BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 271| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- VETO Bill No: SB 271 Author: Gaines (R), et al. Amended: 9/1/15 Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/14/15 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Leno, McGuire, Monning, Stone NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 SENATE FLOOR: 37-0, 5/7/15 AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De León, Gaines, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller, Liu SENATE FLOOR: 40-0, 9/4/15 AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 9/3/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Unmanned aircraft systems SOURCE: Author SB 271 Page 2 DIGEST: This bill makes it a criminal infraction to knowingly and intentionally operate an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) at or less than 350 feet above a public school campus or to use a UAS to capture images of a public school campus during school hours without the written permission of the school principal. ANALYSIS: Existing federal law, the Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, requires the Secretary of Transportation to develop a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system. The plan is required to provide for safe integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into national airspace as soon as practicable, not later than September 30, 2015. (112 P.L. 95, 332) Existing state law: 1)Prohibits wiretapping or eavesdropping on confidential communications. (Penal Code § 630) 2)Makes it a crime for a person, intentionally, and without requisite consent, to eavesdrop on a confidential communication by means of any electronic amplifying or recording device. (Penal Code § 632.) This bill: 1)Prohibits the knowing and intentional operation of a UAS at or less than 350 feet above the grounds of a public school (K-12 school). 2)Prohibits the unauthorized use of a UAS to capture images of K-12 school grounds during school hours. 3)Provides exceptions to these prohibitions for: a) The news media, i.e., newspaper, television, radio, news SB 271 Page 3 wire services, periodicals, and their Internet Web sites, including individuals connected to or employed by the news media; b) Law enforcement agencies; c) UAS users who have written permission from the school principal, the principal's designee, or a higher authority; and d) Entities authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to use UAS, if the UAS is operated in accordance with the terms and conditions of the authorization. 4)Requires the news media to stop using a UAS over a K-12 school's grounds upon the request of a school principal on the basis that the UAS would disrupt class or other school activities. 5)Authorizes the imposition of a warning for the first violation, and a fine of $200 for each subsequent violation. 6)Defines "school hours" to include any school session, extracurricular activities, events sponsored by the school, and one hour before and after any session, activity, or event. 7)Defines "unmanned aircraft" and "unmanned aircraft system" consistent with FAA regulation. Comments This bill prohibits the use of drones on school grounds and SB 271 Page 4 capturing images of a school during school hours or school activities without written permission of the school. The penalty for a first offense is a warning. The penalty for a second or subsequent offense is an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $200 plus approximately 300% penalty assessments so the maximum fine would be approximately $800. The prohibition in this bill applies during school hours as defined. Law enforcement and news organizations are exempt from the prohibition. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor nonreimbursable costs to cities and counties for enforcement, offset to some extent by fine revenues. SUPPORT: (10/27/15) None received OPPOSITION: (10/27/15) California Public Defenders Association GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE: I am returning the following nine bills without my SB 271 Page 5 signature: Assembly Bill 144 Assembly Bill 849 Senate Bill 168 Senate Bill 170 Senate Bill 271 Senate Bill 333 Senate Bill 347 Senate Bill 716 Senate Bill 722 Each of these bills creates a new crime - usually by finding a novel way to characterize and criminalize conduct that is already proscribed. This multiplication and particularization of criminal behavior creates increasing complexity without commensurate benefit. Over the last several decades, California's criminal code has grown to more than 5,000 separate provisions, covering almost every conceivable form of human misbehavior. During the same period, our jail and prison populations have exploded. Before we keep going down this road, I think we should pause and reflect on how our system of criminal justice could be made more human, more just and more cost-effective. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 9/3/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, SB 271 Page 6 Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. / 11/4/15 14:01:14 **** END ****