House committee advances amended bill restricting drones near large venues amid free‑speech concerns

During the Committee of the Whole, Representative Winn and others presented an amended version of SB 11‑60 proposing no‑fly buffers for drones around event venues. Representative Collin criticized the bill’s lack of a mens rea requirement, arguing it could turn ordinary drone operators into criminals for inadvertent actions and potentially block large portions of urban areas. "That means if you're flying a drone and somebody's having an indoor event that you don't even know about, you are guilty of a crime just because you didn't know that there was an indoor event," Collin said.

Supporters said changes had been made to address concerns, including reducing an earlier three‑mile buffer to a one‑mile buffer and limiting venue coverage to facilities with capacity of at least 1,000 people under the amendment. Representative Lupac Entrash said the bill balances public‑safety needs with concessions and existing federal and state drone registration rules: "This brings it down to a 1 mile buffer ... so that's already been a concession made on this bill."

Representative Collin also raised constitutional protections for newsgathering and public‑interest speech, warning that broad geographic buffers could encumber routine journalism and civic reporting. Opponents urged clearer mens‑rea language and narrower geographic scope; supporters reiterated public‑safety rationales and the presence of current registration and commercial drone guidance.

The committee voted to report SB 11‑60 as amended with a do‑pass recommendation. The amendment, as discussed on the floor, reduced buffer distances and set an attendance threshold to narrow the scope; the transcript records committee recommendation but does not show the final House third‑reading vote on this measure during the session.