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By Noelle Straub, Wisconsin Examiner April 3, 2023 Editor’s note: If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
The new 988 national suicide and crisis hotline has seen a surge in use. Now states are debating how to pay for it.
State and local governments still will be responsible for funding the local centers where calls are first routed, leaving many budget writers grappling with how to cover the costs as demand increases.
Almost everyone agrees that funding 988 is a good thing. But not everyone thinks a new phone tax is the best way to pay for it.
Almost everyone agrees that putting money behind the national suicide and crisis hotline is a good thing.