Senate committee adopts 'ready‑set‑go' amendment and sends SB192 out of committee

Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee Chair Merrick on Feb. 10, 2026 presided over a second hearing on Senate Bill 192 and the committee adopted a committee substitute that requires emergency plans to use a 'ready, set, go' evacuation designation system. An unidentified vice chair moved to adopt the committee substitute as the working document, and the committee heard no objections before approving it.

Senator Jesse Bjorkman, the bill sponsor, said the measure stems from emergency managers across the state seeking a uniform framework for evacuation communications. "It provides a ready set go designation corresponding to the colors of a stoplight. Green for ready, yellow for set and red for go," Bjorkman said, explaining the shorthand the bill would put into statute.

Laura Asha's staff to Senator Bjorkman (staff identified on the record) described the committee substitute as a technical fix that "adds the requirement to use the ready, set, go methodology under another section of plans that are drafted under state law." The CS applies the framework to plans developed by political subdivisions under AS 26.23.060 in addition to the section already cited in the bill (AS 26.23.073), closing an oversight in the initial drafting.

After adopting the committee substitute, the committee voted to move SB192 from committee "with individual recommendations and an accompanying zero fiscal note" and authorized legislative legal services to make conforming changes. The motion was made on the record and carried with no recorded objections.

Why it matters: The ready‑set‑go language is intended to give emergency managers and the public a uniform, plain‑language set of designations that clarify when evacuation actions should be taken. Supporters told the committee the change aligns state and local emergency plans and reduces confusion during incidents that require coordinated evacuations.

The next steps: With the CS adopted and the bill moved from committee, SB192 advances through the legislative process; the record indicates legal staff were authorized to make conforming edits. The committee took no other substantive amendments at this hearing.