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Bill By Santa Barbara Legislator To Get More People Signed Up For Emergency Alerts Clears Hurdle

Thomas Fire burning in Ventura County in December of 2017

A bill by a State Senator from Santa Barbara which attempts to get more people signed up with county emergency alert systems has been passed by the State Senate.

The current system requires people to sign up for emergency text and voice alert systems operated by counties. SB 821 by Democratic State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara would allow counties to automatically enroll people.

Instead of having to opt in, people would be automatically enrolled, but they would still have the option of opting out, and not participating. Jackson says less than a third of residents were signed up for alert program when the Thomas brush fire broke out last December.

The bill now goes to the Assembly for consideration.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.