By: Mario D. Mairena



AUVSI had a successful campaign in 2013 defending unmanned aircraft
systems (UAS) with the help of the AUVSI chapters and active
stakeholders. Last week, the news out of New Jersey officially settled
the score for our advocacy efforts. Gov. Chris Christie used his “pocket
veto” on S-2702, a bill that would have barred law enforcement agencies
from collecting information using UAS without a warrant, except under
special circumstances or with the written consent of the person or
property owner being observed. The bill cleared the General Assembly in a
76-1 vote in early January and the Senate passed the amended bill the
week of 6 Jan. in a 34-2 vote, but the bill expired 21 Jan. after Gov.
Christie refused to sign or veto the bill.



Although nine bills passed in 2013, through AUVSI’s advocacy efforts, we
were able to defeat 21 bills and 12 bills carried over into 2014 as
those states have two-year legislative sessions. However, with many of
the states starting the 2014 legislative session, there are nine states
that have once again introduced anti-UAS legislation. Georgia, Kentucky,
Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Utah and
Washington have introduced legislation for the 2014 session.  



On 16 Jan., South Carolina approved H3514 approved 100-0 and the bill
has been sent to the Senate and has been referred to the committee on
Judiciary. In New Jersey, the legislation’s sponsors are gearing up for
another try at passing the bill in the new legislation session as A-1039
was already pre-filed in the 2014-2015 Session by Asm. Dan Benson and
Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto.



It appears that 2014 will again require the active involvement of the
AUVSI chapters and our active stakeholders to defeat onerous anti-UAS
legislation.