Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is introducing bipartisan legislation, alongside Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), to strengthen emergency alerts during natural disasters. Known as the Mystic Alerts Act, this is companion legislation to House Resolution 7022, which is also known as the Mystic Alerts Act.
What does this Senate companion do specifically? This bipartisan legislation would enable emergency alerts to be delivered via satellite communications technologies when other systems fail during emergencies, including natural disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires, and floods.
This bill is also a response to last summer’s devastating flood in Central Texas that killed over 100 people. Following this incident, it was later reported that residents did not receive emergency alerts after cellular infrastructure was damaged.
What lawmakers are saying:
- Sen. Jon Ossoff: “When storms, disasters, or threats to public safety threaten our state, crisis management is key. This bipartisan bill with Senator Cornyn will help upgrade America’s emergency alert systems to keep Georgia families safe and informed.”
- Sen. John Cornyn: “Texas will never forget the July 4th flooding tragedy that devastated Camp Mystic and other communities in Central Texas. Seconds matter during fast-moving disasters like flash flooding, and damaged ground-based infrastructure can slow down emergency alerts that might save lives.”
- Sen. Cornyn Continued: “The Mystic Alerts Act would help ensure communities experiencing severe disasters receive wireless emergency alerts even when cellular communications networks are compromised, and I urge my Senate colleagues to support this legislation to strengthen this important technology and save lives.”
Further Context: HR 7022 passed the House of Representatives unanimously and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Should the bill encounter any resistance, this new companion bill might serve as a necessary substitute.
The bills contain the same language and establish the same provisions. For example, both bills require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish technical standards and other regulations to enable satellite emergency alerts.
Under both bills, commercial mobile service providers that participate in the wireless emergency alerts system must give notice to the FCC indicating whether they will transmit such alerts via satellite.
