Georgia committee tables drone procurement/security bill after public-safety warnings

Representative Clark presented House Bill 205 to require the Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency to develop a state-approved list of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that meet Department of Defense and NDAA standards and align with FAA requirements, with a proposed compliance window extended to 2029 to allow agencies time to transition.

Clark framed the bill as a national-security and supply-chain measure, saying that when "you have 90% of the market in China it's a national security risk," and that a multi-year compliance window would encourage domestic manufacturing and investment.

Emergency managers and public-safety witnesses pushed back, detailing operational consequences. James Westbrook, legislative chair for the Emergency Management Association of Georgia, warned the bill's DoD-approved requirement would be "overly restrictive," noting many public-safety units use drones that cost a fraction of DOD-approved hardware. "We would require these groups to have DOD approved drones under this legislation," Westbrook said, adding that the cheapest DoD-approved option could be about $15,000 and that replacing existing fleets would be a major unfunded cost.

Joshua Pruitt, a public-safety UAS subject-matter expert, argued the bill "takes these tools out of the hands of first responders" and that domestic manufacturing investment is currently focused on DOD needs rather than public-safety use cases. Multiple county emergency managers recounted rescues and public-safety missions (search-and-rescue, fire assessments, locating suspects) that relied on current drone capabilities; several said U.S.-made alternatives still lack parity in capability and/or price.

Committee members probed the sponsor on whether there is public evidence of backdoor data transmission by Chinese-made drones. Representative Clark and proponents cited federal warnings and classified concerns; others, including Senator McLaurin, noted "no evidence of this to date" and urged caution about immediate operational impacts on emergency response.

After the testimony, Senator Ginn moved to table HB 205 and the motion carried unanimously. Committee leadership directed the sponsor to convene stakeholders (including GEMA, State Patrol, Atlanta Fire and local public-safety professionals) and return with options at the next meeting.