Senate approves several measures: drone penalties, expanded simple‑estate process, CASA seats, pesticide sprayer rule

The Oregon Senate approved several bills during its April 3 session, passing measures on unmanned aircraft penalties near wildfire operations, probate simplification for small estates, inclusion of Court Appointed Special Advocates on advisory teams, and a technical update on battery‑powered backpack pesticide sprayers.

Senate Bill 1125: drone interference and wildfire response — Senate Bill 1125 (reported out of the judiciary committee) increases criminal penalties for knowingly operating an unmanned aircraft (drone) in a way that interferes with emergency response or wildfire suppression. The presenter, Senator Przonski, said the bill "enhances the penalties" by aligning interference with wildfire suppression to existing felony tiers already applied to other harms (class C up to class A depending on injury or death). Senator McLean spoke in opposition on the floor, arguing the increase (in particular a class B felony for property damage) was disproportionate compared with other offenses. The clerk recorded the final passage with a constitutional majority; the clerk announced 21 ayes and the measure was declared passed.

Senate Bill 15: simple estates — Senator Thatcher described SB 15 as expanding eligibility for the simple‑estate affidavit process by treating manufactured homes as real property for the purpose of estate valuation, raising the combined real property/manufactured home cap to $200,000 and a total estate cap of $275,000 for a modified simple‑estate option (up to $1 million if distributed to a single named recipient). The bill preserves the existing $145 filing fee. The Senate recorded 28 ayes on final passage.

Senate Bill 135: CASA representation on advisory and review teams — Senator Linthicum said SB 135 (with a -1 amendment) requires that local CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) representatives be added to several advisory and review teams, including the Governor’s Child Foster Care Advisory Commission, domestic violence fatality review teams, youth suicide prevention advisory committees, county child abuse multidisciplinary teams, and others. The Senate recorded 28 ayes on final passage.

Senate Bill 360: battery‑powered pesticide backpack sprayers — Senator Brock Smith described SB 360 as updating statute for machine‑powered pesticide application devices, chiefly to account for battery‑powered backpack sprayers that use interchangeable commercial batteries (for example, DeWalt or Makita packs). The bill also adds a requirement for the Oregon Department of Agriculture to provide training materials. The Senate recorded 25 ayes on final passage.

Procedural note: The Senate also approved a motion to suspend the requirement that each bill be read section by section on its final passage for that day’s third reading calendar; the clerk recorded 25 ayes on that motion.

Votes at a glance: - SB 1125 (unmanned aircraft systems/drones interfering with wildfire response) — passed (21 ayes). Presenter: Senator Przonski. Floor opposition: Senator McLean (concerned sanctions too severe). - SB 15 (simple estates) — passed (28 ayes). Presenter: Senator Thatcher. - SB 135 (Court Appointed Special Advocates on advisory/review teams) — passed (28 ayes). Presenter: Senator Linthicum. - SB 360 (machine‑powered pesticide application devices/backpack sprayers) — passed (25 ayes). Presenter: Senator Brock Smith. - Motion to suspend section‑by‑section reading on third reading calendar — passed (25 ayes).

Each bill will proceed with enrollment/transmittal steps as required by the legislative process.