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Sponsored by Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS) · 1 active : 1 Democrat
Latest action: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Recreational Drone Empowerment Act
This bill expands the areas in which recreational unmanned aircraft systems (i.e., drones) are authorized to fly.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has various classifications for airspace, including Class E airspace, which is controlled airspace that is comprised of multiple sectors (e.g., Classes E1 to E5). Class E airspace includes sectors that (1) generally begin where Class G airspace (i.e., uncontrolled airspace) ends, and (2) are associated with an airport surface area or a surface level extension to another class of airspace.
Under current law, recreational drones may generally operate in certain circumstances from a fixed site, including within Class B, C, or D airspace. They may also operate within Class G airspace (1) up to 400 feet above ground level, without prior FAA authorization; and (2) over 400 feet above ground level with prior FAA authorization.
The FAA has interpreted current law to allow recreational drone operations in Class E2 airspace designated for an airport and prohibit recreational drone operations in other Class E sectors.
The bill specifies that the FAA may authorize recreational drones to operate at fixed site locations in Class E airspace that is
above Class G airspace; or
designated as an extension to a Class B, C, D, or E surface area.
Each member’s recorded vote compared with their swing projection from before the vote. A member by voting against most of their own party.
Passed by voice vote or unanimous consent: no individual votes recorded.
Members fall into . 6 representatives don’t have enough data yet and are marked “insufficient data”. Non-voting delegates are not counted. The bill is not before the House right now; these scores show where members would stand.
Bars show each input from 0 to 100: ideology gap, scorecard gap, , and the . is the seat’s partisan lean, and shows how much of the input data a score has.
Loading similar votes
These members have less than half of the model’s inputs, so their scores are not banded or ranked.
Ideology is each member’s score. The cluster low on the chart includes the bill’s 2 sponsor and cosponsors in the House: they have already committed, so they score as entrenched. 6 representatives without a DW-NOMINATE score or with insufficient data are not plotted.
Similar votes count toward swing-v3 in the House: total similarity weight 15.0 (needs 5.0).
