PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) — Monday is an off day for South Dakota legislators. Tuesday is the 13th legislative day of 37. There have been 365 bills introduced, 194 this week. And here are some Bills at center stage.
Bills of interest:
House Bills (HB)
HB 1065. Revise drone surveillance protections. To House Judiciary. Introduced by Rep. Dave Johnson (R-Rapid City) the bill is trying to prohibit drones from being used to trespass or violate privacy laws. Currently, drone trespassing restrictions don’t apply to law enforcement, emergency workers, commercial, and agriculture drone operators who are operating in compliance with FAA requirements. The bill removes the FAA exemption for commercial and ag operators.
It also substantially increases the drone operations affected by privacy restrictions. The affected language is below. An overstrike is current law and the underlined is suggested. No person may, Intentionally uses a drone to photograph, record, or otherwise observe another person in a private place where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy Use a drone for aerial surveillance, observation, technological imaging, photography, videography or any other type of sensory recording to gather, collect, disseminate, or retain data of persons, homes, businesses, or properties, where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, without the written consent from the person, the property owner, or the manager.
HB 1071.
Revise provisions regarding surface water quality complaints. To House Ag and Natural Resources. Current law requires that a complaint to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources about surface water pollution be signed by the individual making the complaint. Hugh Bartels(R-Watertown) is trying to ensure that the proceedings are confidential, but the bill as drafted may allow anonymous complaints to be considered
HB 1213.
Preclude the assignment of exclusive broadcast rights for certain high school interscholastic activities. No Committee assignment yet. Brought by Rep. Spencer Gosch (R-Glenham) who has a long-standing frustration with the high school activities association, the bill states that the activities association authority “does not include the authority to grant or assign exclusive broadcast rights for state-level events to a media contractor”. It would certainly affect their contract with public television/radio and also the rights that they’ve assigned to their national association. Those are his intended targets. Its effect on any local agreements between a school and a station is less clear.
(Steve Willard, SDBA, contributed this report.)
