House panel advances bill to fund autonomous-technology grants for state agencies

House Bill 1249, a one-time $750,000 general-fund appropriation to expand autonomous-technology grants across several state agencies, was amended and advanced by the House Industry, Business and Labor Committee on Oct. 12.

Representative Jared Haggert, the bill sponsor, told the committee the proposal would "provide appropriations of $750,000 from the general fund to 5 different areas" and include study language tied to the grants. Haggert said he filed amendments to replace the Department of Transportation with the Department of Emergency Services as a recipient and to strike language authorizing "the development of a drone racing course."

The bill would make one-time grants available to the attorney general’s office, the Department of Career and Technical Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the agriculture commissioner’s office, and (as amended) the Department of Emergency Services for projects using autonomous technology, including unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), to address agency needs.

Supporters, including Frank Mattis of the UAS Council and the VANTAS program, told the committee the pilot grants established last session under House Bill 1519 helped the Department of Agriculture identify noxious weeds, including Palmer amaranth, across multiple counties. "Our estimation, this program has been widely successful," Mattis said, describing how partners such as the Northern Plains UAS test site, North Dakota State University and private drone firms used AI and UAS to map problem areas and speed mitigation planning.

Samantha Brunner, Plant Industries Division director speaking for Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, said the 2023 grant of $275,000 funded a coalition that is currently field-testing a UAS-based system to detect Palmer amaranth in cropping systems and that additional funds could help county weed boards do countywide surveys and targeted spot-spray operations.

Neutral witnesses raised implementation questions. Darren Hanson, homeland security division director at the Department of Emergency Services, said the department supported being listed in place of DOT but asked whether the bill would permit purchase of UAS that are incompatible with federal requirements. "We wanted to check on the intent if this would be opening up to noncompliant UAS," Hanson said, and asked the committee to consider language tied to federal compatibility for any large equipment purchases. Chad Oren, deputy director for planning at the Department of Transportation, said DOT supported shifting the DOT references to Emergency Services because of the law-enforcement focus in parts of the bill.

Committee members discussed whether grants should be permanent or continued as one-time funding; Haggert said the request is for one-time funding to expand the program to agencies that did not receive grants last session and to demonstrate the model to new users.

Committee members adopted Haggert’s two amendments — replacing Department of Transportation with Department of Emergency Services where the bill references DOT, and striking the phrase authorizing development of a drone racing course — and then voted to advance the amended bill to the Appropriations Committee. Representative Bail moved a "do pass" recommendation with referral to Appropriations; Representative Schauer seconded the motion. The committee approved the motion and assigned Representative Christie to carry the bill to the next committee.

The bill sponsors and witnesses emphasized the grants are intended to leverage existing state infrastructure (the Northern Plains UAS test site, the VANTAS network and partners such as Grand Sky and Grand Farm) so agencies can pursue targeted uses of autonomous technology — from invasive-weed detection to law-enforcement and disaster-mitigation applications — without each agency building a separate drone program.

Next steps: the committee’s recommendation sends the amended House Bill 1249 to the Appropriations Committee for further consideration; Representative Christie was named to carry the bill.