S. 123: Kari's Law Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-01-12 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Held at the desk.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-01-12 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Held at the desk. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Kari's Law Act of 2017

Plain summary

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on May 11, 2017. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Kari's Law Act of 2017 (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit businesses from manufacturing or importing for use in the United States, or selling or leasing in the United States, a multiline telephone system unless it is pre-configured to allow users to directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 (without dialing any additional digit, code, prefix, or post-fix, including any trunk-access code such as the digit "9") from any station equipped with dialing facilities. Businesses are prohibited from installing, managing, or operating multiline telephone systems without such a direct 9-1-1 call configuration. Businesses installing, managing, or operating such systems for use in the United States must configure the systems to provide a notification to a central location at the facility where the system is installed, or to another person or organization regardless of location, if the system is able to be so configured without an improvement to the hardware or software.

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate without amendment), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Kari's Law Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate without amendment)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] · 5 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: S. 123, Kari’s Law Act of 2017 (2017-02-14)

Cosponsors on this site

Deb Fischer (R-NE), Brian Schatz (D-HI), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Thune (R-SD), Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] reported raising $2.5 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate without amendment)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115s123.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/s>

Record fed-us-cong115-s123 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115