Big Island Video News:
(BIVN) – Hawai‘i’s Congressional Delegation continues to push legislation to improve the nationwide Emergency Alert System, in the wake of January’s embarrassing false missile alert.
Today, the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act was introduced in the U.S. House, courtesy Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) and Colleen Hanabusa (HI-01). The same Act has already been introduced in the U.S. Senate, thanks to U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and John Thune (R-S.D).
According to the lawmakers, the READI Act would:
- Ensure more people receive emergency alerts by eliminating the option to opt out of receiving certain federal alerts, including missile alerts, on mobile phones;
- Require active alerts issued by the President or FEMA to be repeated. Currently, alerts on TV or radio may only be played once;
- Explore establishing a system to offer emergency alerts to audio and video online streaming services, such as Netflix and Spotify;
