California 20252026 Regular Session Status: Passed Senate 1 D cosponsors

SB 260 — Unmanned aircraft.

Last action — Referred to Coms. on INS., PUB. S., and P. & C.P.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed Assembly
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced February 03, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the Assembly.

Prognosis

Advancing 48% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Moderate

How often bills like it became law.

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 5 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

The bill regulates the use of unmanned aircraft by insurers and establishes new penalties for unauthorized operation.

This bill requires residential property insurers to notify policyholders before using drones to take images of their property and mandates the destruction of such images after 90 days. It also increases penalties for unauthorized drone operations near critical infrastructure and schools.

What this means for you
  • Consumers: Consumers will have greater awareness and control over how drone technology is used by their insurers.
  • Environment: This bill includes provisions to ensure responsible use of drones near sensitive locations, impacting environmental monitoring efforts.

Summary

Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property insurance. Existing law requires an insurer to send various notices to a policyholder at specified intervals. Existing law imposes liability for physical invasion of privacy on a person if the person knowingly enters onto the land or into the airspace above the land of another person without permission or otherwise commits a trespass in order to capture any image or recording of the other person engaging in a private activity and the invasion occurs in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person. This bill would require a residential property insurer to notify a policyholder at least 30 days in advance of the day that a remotely operated unmanned aircraft will be used to take aerial images of the insured property, as specified, unless a claim has been submitted or is pending on the property and the images will be used only for evaluating the claim. The bill would require the insurer to provide the aerial images upon request, and would require the notice to include instructions regarding how a policyholder may make that request. The bill would, if a residential property insurer gathered sufficient evidence for the termination of a residential property insurance contract during an inspection of a policyholder's property that was conducted by the use of a remotely operated unmanned aircraft, require the company to provide written notice to the policyholder of specified information, including the reason for the potential termination of the contract and what the policyholder is required to do to comply with the provisions of the contract, and to provide copies of the evidence gathered during the inspection. The bill would require the insurer to give the policyholder 120 days to remedy the issue, and would prohibit the insurer from canceling the contract if the policyholder provides documentation that indicates that the work was completed to comply with the contract, as specified. The bill would require an insurer to destroy any evidence that is in their possession that was collected from or generated by a remotely operated unmanned aircraft no later than 90 days after the data has been collected or generated, subject to specified exceptions. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to enter or remain upon any property that is posted against trespassing and loitering, as specified, without the written permission of the owner, tenant, or occupant in legal possession or control of the property. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to operate an unmanned aerial vehicle at the scene of an emergency for the purpose of viewing the scene or the activities of emergency responders, as specified. This bill would make it an infraction to intentionally or knowingly operate an unmanned aircraft over or to come within either a specified distance or a distance that would interfere with the operations of a critical infrastructure facility, as defined, with specified exceptions, including that the operator is a governmental entity acting in their capacity as a regulator or the operator has the written consent of the owner or operator of the facility. The bill would make it an infraction to intentionally or knowingly operate an unmanned aircraft over or to come within either a specified distance or a distance that would interfere with the operations of specified property in the City of Sacramento in which the State Capitol is located, with specified exceptions, including if a person is acting with the express authorization of the Joint Rules Committee of the Legislature, and would require the Joint Rules Committee to establish related policies in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to enter into a school building or upon school grounds, or on public property adjacent to the school, and interfere with or disrupt the activities of the school by remaining on or reentering the property after being asked to leave, or creating a disruption with the intent to threaten the safety of a pupil, as specified. This bill would additionally make it a misdemeanor to use an unmanned aircraft on or above a school building or upon school grounds with the intent to surveil, closely monitor, record, or threaten the safety of any person, as specified. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes it an infraction, punishable by a fine of $500, for a person to operate an unmanned aircraft on or above the grounds of a penal institution, as specified. This bill would increase that penalty to $1,000. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Referred to Coms. on INS., PUB. S., and P. & C.P.

  2. In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.

  3. Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 3304.) Ordered to the Assembly.

  4. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  5. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 3268.) (January 22).

  6. Set for hearing January 22.

  7. May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.

  8. Set for hearing May 23.

  9. May 12 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  10. Set for hearing May 12.

  11. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  12. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 869.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  13. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on INS.

  14. Set for hearing April 23.

  15. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on INS.

  16. From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on INS. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 611.) (April 1).

  17. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

  18. Set for hearing April 1.

  19. Referred to Coms. on PUB. S. and INS.

  20. From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 6.

  21. Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 121 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

3rd Reading

Passed 38 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Republican 8002
Democratic 30000
Total 38002
% of votes cast 95%0%0%5%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Allen, Benjamin Democratic Yea
Archuleta, Bob Democratic Yea
Arreguín, Jesse Democratic Yea
Ashby, Angelique V. Democratic Yea
Becker, Josh Democratic Yea
Blakespear, Catherine S. Democratic Yea
Cabaldon, Christopher Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Cortese, Dave Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Yea
Gonzalez, Lena A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Laird, John Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
McNerney, Jerry Democratic Yea
Menjivar, Caroline Democratic Yea
Padilla, Stephen C. Democratic Yea
Pérez, Sasha Renée Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Richardson, Laura Democratic Yea
Rubio, Susan Democratic Yea
Smallwood-Cuevas, Lola Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wahab, Aisha Democratic Yea
Weber Pierson, M.D., Akilah Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Alvarado-Gil, Marie Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Grove, Shannon Republican Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Not Voting
Niello, Roger W. Republican Not Voting
Ochoa Bogh, Rosilicie Republican Yea
Seyarto, Kelly Republican Yea
Strickland, Tony Republican Yea
Valladares, Suzette Martinez Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]

Passed 5 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 5000
Republican 0002
Total 5002
% of votes cast 71%0%0%29%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Becker, Josh Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Padilla, Stephen C. Democratic Yea
Rubio, Susan Democratic Yea
Wahab, Aisha Democratic Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Not Voting
Niello, Roger W. Republican Not Voting

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety technology
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 260 do?
Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property insurance. Existing law requires an insurer to send various notices to a policyholder at specified intervals. Existing law imposes liability for physical invasion of privacy on a person if the person knowingly enters onto the land or into the airspace above the land of another person without permission or otherwise commits a trespass in order to capture any image or recording of the other person engaging in a private activity and the invasion occurs in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person. This bill would require a residential property insurer to notify a policyholder at least 30 days in advance of the day that a remotely operated unmanned aircraft will be used to take aerial images of the insured property, as specified, unless a claim has been submitted or is pending on the property and the images will be used only for evaluating the claim. The bill would require the insurer to provide the aerial images upon request, and would require the notice to include instructions regarding how a policyholder may make that request. The bill would, if a residential property insurer gathered sufficient evidence for the termination of a residential property insurance contract during an inspection of a policyholder's property that was conducted by the use of a remotely operated unmanned aircraft, require the company to provide written notice to the policyholder of specified information, including the reason for the potential termination of the contract and what the policyholder is required to do to comply with the provisions of the contract, and to provide copies of the evidence gathered during the inspection. The bill would require the insurer to give the policyholder 120 days to remedy the issue, and would prohibit the insurer from canceling the contract if the policyholder provides documentation that indicates that the work was completed to comply with the contract, as specified. The bill would require an insurer to destroy any evidence that is in their possession that was collected from or generated by a remotely operated unmanned aircraft no later than 90 days after the data has been collected or generated, subject to specified exceptions. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to enter or remain upon any property that is posted against trespassing and loitering, as specified, without the written permission of the owner, tenant, or occupant in legal possession or control of the property. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to operate an unmanned aerial vehicle at the scene of an emergency for the purpose of viewing the scene or the activities of emergency responders, as specified. This bill would make it an infraction to intentionally or knowingly operate an unmanned aircraft over or to come within either a specified distance or a distance that would interfere with the operations of a critical infrastructure facility, as defined, with specified exceptions, including that the operator is a governmental entity acting in their capacity as a regulator or the operator has the written consent of the owner or operator of the facility. The bill would make it an infraction to intentionally or knowingly operate an unmanned aircraft over or to come within either a specified distance or a distance that would interfere with the operations of specified property in the City of Sacramento in which the State Capitol is located, with specified exceptions, including if a person is acting with the express authorization of the Joint Rules Committee of the Legislature, and would require the Joint Rules Committee to establish related policies in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to enter into a school building or upon school grounds, or on public property adjacent to the school, and interfere with or disrupt the activities of the school by remaining on or reentering the property after being asked to leave, or creating a disruption with the intent to threaten the safety of a pupil, as specified. This bill would additionally make it a misdemeanor to use an unmanned aircraft on or above a school building or upon school grounds with the intent to surveil, closely monitor, record, or threaten the safety of any person, as specified. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes it an infraction, punishable by a fine of $500, for a person to operate an unmanned aircraft on or above the grounds of a penal institution, as specified. This bill would increase that penalty to $1,000. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Who sponsors SB 260?
SB 260 is sponsored by Wahab, Aisha (Democratic).
What is the current status of SB 260?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced February 03, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 260?
Track SB 260 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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