FEDERALcongressional record

Lulu's Law: Adding Shark Attacks to Emergency Alerts

Original title: LULU'S LAW

May 20, 2026

public safety telecommunications emergency alerts beaches wildlife

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The Frame

What this does

This bill mandates that the FCC authorize shark attacks as a valid reason for sending wireless emergency alerts to the public within 180 days of enactment, providing a new tool for local officials to warn beachgoers of immediate dangers.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Beachgoers

They may receive emergency alerts on their mobile devices regarding shark activity in their vicinity.

Local and State Authorities

They gain the legal authorization to use the federal wireless alert system to notify the public about shark attacks.

Federal Communications Commission

The agency is mandated to update its regulations and issue an order regarding alert message content.

What changed

Last recorded activity May 20, 2026.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

Lulu's Law (S. 1003) requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update its rules to allow shark attacks to be included in the system. This change aims to give local authorities the ability to send immediate warnings to cell phones in areas where a shark attack has occurred.

Key Facts

The FCC must issue an order within 180 days of enactment to include shark attacks as a permissible event for Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).
The bill is officially titled 'Lulu's Law'.
The legislation applies to the existing WEA system established in 2012.
The bill passed the House via a motion to suspend the rules, though a final vote was postponed after a demand for yeas and nays.
The bill is a Senate bill (S. 1003) with a House companion (H.R. 2076).

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my phone automatically get a shark alert?

The bill allows local authorities to use the existing Wireless Emergency Alert system to send these warnings, similar to how they currently send weather or flash flood alerts.

When does this law take effect?

The FCC is required to issue the necessary order within 180 days after the bill is signed into law.

Why It Matters

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift100% confidence

Expansion of WEA usage

The bill represents a shift in federal policy by explicitly expanding the scope of the Wireless Emergency Alert system from natural disasters to include specific wildlife-related threats.

Federal Communications Commission

Connected Entities

personGary Palmer“Representative from Alabama who moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.”Map →

organizationFederal Communications Commission“The agency required to issue the order regarding emergency alerts.”Map →

organizationLulu Strong Foundation“A foundation founded by Lulu Gribbin to assist amputees.”Map →

personLulu Gribbin“The namesake of the bill who survived a shark attack in 2024.”Map →

personFrank Pallone“Representative from New Jersey who spoke in support of the bill.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance45
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy5
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment20
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz40
Current news / social attention level

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