REACT Act

This bill mandates the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a program offering technical and financial assistance to State, local, and Tribal authorities. This support is specifically for conducting periodic field training, end-to-end testing, and community-based exercises of their emergency alert and warning systems. The assistance includes funding for live testing, help with establishing clear roles and standard operating procedures, and developing evidence-based message templates. It also provides training on crafting and disseminating effective messages, developing standardized metrics, and testing multimodal technology to ensure system coordination. The program further offers technical support for public education campaigns and recommendations for local policy regarding alert system use. FEMA must develop an operational plan within one year, detailing anticipated costs and effectiveness metrics, and subsequently submit annual reports to Congress on the program's activities and outcomes. The Act authorizes $30,000,000 annually for fiscal years 2025 through 2035 to fund these critical enhancements, with the program's authority terminating after 10 years.