STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 22, 2025…..As lawmakers begin to think about regulating the use of drones in Massachusetts, industry professionals are urging them to rethink their approach.
Six bills before the Transportation Committee aim to define and regulate the unmanned aircraft at the state level — the registration, operation and pilot requirements of which are currently broadly governed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Several drone enthusiasts contested every one of the bills Tuesday, arguing that lawmakers should press pause and further examine the existing regulations.
Sen. John Velis and others painted drone regulations as a pressing safety issue. He called on his colleagues to address what he called “serious privacy and security threats” from unregulated drone use, which he said has resulted in interference with commercial aircraft at airports and grounding of some response aircraft.
“Our commonwealth laws have not kept pace with technology. In fact, currently, the Federal Aviation Administration has carte blanche when it comes to regulating drone usage, and this leaves law enforcement in Massachusetts and all public safety officials with very few options for overseeing drone usage,” Velis said. “We regulate cars, we regulate aircrafts — we must do the same for drones.”
A Velis bill (S 2454) would create no-fly zones surrounding “critical facilities” like airports, correctional institutions and military institutions, set minimum standards for drone operators and provide an enforcement process for recklessly-used or unmarked drones, according to the Westfield Democrat.
The industry seemingly is not on board with Beacon Hill’s proposed approach.
“I understand the intention behind some of these bills, but I encourage you to please do some more research and realize that these bills are destructive, not only to us, but the community as a whole and to future drone pilots,” Hayden Spitz, founder of Boston Drone Productions, told lawmakers Tuesday.
Spitz does photography and videography for realtors and businesses and teaches at the University of New Hampshire about drone laws and safety. He said he wouldn’t be able to help realtors show potential homebuyers the schools surrounding the homes they’re selling, under a Rep. Bruce Ayers bill (H 3618) that would bar drones from flying over early, elementary and secondary education facilities.
Ayers said Tuesday that his bill would “set a stronger precedent” for drone use by requiring operators to get written permission from a superintendent or school official to be able to fly drones over school buildings. Ayers named Louisiana, Alabama and New Jersey as places with similar restrictions.
Michael Ford, a commercial real estate aerial photographer, asked lawmakers Tuesday to table all six bills “to make sure these harmonize with the federal law, and also maybe put together an industry panel within Massachusetts to help guide how these come through and make them successful.”
A Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reid bill (H 3663) specifically, Ford said, would inhibit his ability to do his job. The proposal would nearly completely prohibit night flying, and prohibit drone take-off or landing on municipal or state-owned property and near aquifers, schools, parks, churches, places where “children congregate” or areas like athletic events or concerts where crowds gather.
The proposals show “a misunderstanding of the drone laws,” according to Spitz.
“Talking about everything from recreational being more than 10 pounds — recreational has nothing to do with weight, it has to do with intention of flying,” Spitz said. “Talking about recreational flyers being at least 16 — recreational flyers don’t have an age limit, but as long as they took the TRUST test and understand the rules and legislation that they put in there … that would allow them to fly.”
Additional Rep. Brian Murray and Sen. Michael Rush bills (H 3749, S 2438) would put certain operational definitions in place for drones, along with prohibiting the arming of drones with weapons and the conducting of surveillance via drone. Industry opposition extended also to a Rep. Marcus Vaughn bill (H 3800) that would ban the sale of Chinese drones in Massachusetts.
“I understand that there is worry at the federal level on securing those. I understand that they are working through to figure out what’s true and what’s not. But getting rid of Chinese drones in the short term would impact school STEM programs, it would impact public safety, it would impact search and rescue, it would impact anybody who uses these drones,” Ford said.
