House panel advances statewide evacuation alert system

The House Community and Regional Affairs Committee voted Thursday to advance legislation that would codify a color-coded evacuation alert system used by emergency managers across Alaska.

Senate Bill 192 establishes three standardized evacuation levels under AS 26.20.100: Level 1 Ready (green) for preparation, Level 2 Set (yellow) for nearby danger, and Level 3 Go (red) for immediate danger requiring evacuation. The system represents years of collaborative work among Alaska emergency managers and mirrors practices already common in many states. The committee approved the bill unanimously with no amendments and zero fiscal impact.

Senator Jesse Bjorkman, who sponsored the measure, told the committee the bill "codifies a standard level of practice and communication visually on maps so that the public will know and understand that when an area is red on a map, it means danger is here, danger is close, get out now, leave. Yellow means danger is in the area, and green means you should be ready to take action."

Bjorkman said the color-coding system "comes from a broad agreement of emergency response folks and emergency managers across the state." He described it as "a work product of many months, and years really of collaborative work between those emergency managers, and this is a system that they are agreeing to use."

Representative Steve St. Clair said he contacted the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs about the bill and found the agency neutral on the measure. "They stated that this is the standard for a lot of different states," St. Clair said. "It's just codifying in law something that is already being done and making sure that they do it right."

The bill was introduced May 12, 2025, and referred to the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee, which held its first hearing three days later. The committee moved a committee substitute out on Feb. 10, 2026. The Senate Resources Committee advanced the measure on April 17, 2026. The full Senate passed the bill 19-0 on April 24 and transmitted it to the House three days later.

Committee co-chair Rebecca Himschoot said the committee "did not receive any amendments by the deadline" for Thursday's hearing.

SB 192 now moves to the House Rules Committee. The Legislature is approaching the end of its session.