health programs administration and funding
  • Law enforcement administration and funding
  • Law enforcement officers
  • Mental health
  • Performance measurement
  • Racial and ethnic relations
  • State and local government operations

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Passed House, Sep 22, 2022). Public domain.

Mental Health Justice Act of 2022

This bill creates a grant program for states, tribal entities, and local governments to train and dispatch mental health professionals to respond, instead of law enforcement officers, to emergencies that involve people with behavioral health needs.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) must manage the program in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ). SAMHSA may cancel grants that increase incarceration or institutionalization.

The Department of Health and Human Services and DOJ must evaluate this program.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Katie PorterD-CA-45Sponsor

No cosponsors.

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Passage
    Sep 22, 2022· House· Passage· Passed 223–206

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jul 27, 2022Introduced in House
  2. Jul 27, 2022Introduced in House
  3. Jul 27, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Jul 27, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Sep 21, 2022 · HouseRules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1377 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4118, H.R. 5768, H.R. 6448 and H.R. 8542. Resolution provides for 30 minutes of general debate with one motion to recommit for each bill.
  6. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseRule H. Res. 1377 passed House.
  7. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseConsidered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1377. (consideration: CR H8081-8085)
  8. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseRule provides for consideration of H.R. 4118, H.R. 5768, H.R. 6448 and H.R. 8542. Resolution provides for 30 minutes of general debate with one motion to recommit for each bill.
  9. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with 30 miunutes of debate on H.R. 8542.
  10. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House resumed with debate on H.R. 8542.
  11. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseThe previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
  12. Sep 22, 2022 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on H.R. 8542, the Chair put the question on passage of the bill and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Armstrong demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  13. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H8101-8102)
  14. Sep 22, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 223 - 206 (Roll no. 452).House · Roll call 452
  15. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseOn passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 223 - 206 (Roll no. 452). (text: CR H8081-8082)House · Roll call 452
  16. Sep 22, 2022 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  17. Sep 27, 2022 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.